Time out

By Artchil B. Fernandez

 

Time out! This was the cry of the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) last week and the called on the national government to place the National Capital Region (NCR) and nearby provinces under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) again. They made the appeal after Covid-19 cases in the country reached 5,008 in a day last week. The bulk of the infections are from NCR and surrounding areas.

The medical community sounded the alarm noting that the figure last week was the highest the number of cases in a day recorded in the country. (This week, the highest recorded cases of Covid-19 infections in a day breached the 6,000 mark.) They are also worried of the rising number of hospital admissions of Covid-19 cases in NCR threatening to overwhelm the health care system in metropolis. Fatigue and exhaustion are taking their toll on health workers with these disturbing trends thus prompting the call for a time out.

Reverting NCR and nearby regions to ECQ the medical community believes will provide a pause and can slow down the spread of the virus. A time out is needed to prevent the number of cases in a day from further rising in the epicenter of infection and hopefully bring the figure down.

In response to the request of the medical community to put NCR and nearby provinces to ECQ, Du30 appeared before the nation in his midnight show last Monday. Du30 was not happy with the plea of the PCP and grudgingly addressed their concern but not before unleashing his infamous tantrum.

As usual, Du30’s ramblings were incoherent, jumbled and illogical. He began by talking about corruption warning government officials they face stern punishment if he catches them stealing public funds then abruptly shifting to the defense of his health secretary who is under intense pressure to resign. From Duque, Du30 talked about vaccination declaring the military and the police will be the priority and the communist rebels can also get the vaccine if they want as long as they do not carry their arms.

From vaccine Du30 turned his gun on his critics challenging them to be president. He was obviously piqued by criticisms that his administration is incompetent and inept in handling the pandemic. Out of the blue Du30 blurted that he wished China’s currency should be the medium of international exchange not US dollar and then again slammed those who call for Duque’s removal.

Du30 rages on and on and it was difficult to figure out what he was talking about or what his message to the nation is. Suddenly, Du30 blasted those who are calling for revolution which perplexed his listeners. “You want revolution, go ahead, let’s start it. I dare you do it!” It was unclear to whom Du30 was addressing on the subject of revolution. Was he referring to the communist rebels who are waging armed struggle for decades, the opposition, and the medical community, or to all his critics?

The midnight address of Du30 this week was going nowhere and getting messy forcing Duque to gently interrupt him and meekly asked if he approves the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Tasked Force (IATF) on the appeal of PCP for a time out. Du30 had to stop his rant and reluctantly approves the recommendation placing NCR and surrounding provinces under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) instead of ECQ which was what the medical community was asking.

Filipinos were taken aback by Du30’s rants on revolution. The medical community was shocked by Du30’s reaction and issued a statement the following day clarifying that they never called for a revolution. All they asked is to declare a time out. The word revolution is not on the letter they sent to the government.

Du30’s jagged national ramblings this week where he appeared tired and weary is an obvious indication of his administration’s incapacity to handle the Covid-19 pandemic. His bizarre behavior shows Du30 has thrown in the towel as well as tacit admission of his incompetence. A leader in control and on the top of the situation will not throw childish tantrum on national television amid a deadly health crisis but will address the concern of the medical community with clear and coherent logic using the language of science and statesmanship.

A clear evidence of the present administration’s ineptness in dealing with the pandemic is its deployment of play of words to trick Filipinos to believe its illusion that the situation is improving. The DOH recently announced that an additional 38,075 persons have recovered from Covid-19, an astounding achievement.

The “mass recovery” happened because the government reclassified mild and asymptomatic cases as recovered. Recovered mean the person is clear of the virus. Mild and asymptomatic persons still have the virus. A recovered case is definitely not the same as mild and asymptomatic cases. In fact, asymptomatic persons are the most dangerous since they are largely responsible for spreading Covid-19. The reclassification is plain deception.

Massaging figures is a sign the Du30 administration has no road map or comprehensive plan to deal with the pandemic. Du30 confessed he will only present a road map to recovery once a vaccine is developed. This is hogwash. The country badly needs a road map to deal with the pandemic while waiting for the vaccine not the other way around. This is pure evasion of responsibility and an admission of ineptness.

The country gravely needs a time out now. Time out from incompetence. Time out from drunken midnight ramblings. Time out from division and political persecution of perceived enemies. Time out from militarist solution. Time out from evasion of responsibility. Time out from confusion and absence of road map to recovery.