I am a bit groggy today as I had waited for the presscon which started close to midnight and ended at around 1 this morning. What stands out to me is the effort to address the issues that emerged at the checkpoints, where a lot of people and motorists got stranded the day before.
Trucks delivering basic goods will be allowed to pass unhampered. OFWs and balikbayans will now be allowed to leave from NAIA terminals in Metro Manila so they can return to the countries where they either reside or work.
I imagine my friend Arlene, who is stranded in Manila, getting worked up about government’s silence on those from abroad who are unable to leave the metro for their homes in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Hubby, who had been unable to stay awake for the presscon, is a bit tense this morning, answering questions from work colleagues and superiors about additional operational guidelines which Cabinet Secretary and IATF-EID Spokesperson Karlo Nograles had announced. I fill him in.
I also ask him to tell me should he need to stay up for anything since I can easily stay up and rouse him. After several years of working late in a Cebu daily, my body clock is still patterned after that of a night owl’s.
Again, we keep tuned in to the radio. Daughter retires to her room where she has started embroidering her blouse.
Fedela asks to take the dog out for a walk. I remind her about the directive for us to stay home but she says she will wear a face mask and keep her distance from anyone. Besides, “lapit lang ng park ma’am at hirap na si Macmac (the park is very near and Macmac is very restless).” Hubby backs her request and because I suspect she is suffering from cabin fever, I reluctantly let her go but ask her to bring her ID.
She is back after just a few minutes, grumbling. A roving guard had told her to go home. What about all those Chinese going for a run? she asks me.
Now that Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) have been ordered to suspend operations during the lockdown, the Chinese workers renting in the subdivision find themselves staying in a house that has grown too small now that all of them stay home at the same time unlike before when the night shift would have the house to themselves while the day shift was out working. I wonder if the guards are also telling them to stay home.
Hubby decides to check on Nanay. My mother-in-law says she is all right and that they have enough food provisions. I call Arlene and find her more upbeat. She has received her allotment. Also, two of her cruise ship mates are flying in tonight and will proceed to affordable lodgings she has found for all of them. Since she has paid for her room until Thursday, she joins them Friday.
I am glad to find her in fighting spirit. Feisty Arlene is back, now intent on following up OWWA or MARINA for help, peppering her social media accounts with posts towards this end.
I also call my sister-in-law who lives in Taguig, which has declared its own lockdown. Like all of us, she stays home and keeps in touch with family and friends via the phone and/or social media. I also touch base with my sisters in Cebu and in the U.S., who are all complying with the directive on social distancing in their parts of the world.
Just a while ago, my sister-in-law from Germany calls. She is also confined to the house and a bit worried that public transportation will be suspended soon, forcing her to walk to the grocery where she works. But she calls because she wants to know how Nanay and the rest of her family in the Philippines are doing. So does another sister-in-law based in Los Angeles.
I am not alone. We are all in this together.
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