Yes, our younger sister, her husband, her son, and the son of her son were tested positive of the virus last Dec. 30. The suspected carrier is her son who just arrived from abroad last Dec. 27, 2020. We assumed that being a seafarer, her son followed all health protocols prescribed by the government for all returning overseas workers.
Our nephew is a ship captain of a Netherlands-based oceangoing vessel. His contract ended recently and have to go home since his stay will not anymore be to the account of his employer. Unfortunately, certain processes in the execution of the protocols might have failed and so the infection happened.
We believe there are certain requirements a returning OFW must comply before being allowed to leave Manila to the provinces and then to home. So, the likelihood is that somewhere in the process a breach could have been created. Who is responsible, it is not yet determined so far.
For now, our relatives are in the isolation chambers with our brother-in-law appearing to be more in a bad state. We are wishing them fast recovery and for them to be extra careful next time.
And the saddest of all is that a relative of our wife, though far from direct, lost in his battle against the disease. We learned this only the other afternoon. It is unfortunate that while he is from Davao City we cannot visit his wake, if a wake is indeed allowed. Possibly his body is ordered cremated. We could only extend our condolences to his family. He was a teacher in a famous public school in Bangkal, Davao City.
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We are urgently calling the attention of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Some hardware stores are openly shortchanging their customers with their sale of iron bars or kabilya.
From what we learned from our contractor friends and construction workers one length of a deformed iron bar is supposed to be six meters long. But when we bought some lengths last Saturday we found out that a length is shorter by roughly a foot than what it should have been.
Clearly, it is one kind of shortchanging customers by selling them items that are wanting in the prescribed measurements.
We bought our iron bars in a hardware store in Calinan, Davao City. We wonder if the DTI knows where Calinan is and the said office that is supposed to look after the welfare of the consumers finds the place too far for its men to conduct on-the-spot monitoring. Or, are the people of the agency just content themselves doing tabletop monitoring?
Can they wake up somehow and do their job?
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Here is a portion of an article shared with us through Facebook by Col. Ezra Balagtey of the Army brigade based in Panacan, Davao City. We find it interesting at this point in time when Filipinos seem misled by information made supposedly easy and convenient by the emerging high-end technology that can be operated by our palm or by our fingers. It is titled THE BATTLE OF THE PIONEERS. It says:
“In Greece, when man began to think, the scholars realized that Zeus was not a god but a form of art to satisfy men’s desire for superiority. So was it when the African Americans began to deconstruct the Whites’ narrative and learned that there were Presidents who were of African American descent which included Abraham Lincoln and Dwight D. Eisenhower. This is a global problem that requires a global answer – when the educated class challenge the status quo of mediocrity and serve its masses. When Jose Rizal met the handful of learned in Europe, they use the power of the pen and paint to bring history, memory, and culture to the Filipinos. Dr. Parag Khanna wrote in his book “The Future is Asia” because of colonialism, however, “Asian history cannot wash out the way Western teaching does to Asia,” he added. “The deep linkages between the West and the East underscore the need to balance account of global history.” This was the battle of the pioneers of this nation, to rebuild the sense of national respect that has been deleted from the Filipino consciousness. When Rizal breathes in his last breath, Emilio Jacinto together with other Katipunan leaders receives a charge to continue their revolt but no longer for independence but national integrity.
The late President Ramon Magsaysay in his inaugural address said: ‘All too often, we speak of Rizal – our host of other heroes – as if their work were done, as if today their spirit had ceased to have any meaning or value. The truth is that we need their spirit now more than ever. We need it to complete the work which they began’.”
We will seek to retrieve the continuation of this piece and have it included as the main part of tomorrow’s column.
Sorry too, colonel.
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