Good move, Mayor!

By Herbert Vego

 

UNLESS he has changed his mind. Mayor Jerry Treñas will reopen business establishments in Iloilo City today, although with restrictions – as in limiting restaurant capacity to 30 or 50 percent.

As in many other places hard-hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, Iloilo City has been playing “close-open” for 15 months already in order to slow down infections. As of the last count, the city suffers from 2,734 active cases – higher than Iloilo province’s 2,377.

If lockdowns don’t work, why be repetitious?  Why not look at the brighter number? Covid is curable. In the city, only more than 231 cases have ended in deaths in a 15-month span. If other respiratory diseases were counted, too, that number would have paled in comparison.

Thousands of Ilonggos have lost their livelihood to pandemic lockdowns. For example, as disclosed to this paper by Mary Ann Matiling — the president of the Iloilo Hotels, Resorts and Restaurants Association (IHRRA) — 50 percent of their member-establishments have closed shop.

Waiting for “herd immunity” following mass vaccination might turn into disappointment.  If it were the solution, why have some of the already-vaccinated persons caught Covid?

The Covid patients don’t ask for vaccines but for effective medicines which, unfortunately, have not passed approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  Since these expensive drugs could not be charged to PhilHealth, the poor patients have to fully rely on antibiotics and their immune system.

The Big Pharma – the singular term for multinational drug companies — is not motivated by “mercy” in its global vaccination program. Imagine the windfall they stand to gain from inoculating the majority of the 7.9 billion world population.

The Big Pharma is up against independent medical organizations worldwide – including the Concerned Doctors and Citizens of the Philippines (CDC-PH) – batting for government approval of the cheaper ivermectin capsule (priced at more or less 50 pesos) for both prevention and treatment of Covid-19. Wow, a vaccine substitute and treatment rolled into one?

The drug is not new; it has been in world use since the 1980s to kill internal and external parasites.

Incidentally, on advice of a CDC doctor, I took the drug – along with two other medicines — while confined in a private hospital in the last week of March and first week of April 2021. I recovered.

CDC doctors claim that a 15-mg ivermectin capsule daily for seven days could also defeat mild Covid; and only once every two weeks for “maintenance” or prophylaxis to prevent infection.

Dr. Allan Landrito, CDC-PH founder, said in a speech before the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) that ivermectin has a mechanism that prevents “cytokine storm” or the excessive inflammatory reaction of the human cells to a foreign body.

President Duterte appeared to have agreed to its use when he asked the Department of Science and Technology to conduct a 10-month clinical trial for ivermectin on a budget of P22 million.

Ten months? Aanhin pa ang damo kung patay na ang akabayo?

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JERRY-JOE RECONCILIATION STILL POSSIBLE?

AROUND six months ago, this rumor spread from one coffee shop to another — that Mayor Jerry Treñas and his predecessor, Jose “Joe III” Espinosa, would reconcile in the name of “public service”.

Well, if they had not fought tooth and nail against each other for the city mayorship in 2019, that rumor would not have been surprising; they are related by affinity, their wives being sisters. Magbilas in local parlance. Their battle, to quote the winner, had been “the toughest in my political career.”

Since this writer is not privy to what had seemed like a refutation of the blood-is-thicker-than-water adage, I would no longer have thought of writing once more about their rumored reconciliation.

But there was a time when an opportunity presented itself at the coffee shop of Hotel del Rio. I simply asked Joe to confirm or deny the rumor.

“I will announce it on my birthday,” he quipped.

Down memory lane until their rivalry for City Hall in 2019, Jerry and Joe had run and won for different positions together.

In fact, their common supporters expected them to remain united in the months preceding the May 2019 election, with then outgoing Congressman Jerry running for mayor, and then Mayor Joe running for congressman.

But Joe opted to run also for mayor because “Jerry had promised to quit and let me be.”

This forced Jerry to ask former councilor Julienne “Jam-Jam” Baronda to have her as running mate for congresswoman. That she won was a “sweet reversal” of her loss to Espinosa when they first ran against each other for vice-mayor in 2010.

At this juncture, a reconciliation among the three of them – Treñas, Espinosa and Baronda – could be mutually beneficial if and when her bill dividing Iloilo City into two districts passes into law. With Jerry running for re-election, the two could run for a House seat without clashing.

So far, we have yet to hear about Jam-Jam’s bill ripening into a law.

Meanwhile, there’s also a rumored possibility that a “graduating” Senator would also run for congressman.

With no clear view of the political horizon in sight, what would Joe Espinosa announce on his birthday?  If I am not mistaken, it would be on Sunday, June 20.

Sadyahon ta ah.

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MODERNIZING MORE WITHOUT HURTING CONSUMERS

DURING an interview with Engr. Leomel “Bong” Tambanillo, head of MORE Power’s system planning and design,  I learned that the company’s newly-inaugurated 69kV switching station at Brgy. Banuyao, La Paz would be a key factor in reduce the bill of power consumers of Iloilo City.

The switching station has made it possible for the distribution utility to directly connect with the transmission facilities of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

This has made it possible for MORE Power to directly purchase 100 percent of the needed power supply for Iloilo City from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), the venue for trading electricity as a commodity.

“We used to depend on Global Business Power Corporation for 70 percent of our  contracted power supply,” Tambanillo said, “because we were using their link to the grid. And so we could only avail ourselves of 30% from other power generators.”

Though prices in the WESM are highly volatile, it is also noteworthy that on the average, WESM prices are relatively low, especially during off-peak periods.

And so starting January 2022, MORE Power will undertake the Competitive Selection Process (CSP) for its long-term power supply requirement. This should also translate to cheaper and better electricity for city residents.

Tambanillo said that, as pledged by company president Roel Castro, MORE Power would continue to invest in a modernization program that would ensure maximum capacity and reliability of service.

Amen.