A different bottom line

(Part of an ongoing account started on March 13, 2020 of how the spread of COVID-19 in our country and our government’s response has affected our lives.)

For as long as I can remember, I have been monitoring fuel price adjustments so that I will know whether to gas up (or not) before 6 a.m. every Tuesday, when oil companies implement them at the retail stations.

Now, I no longer remember the last time I refueled the car. It’s a shame, really, since fuel prices keep going down. But the tank is still almost full and I barely drive anywhere so it’s no use getting excited over oil price rollbacks while the country is under enhanced community quarantine due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak.

Motorists and commuters are confined to their homes; offices, establishments and even points of entry like airports and piers are closed, and manufacturing firms are operating at half-capacity, if at all.

Like most industries, the oil and gas industry is taking a hit big-time. The coronavirus outbreak has triggered a double problem - the drop in oil’s value and the resulting price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Yet gas stations remain open because fuel is vital for those who need to get to and from hospitals, buy food and medicine, man assigned checkpoints, and deliver food and important documents.

Shell has even made these stations pick-up points and rest stops for front liners with its SELECT stores serving free food products for health care workers, police force, military men, and logistics drivers.

Some gas station owners have also helped donate food packs and portable washing facilities to military and health front liners. I have not refueled for a while now so I would not know, but I’ve heard that a Shell station nearby also distributes Vitamin-C packets for customers. Free fuel, too, but only for accredited vehicles under partnerships lodged with certain bus and forwarding companies to transport healthcare professionals as well as critical goods.

Shell has over a thousand gas stations all over the country, which means that attendants, Deli2Go staff, dispatchers, drivers, mechanics and other personnel continue earning during the quarantine period.

Sales are low so it must be a struggle to keep these stations open. The same goes for Shell’s refinery in Batangas and depots like the North Mindanao Import Facility in Cagayan – one of many strategically-situated storage terminals and supply points across the country integral to supply and distribution.

Like other big companies, Shell reaches deep into its pockets not only to take care of employees, but also to help where it can, especially in communities where its facilities are located. 

(L-R) Pilipinas Shell Foundation Inc. (PSFI)  Project Officer
Gary Aliggayu, Pasacao Municipal Administrator Felix Morandarte,
and PSFI Project Officer Noah Portuguez check the goods
 for distribution to targeted indigent families. 

A thousand indigent families in Pasacao, a third-class town in Camarines Sur in the Bicol region where a Shell terminal is located, are getting relief goods from the company in partnership with the town government.

National Artist for Music Ryan Cayabyab has also lauded Shell for donating PhP4 million through the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) to Bayanihan Musikahan, a marathon online concert series aimed at raising funds to buy and distribute family packs containing food and protection kits for displaced workers in impoverished Metro Manila communities.

Shell Country Health Advisor Dr. Rose Rivera (3rd from right) 

leads Shell officials in turning over 3,000 pieces of N95 face masks 

to Department of Health (DoH) Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje.

Also in photo are (L-R) Shell Country Occupational Health Nurse 

Patrick Jeremillos and DoH Director Gloria Balboa, 

Assistant Secretary (Asec.) Kenneth Ronquillo, 

Undersecretaries Gerry Bayugo and Maria Rosario Vergeire 

and Asec. Nestor Santiago.

Less conspicuous are efforts to support frontliners who have been tirelessly working to flatten the curve - 10,000 N95 face masks and 330 PPE sets to the Department of Health and UP-Philippine General Hospital, as well as drinking water to seven hospitals.

Companies big and small, even those cash-strapped, are finding ways to take care of their own. But more is expected of big ones like Shell and even those that Duterte has called out in the past for water issues, like the Manny Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and the Ayala Corporation.

They’re responding big-time and then some, redefining their bottom lines according to their values.

DoH update: As of 4 p.m. of March 28, the Philippines has reported 1,075 confirmed corona virus cases, including 35 recoveries and 68 deaths.

Red Arm Band

(Part of an ongoing account started on March 13, 2020 of how the spread of COVID-19 in our country and our government’s response has affected our lives.)

