By Jose Bayani Baylon
‘Next time the President has a meeting with generals, maybe they can take the principles from conversation with these doctors and apply the same to China and the West Philippine Sea?’
I WAS greatly relieved the other morning to wake up and see, on Twitter, the summary by Joseph Morong of the latest PRRD “ulat sa bayan.” Joseph Morong does the whole world, or no, maybe just the whole Philippines, a big favor, by summarizing what the President says during his late night appearances, in the process deleting the bleepable portions that should never be part of presidential (or polite) conversation.
This last one two days ago (I think it was two days ago; I still remain uncertain at times what day it is after having been confined at St. Luke’s BGC for 12 days) came as a shocking relief because instead of having himself surrounded by the czars who have been running the whole COVID-19 show to the ground, the way the czars of Russia ran their empire to the ground, this time the President was listening to real, honest-to-goodness licensed doctors expressing their opinion about COVID – and responding to them in the process.
Why he finally decided to trot out doctors to be part of his meeting only God knows, and why he finally decided to trot out doctors to be part of his meeting more than a year after the outbreak of the pandemic only God knows, too. But yes, at least, he did it.
If I read the notes correctly, there was a discussion of how long OFWs are supposed to remain in quarantine. Some, such as Labor people, were complaining that keeping them in quarantine for too long was having an economic impact because their turn-around time (so to speak) – the time it would take for them to be able to rest and then depart for new contracts abroad – was lengthening the longer we kept them in quarantine.
On the other hand, there was a valid medical reason to do so: with so many new variants and mutations out there we needed to secure our own shores to the best of our ability, if not from Chinese incursions then at least from the entry of these new variants. And who would most likely be bringing them in? Our returning OFWs.
So it mattered how long we kept them in quarantine upon their return to the Philippines because if we did not keep them in quarantine long enough upon arrival, and tested them too soon, we could be allowing them to go home to their provinces, unknowingly unleashing carriers of new variants into our communities because they would then test positive a few days after coming home.
With our ERs and ICUs filled to the brim (don’t believe those DOH stats – they only cloud the real situation by including ICU and ER beds from hospitals you’d never wish to be brought to if you wanted to live!), we need to do what we can to avoid the entry of these variants that could also upend our own vaccination program, no matter how snail-paced it is.
That the President was now guesting doctors in his meeting was also a sign to me that hope springs eternal. There is always reason to hope for as long as one is alive and breathing. I should know; 23 days ago I was close to no longer breathing on my own, thanks but no thanks to COVID-19.
I’ve always wondered why my suggestion a year ago that the President put up a permanent Committee on COVID-19 consisting of all retired Secretaries of Health (to begin with) fell on deaf ears. Actually, not really: at least once, they were summoned to Malacanang: Secretaries Dayrit, Garin, Cabral, etc, but I think one meeting was all they had and that was it. Instead, the Palace (I really dislike referring to the house and seat of the office of the President this way!) proceeded to create task force after task force, led by retired generals or promising young bureaucrats, none of whom even spent a day listening to a lecture on anatomy, physiology, or even pathology. I think the fact that they took up biology in high school was considered qualification enough for them to be testing czars and vaccination czars and even tracing czars. Plus, maybe, they knew which buttons to push or strings to pull in the Palace (there’s that word again), or maybe impressed SenSAP Bong Go who then whispered to the President and voila! They had the appointment.
I’ve never wondered though why our own Secretary of Health, aka the Duke of Hazard, did not at all feel slighted that he was a ceremonial overseer of all these when in fact as an honest-to-goodness doctor of medicine from prestigious schools here and abroad he should have been the one commanding the charge against the virus from Day One, and not some generals who have not even memorized “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” the favorite piece during declamation contests in grade school. So today we find the Duke of Hazard walking the alleyways of the city with baston or a measuring rod, his attempts to remain relevant that leave you torn between laughing and crying.
But why keep harping on the glass being half-empty?
Let me say again: the fact that the President of the Philippines finally, finally, finally spent a whole meeting with doctors who discussed and even debated the wisdom of 5 or 7 or 10 or 14-day quarantine periods for our OFW brothers and sisters was and is to me a refreshing breath of fresh air after a year of foul air, because decisions were now clearly being made on the basis of science (even if at times even scientists cannot come to a unified consensus on some items). How important it is to keep the virus off our shores. How critical it is that we man the ramparts and make sure our islands are protected. How vital it is to keep our OFWs in quarantine for the proper number of days simply because we cannot afford to slip and allow the enemy into our territory.
Next time the President has a meeting with generals, maybe they can take the principles from conversation with these doctors and apply the same to China and the West Philippine Sea? Now, that would be another refreshing first, wouldn’t it?
Personal: Happy birthday Kagawad Baby Lynn Tero of Barangay Buting, Pasig City; Kagawad Ren Conception of Barangay Maybunga, Pasig City; Lui Bayer; Sarah Lou Ysmael Arriola; Danni Magsy Bee; Butch Realino; Klaudio Posadas; Emerson Sonny Resurrection; Vice President Leni Robredo; Bito Aguilos; Koko Nograles; Geraldine Roman; Jorge Carino; Bituin Escalante; Angel Locsin; Gillian Vicencio; Franklin Rapsing Jazul; George Kabristante; Joymie Del Pilar; Christopher Bautista; Chriz Palorma; Gina Barandog; Anne Pauline Ocampo; Jp Co Ainza; Marie Fren Hamohammad Bajao; Vincent Acha; Marc Vincent Gebe Santos IV; get well soon Ate Marietta Delrosario