THE MOST modern and highly sophisticated technology nowadays has become the armor for anyone going to conflict or intending to start one with an enemy whether personal or full-blown war among nations.
But it is the same technology that has also become a deterrent in the desire of other people or countries to engage in conflict against each other.
Why, because the technology has become so intelligent that it has even become smarter than some simple human brains. Imagine, even ideas just being brought to the open for discussion can already be detected or monitored by other interested parties before these can be adopted for execution?
And imagine this as well that a person who is actually actively doing other things in a particular hour of the day whether in the house or office or elsewhere, can also be made to appear to have been on board a wheelchair being pushed by another just to give other people erroneous judgment on a person’s personal condition?
This is all because of the workings of people who are adept in manipulating gadgets or equipment laden with modern technological capacities. So, the more a person has the resources to acquire these kinds of modern equipment or gadgets, or the wealth that it takes to hire the services of experts in running the ultra-modern devices to serve their own selfish interest, the bigger the chances this person has the advantage over the other, or over his adversary.
In the Philippines, sorry to note that modern technology is already the norm in strategizing to destroy one’s enemy, open or perceived, long before the onset of the next electoral fight.
And this is quite obvious in the next national election which is still one year away.
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We are happy to hear that about 95 percent of the health workers in Mindanao are already vaccinated of the first dose of the vaccine that is seen to deter the prevailing COVID-19. This is an assurance that in the succeeding vaccines to arrive in the country a good portion will be allocated for Mindanao and administered on the next category of people included in the WHO’s priority list.
The only problem that is being faced by the Philippines is the reported lack of vaccine supplies from the manufacturers since all of the pharmaceutical firms are owned by rich countries in the Americas and Europe. And they too, are in the midst of the pandemic, some are even more badly affected than the Philippines is.
Their being rich allowed these countries to procure the bigger chunk of the vaccines and it’s not only because they have the money, but they also enjoy preferred treatment because the vaccine makers are their corporate residents. And one way or the other, the governments of the countries concerned can definitely have a handle over the vaccine makers. There is no doubt about it.
In other words, the Philippines and other poor countries can end up recipients of second, third, or even fourth priority options only by the vaccine producers after they have satisfied the requirements of their mother countries. This is notwithstanding the commitment of the World Health Organization for an equitable sharing of the vaccines.
And in the Philippines come the critics of the government and other supposed “do-gooders” and experts saying that our leaders are not doing enough to ensure the steady supply of the vaccine. Why cannot these critics pause for some time and think of ways to realize a dream of having some of our own medical experts and those in the drug industry tie-up with medical scientists from other countries and work for the manufacture of such vaccines in the Philippines?
We believe that many foreign businessmen who are into pharmaceuticals will be willing to invest in the country because we have low labor costs, we have the manpower, and we have a government that could be goaded to relax some rules if in doing so the Filipino people will be benefited.
And we still think that the present administration’s policy of making it easy for investors to do business in the country exists.
Is not the ongoing pandemic the most opportune time for all the Filipinos to work together and fight the unseen enemy under one common objective – success?
It’s a pity that we now have the best tool – modern technology – to attain victory. But what is happening instead is that we are converting this technology into some kind of termite to slowly destroy the will of those who are tasked to lead in the fight.
Indeed with an atmosphere like this, defeating the unseen enemies is such a tall order.