It was during the televised “Laging Handa” press briefing last March 25 that I first saw the red arm band on Department of Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire
Photo: Screengrab from PTV

When asked about it, she says, “Ito po ay isang sensyales ng pagsuporta po natin, lalong-lalo na po sa ating mga healthcare workers, lalong-lalo na po sa ating mga namatay na doktor at doon po sa ating lahat ng healthcare workers na sa ngayon ay patuloy pa ring lumalaban , inaalagaan po ang lahat ng mga pasyente sa lahat ng ospital dito sa Pilipinas (This is a sign of our support, especially for the doctors who have died and the health workers who continue to fight and care for the patients here in the Philippines).”

She touches the red band she is wearing around her upper right arm, saying “I encourage everyone to wear this to show support for them.”

Among the frontliners who passed away during the COVID-19 war are Philippine Pediatric Society President Dr. Salvacion “Sally” Gatchalian, Pampanga health chief Dr. Marcelo Jaochico, cardiologist and internist Raul Jara, young cardiologist Israel Bactol of the Philippine Heart Center, anesthesiologist Gregorio Macasaet III of Manila Doctors Hospital, and oncologist Rose Pulido of the San Juan de Dios Hospital.

Barely an hour later, there is a Viber message from a friend, who is urging us to join a Red Ribbon campaign and show our support for those working in the health sector by tying red ribbons on our gates, cars, etc.

I support efforts to acquire or manufacture more N95 masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) for health workers. These efforts, I think, are directly felt by those who need them most.

Much as I want to, I do not have the funds to help acquire more ventilators for hospitals or provide housing for health workers near the hospitals where they work. But I laud those who can and do.

But I understand why my friend is endorsing the campaign because as she says, “at least it’s something visible for them or their families. We need to support them too with our prayers and by staying home.”

I know that several members of her family work in the frontlines. I discover that many members in a mutual FB group also have daughters, sons, cousins and other relatives who work in the health sector.

I, too, have a brother-in-law, a niece and her husband, and distant relatives who work in the health sector abroad. They will not see the red ribbon on my gate. So I also post it as my profile picture.

It costs me nothing, and it may perk up someone who sees it on my wall or an unknown health worker who lives in my village as he or she passes our gate.

DoH update: As of 4 p.m. of March 27, the Philippines has reported 803 confirmed corona virus cases, including 31 recoveries and 54 deaths.

More lockdowns

(Part of an ongoing account started on March 13, 2020 of how the spread of COVID-19 in our country and our government’s response has affected our lives.)

I have family back in Cebu so I monitor what’s happening in the Queen City of the South.

This morning, I find that during the night, Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia signed Executive Order (EO) 5-N placing Cebu Province under a state of enhanced community quarantine “to allow more stringent measures to be implemented in order to prevent the further spread” of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Before this, the Provincial Government had been trying to avoid a lockdown for economic reasons even as it sought to impose strict control over passengers arriving at airports and seaports to protect the province from the threat of COVID-19.

More measures to restrict movement followed. A curfew, initially imposed from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. in all the towns and cities, was later expanded to 24 hours for all students as well as persons aged 65 years old and above.

Mall hours were shortened, cinemas closed, restaurants were restricted from accepting dine-in patrons, people hoarded goods and prices went up, but the threat remained at bay. As long as they observed social or physical distancing, people exempted from the curfew could still move around.

Photo taken from SunStar Cebu FB account

That has changed. Although there is only one confirmed case of COVID-19 in the Province , particularly in Mandaue City, there are a total of nine "presumptive" positive cases in the province: seven in Cebu City and one each in the cities of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu, according to the Department of Health.

A resolution from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) states that a province-wide quarantine is advised when there are at least two positive COVID-19 cases from different towns within the province.

The lockdown takes effect in Cebu City on 12 noon of March 28, Lapu-Lapu City on March 28, with the cities of Mandaue and Talisay and the rest of the province following on March 30.

I had hoped and prayed that COVID-19 would not affect any more of my family.  But all this time, I think we all knew it was bound to happen. Certainly, no one is surprised at the turn of events. 

Now, we all wait it out and do what we can to ensure that we and others stay safe during this crisis.

God help us all.

DoH update: As of 4 p.m. of March 26, the Philippines has reported 707 confirmed corona virus cases, including 28 recoveries and 45 deaths.