Timesman | My firm belief

MY PARENTS and five of my siblings who lived in Metro Manila are now gone. I’m the lone survivor and permanently residing in this city with my youngest son, JL after my wife Virginia also passed away six years ago.
That’s why when the national government placed the entire Metro Manila and four other areas into lockdown again due to the recurrent threat of COVID-19, my only concern now is the safety of my friends and relatives scattered living in Pasay City, Makati, Paranaque, Las Pinas, Alabang, Cavite, Laguna and Batangas, all parts of Metro Manila.
I was able to contact some of my relatives in Luzon and advised them to always follow the safety protocols we were told to observe against the virus. We need not to be complacent as Covid-19 is no ordinary disease that can easily be avoided and cured. It’s invisible and a traitor killer that even world scientists and doctors are in a race to discover the vaccine that will stop it.
Although Davao City is now back to Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) and everyone is slowly returning to a new normal and the business sector is beginning to recover from the losses of the last four months, Mayor Inday Sara continues to remind the people to do their share in observing health protocols as the coronavirus is still around like a thief in the night that may strike without warning.
The Land Transportation and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) for its part also requires passengers, conductors, and drivers of public transportation to wear face shields covering the eye down to the chin in addition to existing face masks as the agency believes that face mask alone can’t protect a person from being infected by the virus. Failure to wear both protectors may be a ground to refuse boarding in any PUV.
My only reminder to the commuting public and public utilities – PUJs, busses and tricycles, is to always be cautious of the passengers near you. At this time when anyone can wear masks to cover one’s identity, like the Lone Ranger, you might end up losing your wallet without noticing it from the guy seated beside you.
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Lotto outlets all over the country closed since March 17 due to the pandemic, will be opened again next week, except in Metro Manila and other areas where President Duterte declared as under modified enhanced community quarantine or lockdown for the next two weeks after more than 17 million Filipinos in these places are infected anew with the virus.
Jubilant bettors across the country where the game of chance is allowed, welcome the news. Some say it’s a quick rebound from the monotony of months’ long quarantine at home while others say they quit smoking and drinking, but lotto betting was another matter.
As for me, it’s still bad to indulge in gambling as losing is bigger than what you get from winning!
Anyway, may kanya kanyang paraan ang mga tao kung paano to manage their money. Kung sugarol ka, lotto. Kung palainom naman, ‘ayos na ang kasunod!’
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I do not always say ‘yes’ to government policies. I stand by what I believe is right for this country. That is my conviction in life.
But when some groups question the plan of President Duterte in favoring the return of the death penalty through lethal injection for people that committed crimes against their fellows, I go for the latter. Because when someone says by reviving the death penalty violated basic rights guaranteed by the constitution, this person might not know that the victim and NOT the criminal should be protected by the constitution. (We really need the CHACHA to correct this part in the Bill of Rights in the Constitution-LDT)
The moment a person committed a crime against his fellow, the former and upon the decision of the court to pay for his crime, should no longer be protected by its basic rights and the poison injection should immediately be applied.
Sa Tagalog pa, ‘kung buhay ang inutang, dapat buhay rin ang maging kabayaran.’