POSSIBLY we were lost in the rash of activities last week in time for the celebration of Christmas. Either we missed reading or hearing news reports on the updates of new cases of CoViD 19 in Davao City, or we failed miserably to get into the usual instinct of a media person – that of being extremely nosy for news worthy developments in one’s area of responsibility.
Last Tuesday however, we heard over the radio and television, read in local papers as well as posts in the social media that Davao City has recorded twice of zero case of CoViD 19 infection. The report quoted as its source Dr. Michelle Schlosser, spokesperson of the City Task Force on COVID 19 who was interviewed by the City Information Office personnel. She proudly disclosed that the zero case last December 19 was the second milestone ever reached by the city. The first one was on Friday, December 17, 2021.
We are one with the rest of the Davaoenos in celebrating these milestones as this is one clear indication that the concerted actions of both the local government and its various instrumentalities are now paying off. And we join Dr. Schlosser in thanking the key players in our fight against the deadly pandemic with mayor and now Vice Presidential candidate Sara Duterte-Carpio as head, the private businesses which forked money from their coffer and volunteered their employees’ time and efforts in helping the vaccination drive attain the level of success desired by government.
And we have no doubt the people of Davao City also deserve to be appreciated for their cooperation. Had we been so facetious in invoking our right to refuse vaccination or disregarded the various health protocols, we would not have attained this level of safety from the deadly virus.
Indeed we enjoyed the blessings of a relatively relaxed Christmas holidays. But as always we should also heed the reminder of the CoViD 19 Task Force to be always vigilant and not complacent. After all it’s a universal experience that some storms might be lurking behind every lull especially with a pandemic like CoViD 19. Thank you all and a Happy New Year celebration! Let us all hope that the current scourge haunting the Philippines and the rest of the world will finally find its end.
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The vastness of the destruction heaped on the areas slammed by “Odette” was not only brought about by the super strong winds that battered the typhoon’s path but most of all by the impact of the haymaker wind on the power, water and telecommunications services.
Yes, a week after Odette the typhoon-hit areas’ economy was still in an almost standstill. Majority has no power to let machines in goods producing industry run; no electricity to back up the restoration of internet services so that the areas’ cogs of economy would function pon its normal level, and no water coming out of every home’s faucets
Banks without power or Internet became just buildings and empty structure unable to serve the needs of the economy and meet the requirements for individual financial needs since without the power of the Net banking transactions are almost nil or that doing business with banks takes the bulk of one’s time. Even the transport of goods and other merchandise required by the people in affected area as well as by those who wanted to help deliver the appropriate assistance became a major cross to carry. What with hardly accessible land and water routes?
And with the destruction of communication access facilities it seemed that the week after the storm was a travel back in time. Those in affected areas cannot communicate to their relatives and friends in the lucky places of the country as far as Odette is concerned. And their kin and friends living far from the storm’s ground zero are similarly situated to those who reside in the typhoon path. Either of them cannot communicate with each other because communication facilities and lines were also blown down by the typhoon.
And even as the telecommunications, power and water firms suffer as a consequence of Odette, the loss of their services made it even more disastrous to and unbearable by the people.
In other words, Odette was not just a single super whammy but tacked with it two or even three major whammies that brought the people’s knees deeper down into the ground.
And there are another groups out there busy taking advantage of the situation, among them politicians, greedy businessmen and corrupt government officials making killings from supposed assistance procurements and direct cash aid. One more whammy could be in the making.
