Category Archives: current events

Vaccine day

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While in the waiting room, observing for any adverse allergic reaction. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Quezon City finally got its act together and was able to procure enough vaccines to include A3 (residents with comorbidities). For that I’m thankful. My family back in my hometown is still waiting for notices.

I took Grab, thinking that there will be no parking area within or near the public elementary school that they converted into a vaccination center. I was right.

Grab ride ro vaccine center. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

My instinct was also right in assuming that there would be less people queueing late afternoon on a Sunday. I had my vaccine within an hour of my arrival there. Going through the screenings was a breeze because I prepared all my medical records.

The school was half-empty. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

My 2nd dose will be next month and I don’t know if it would be as easy as this one because my schedule will coincide with those people who will just get their 1st dose. I hope it’s not as chaotic as the first few days of the vax program.

The attending physicians there said Sinovac will be effective seven days after the 2nd shot. Those with allergies and asthma are required to wait for 30 mins to observe for any adverse response, which I did. I’m also expected to feel flu-like symptoms so we were told that we can self-medicate at home.

The most important document these days. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

UPDATE:

We’re screwed.

BEIJING (AP) — In a rare admission of the weakness of Chinese coronavirus vaccines, the country’s top disease control official says their effectiveness is low and the government is considering mixing them to get a boost.

“It’s now under formal consideration whether we should use different vaccines from different technical lines for the immunization process,” Gao said.

Good thing I prepared a mini celebration today for my girls’ birthday tomorrow. If I’m going to be sick tomorrow, at least I’m already half-done with the girls’ birthday cakes and food. One daughter specifically asked for steak while the other asked for pizza. So today is steak day, tomorrow is pizza day.

Prime rib. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Packaging says it’s made of coconut and is supposed to be smokeless. The anahaw fan is an indispensable tool when grilling. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

This charcoal briquette claims to be smokeless. To some extent, it produced less smoke but that darn thing doesn’t easily burn. So I had to add ordinary charcoal to produce embers quicker.

Red velvet from Old Baguio Cafe. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

We have too many cakes since my neighbor gifted the girls with a box of sans rival while I bought carrot cake from Old Baguio Cafe on the way home from the vaccination center. Then I bought slices of red velvet and strawberry shortcake to try.

This government is so obsessed trying to convince the public that the president is alive and well. The people at the top do not give a fuck that we’re sinking deeper and deeper. That today is supposed to be the last day of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) a.k.a. hard lockdown and yet they haven’t issued guidelines yet for tomorrow’s modified ECQ. Everything will be a mess tomorrow, as expected.

The photo that Bong Go and his ilk have been sending to media.

That guy isn’t even Duterte. The big tummy is missing. And who in his right mind would be golfing at night?! And why is the golf bag in the way?

Proof of life? Nay. If the president is incapacitated, under the law the VP takes over. The VP who is working tirelessly finding solutions to workable problems like mass testing and giving aid to those who tested positive despite her limited budget. To keep them at home and equipping them for Covid home care.

We need a leader.

Especially when we’re spiraling into lawlessness

The Philippines is ours

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The World Tonight: China’s Coast Guard, missile boats pursue ABS-CBN News Team’s boat in West PH Sea.

I have so many things to be angry about these days, hence, the constant blogging. I do not have anybody to talk to in-person about these things these days and I can’t just constantly vent my anger on social media since I’m trying to avoid social media as it’s been adding to my anxiety.

This bullying by China is one of those things that’s eliciting so much rage inside me, which has attracted a lot of Chinese bots on my Twitter account. I don’t care if the CCP has been monitoring me. I don’t think I’m going back to Hong Kong soon.

‘Infuriating’, ‘heartbreaking’, says Robredo as Chinese ships chase Filipino vessel in West PH Sea

MANILA— Vice President Leni Robredo said Friday she was enraged and heartbroken that a Filipino vessel was driven out by Chinese ships inside the West Philippine Sea. 

“When you watch the video, nakakagalit, nakakadurog ng puso na nangyayari ‘yon (it’s infuriating and heartbreaking that it’s happening) within our territory,” she told ANC’s “Headstart”.

The statement of the Armed Forces of the Philippines infuriates me even further, that they issued it on this day 79 years ago when thousands of Filipino and American soldiers died defending that last bastion but eventually Bataan fell. When they were defending the country from the Japanese invaders…take note of the word, INVADERS. Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor) commemorates those who were lost during the Bataan Death March but the statement of the today’s soldiers completely annihilates the essence of the word valor. They are allowing Filipinos to be bullied 90 nautical miles off Palawan…IT’S CLEARLY FUCKING WITHIN OUR TERRITORY!

