Following rules

(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 am so tired. I sat in line for an hour and a half to get into the supermarket. It took me about an hour to get everything I need. Then it took me about an hour STANDING in line to pay for everything.

After about 20 minutes with the line barely moving, the man behind me got smart, took the gallon of ice cream out of his cart and returned it to the supermarket freezer.

I thought I’d timed it right. I was at the supermarket at 3:15 p.m., close enough to 5 p.m., when the guards would close the doors on would-be customers to give those who were already inside enough time to do their groceries before the closing time of 7 p.m.

By the time it was my turn to pay, it was 7:35 p.m. You can bet I was watching the clock all the time. I made it home with just minutes to spare before the 8 p.m. curfew. I was all nerves. Never again.

Yes, I am one of those people who follow rules. So I get upset when I see all of these people on TV leaving their homes to play bingo with their neighbors, or attending and betting on a cockfight with their barangay chief in attendance, or having themselves tested for COVID-19 before those who show symptoms of infection.

I seethe when I see two people buying groceries together, in flagrant violation of the provision that only one person should leave the house should there be a need to get food and/or medicine.

I see what they do: One person stands in line while the other does the shopping, leaving very little time queuing up for the cashier. It is efficient. But it is unfair and crafty at this time. 

Those violating the rules do not wait long at all; they get home earlier than the rest of us. Yes, I wish them all sorts of things in my head – none of them good.

I also cannot understand why people think a barangay pass is a permit to cross to the next city just so they can get their choice cut of beef or the other luxuries they are accustomed to. I get doubly annoyed when they post a photo of the goods and I find myself green with envy.

I cannot believe the number of people who get caught on the streets past the 8 p.m. curfew and how they can look very relaxed as they justify why they are not yet inside their homes.

I only know that I drove very fast to make it home before the curfew. It was only at the sight of the village gates that I felt waves of relief wash over me, and I felt myself slowing down.

I tell you. I am so tired.

DoH update: As of 4 p.m. of April 17, 2020, the Philippines has reported 5,878 confirmed corona virus cases, including 487 recoveries and 387 deaths.

Who receives?

(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.)

Today, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced it has stopped accepting applications for the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP).

They say that the CAMP budget of P1.6B “is very nearly depleted.” Later, they qualify that DOLE has stopped CAMP applications because the Department of Finance is rolling out its own program for the middle-class, particularly the wage subsidy program.

I think that after DOLE relaxed the documentary requirements and assured employer-applicants that all information provided will not come back to bite them EVER (think unregistered business, double ledger systems, etc.), the deluge was overwhelming.

This goes back again to the fact that there is an underground economy, that small businesses are able to operate despite the lack of permits, sanitary requirements, and non-compliance with labor rules, etc. 

Why the non-compliance? It is so hard to start and sustain a business in the Philippines because of the ONEROUS PROCESSES and RED TAPE that enterprising “fixers” and corrupt government employees are so quick to take advantage of. 

If your pockets aren't deep enough, you're already operating at a loss even before you can start your business. 

This also tells you why the Department of Trade and Industry does not have an accurate data base of businesses, just like the Department of Social Welfare and Development cannot really determine who are the poorest of the poor or the number of families that should be the beneficiaries of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP).

For National Government to adequately serve the Filipino citizenry, they have to go back to the SMALLEST local government unit, which is the barangay. If the barangay cannot even give the numbers, who can?

Barangay officials, however, are so far from the national coffers that they do what they can with what they have, which is not a lot. Some of the tanods are not even on the payroll; they make do with an allowance.

This crisis is teaching us that when government does not have the mechanism to accurately identify its target beneficiaries, aid to those affected will be a loooong time coming, if at all.

News reports carry a version of it every day: barangay so and so appealing for inclusion in the SAP; senior citizens complaining they have not received anything, etc. and etc.

I wish the government thinktank will FINALLY prioritize addressing this inefficiency because it looks like there will still be more interventions, which have to be adequate not only in terms of amount, but also in coverage.

If this does not happen, Government shall have failed miserably and no amount of threatening, ranting, and cursing by our president on late night TV will make up for it.

DoH update: As of 4 p.m. of April 16, 2020, the Philippines has reported 5,660 confirmed corona virus cases, including 435 recoveries and 362 deaths.

Social and good media

(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.)

My phone has been noisy all day with message alerts from the various social media groups that I have joined.

It’s not just the food groups. I am part of two community groups managed by residents within our subdivision as well as another created by our barangay officials. I also follow the official FB accounts of our parish, the City Government and a rather tech-savvy barangay councilor.

Because of these groups, I have learned that:

• The street outside our gate, where the wet market and food vendors are located, has been barricaded off to vehicles (which is why I now park near the gate and walk the rest of the way);
• Deliveries are limited to Gate 1, requiring residents to pick up the goods there;
• Gate 2 has been opened to decongest traffic at Gate 1, but only to accommodate exiting vehicles (which I have used because the area outside Gate 1 area has become parking space for those who did not know about the barricade and who found nowhere else to park their vehicles);
• At least six tricycles have been allowed by the association to operate within the subdivision to enable those without transportation to pick up the food deliveries at Gate 1;
• Residents have set up a tricycle drivers’ fund for the TODA (Tricycle Operators and Drivers' Association) that plies our streets, and has twice distributed food packs since the start of the enhanced community quarantine (which is the best thing I have learned about our community) 💗;
• The association has arranged for fruits, vegetable and seafood vendors to accommodate orders via phone or online, with the goods ready for pickup via “drive-through” near the church on Saturdays;
• Seniors and persons with disabilities can call the security office to have identified utility workers do the groceries for them at stores within the subdivision;
• There are stores within the subdivision that now accept orders via phone (which I have availed of, thank you);
• Residents in the next subdivision have received relief packs (which makes me a little green with envy, I must admit) 😁;
• The route of the Procession of the Holy Eucharist (on wheels) last Good Friday includes our street (which gave us time to set up a small altar outside the house) 🙏; and
• The nearby seminary livestreams masses (which we like since we attended Sunday mass there before the lockdown). 

From these groups, I also have access to news relevant to our community and/or barangay that have been culled from reputable news sources.

I have always maintained that there is nothing wrong with social media as a communications platform. It is only when it is abused that it casts a shadow on the good it can achieve.

It feels good to be right.

DoH update: As of 4 p.m. of April 15, 2020, the Philippines has reported 5,453 confirmed corona virus cases, including 353 recoveries and 349 deaths.