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana was supposed to give a press conference earlier this week but it seemed like he was gagged; he said he is cancelling the briefing because he tested positive for COVID-19 but is asymptomatic. This administration conveniently uses COVID as an excuse whenever they 1) want to gag somebody; or 2) don’t want to face the media and be accountable to what was happening under their watch (I’m looking at you, PNP Chief Debold Siñas!).

We’re so fucked up. We exchanged our sovereignty for vaccines.

If I have a choice, I wouldn’t be taking that vaccine. But it’s Sophie’s choice—it’s between me surviving so my children can grow up with a responsible parent until they become adults or they lose their mother early either to COVID or lasting effects or complications from COVID (if I initially survive hospitalization or a similar set-up).

I remember growing up with so much rage inside me that I usually locked myself up in my room to write in my journal to release my pent-up fury. In elementary, I tinkered with the computer, that big beige box that only had a black screen with green or white texts. I had to boot from DOS using a floppy disk before powering up WordStar to write my journal entries that I saved in 5.25″ floppy disks. I was channeling my inner Doogie Howser.

Screencap by Robert J. Sawyer of arsTechnica

Then I moved on to creating my notebook journals where I poured my soul. My mom said she was worried about me when I was in high school because I was always in my room and she thought I was turning into a some sort of wacko but she didn’t know that I needed solitude to be able to write. But come to think of it, because of this rage, I became a writer.

I wanted to buy my own typewriter then so I can write my manuscripts the old fashioned way. I was so in-love with the image of a writer, and later on of a journalist, hunched over a typewriter trying to beat the deadline. But I had to content myself with just using the communal computer at home to write my short stories and novellas that I distributed to friends. When I was in high schooI, I started publishing in a literature magazine of national circulation. I received letters from readers, even from abroad, who liked my stories. Then I started publishing my articles on the Philippine Daily Inquirer when I was in college. When I tell friends from PDI that I started as a lifestyle journo for their newspaper, they were surprised that I didn’t continue writing for them. I told them I tried applying for Inquirer Libre, the defunct tabloid that they used to distribute in the MRT, but the interviewers didn’t like me. I remember they laughed at the fact that I was a lifestyle writer and mentioned something unflattering about Tim Yap and his ilk (for the record, I didn’t hang out with them–they don’t even know I existed!). That unfortunate interview was a blessing because I went in a different direction–a much better direction, I should say.

So yeah, it was rage that started me into writing. Developing this craft is a lifetime occupation; it never stops. So when somebody asks me, when did you start writing? I would answer him/her, I started at 10 years old, when I was copying Doogie Howser, which was my favorite TV show when I was a kid. Neil Patrick Harris is still a favorite, 31 years later.

Running on empty

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I was so mentally tired yesterday after battling with a difficult edit…I hate editing pieces from this particular xxx country. I always spend the entire day fixing their copies, fact-checking, etc. By 6 pm, I turned on my email auto reply that says it’s public holiday and I will be back on Monday. I usually do that to fend off the journos from this xxx country who have no sense of personal space. They did that last week when I was on holiday. I already have that auto reply and still they message me on MS Teams… 🤦🏻‍♀️

To help me destress, I turned to my sewing and finished my curtains for my own room. Hooray! Only three panels left to sew for the windows in the living room.

My hand-sewn curtains in my bedroom. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Since the curtains are now a bit thicker, hopefully my cats will be deterred from turning into Spidercats and climb up to the windows.

My 10-year-old cross-stitch project. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

To take a break from my curtain project, I took out my Mother and Infant cross-stitch project that I started when I was pregnant with my girls. A decade ago. Since I have more time now, I think I can finally finish this. I have a lot of finished cross-stitch projects that I need to have framed.

I’m going to see a pulmonologist today so I can be issued a medical certificate that says I have chronic respiratory disease. Good luck to me, I will be exposing myself to all things I can catch at the polyclinic near my apartment. 🙄

Still no sign of Duterte. Of course Bong Go posted some proof of life, as usual.

Proof of life?

If he’s still in Davao and not in a private room in a hospital in Singapore, why are the curtains drawn?

#NasaanAngPangulo(where is the president) #PatayNaBa (is he dead?) are trending for two days now.

Are we back to the Middle Ages?

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venetian traditional masks for sale in stall
Plague doctor mask. Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

My Facebook newsfeed has become an obituary page of sorts, with almost everybody posting that they have lost friends and family due to COVID-19. People are so desperate now that they’re willing to ingest veterinary anti-parasitic drugs to cure themselves or loved ones of COVID. The girls’ dad ordered from somewhere Lianhua Qingwen, a Chinese herbal medicine, which he claims to beat COVID, and had sent them to my maids (Because he perfectly knows I refuse to talk to him). I told the maids to tell him that 1) I am not paying for its delivery (because he told the maids I should pay for the delivery, scumbag) and 2) we are not taking that because it has not been approved by the FDA for COVID. It’s just not even an antiviral drug. The DOH also said it cannot be obtained without prescription, therefore, he got it from the black market. Chinese drugs from the black market…Dodgy is an understatement. I’d rather take Tamiflu, which is like PHP 107 per capsule, even if it is not enough to help cure COVID-19, but at least it can bring down the symptoms of influenza A and B that can occur with COVID.

Anyway, a fellow journo also related the story of his friend who tested positive for COVID and was symptomatic. Instead of going home and risk infecting his family or seeking medical help because hospitals now are bursting at the seams, he chose to isolate himself in his SUV and parked it outside his office in Camp Crame. He was found, with water and food provisions, dead inside his car that had its engine still running. When this journo last spoke to his friend over the phone, he said he could hear his friend was having a labored breathing. That’s how bad the situation is now. People are choosing to isolate inside their cars because we no longer have anywhere to go. We are effing trapped and this government just let us die.

Meanwhile…

Duterte is missing. He hasn’t appeared since his lewd birthday video and sham of a birthday picture were posted a few weeks ago. Cabinet officials have been cancelling press briefings. Duterte’s regular rant session has been cancelled several times in the past few days.

In other news: An Australian Royal Flying Doctor Service Hawker 800XP with call sign VH-RIO, a medivac jet, took off Diosdado Macapagal airport at 1051 Saturday, April 3, and landed three hours later at 1409 on Selatar Airport, Singapore.

a message sent to me by somebody

Members of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) have tested positive for COVID–and these guys were supposed to have been vaccinated illegally last year with Sinovac even before FDA approved it. FDA hasn’t even approved it for healthcare workers. And if Duterte is dying of COVID now, then Sinovac shouldn’t even be used on anyone. And now FDA is endangering our senior citizens by approving today Sinovac for use on people 60 years old and above…because we have run out of Astra Zeneca and this government is blocking the procurement of other vaccines.

“After considering the recommendation of the experts and the current situation of high COVID-19 transmission and limited available vaccines, the FDA is allowing the use of Sinovac on senior citizens,” FDA Director General Eric Domingo said in a text message to ABS-CBN News.

I’ve been told by another journo that Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año will no longer be able to get back to work as his COVID infection has become worse. An official of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (central bank) was in bad shape for weeks when he was at the Philippine General Hospital and last week he posted on Facebook (we are FB friends even before government service) that he is now recovering. They are the few privileged ones who have higher chances of survival because they can easily get hospital beds. The rest of us would have to take care of ourselves and we will play the Darwinian game of survival of the fittest.

Which reminds me, I should buy the PPEs and pulse oximeter now online before they run out.

J should get out of the country now before we are overrun by Covid. We are the worst in Asia Pacific right now. We even overtook Indonesia and China in terms of number of cases and deaths. Octa research projects that we will have 1 million cases by end of this month. Hospitals cannot take it anymore and HCWs are thinning out.

On the other side of the world, people are picking up their lives and are already moving on to tackle other issues like #StopAsianHate.

Stop Asian Hate rally: Man asks protester for her Instagram without realising it’s Rihanna

Power tripping

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A doctor cycling last Sunday was arrested by a stupid policeman for not wearing a face shield while riding. Of course the doctor resisted arrest since the DOH and IATF already issued memos that bike/motorcycle riders are exempted from wearing a face shield because this is more of a hazard than a protection.

Incidents like this add to my roiling anger deep inside. I called the attention of my colleagues in local media outfits like CNN Philippines, Philippine Star, etc. so that they would be able to cover this. The Philippine National Police is the center of all things corrupt and stupid since 2016. I just can’t stand this. I no longer know how to contain this anger.

Meanwhile, I’m trying my best to help in the donation drive for Silungang Molave, which has been turned into an isolation facility in UP Diliman. I spoke yesterday with Ms. Perlynn and asked for e-money and bank accounts where we can deposit our donations. She also said their priority now is to secure N95 masks and latex gloves.

Paymaya 09173009064 Aleli B Bagawan and GCash 09173009064 Ma. Fatima B. Sapno.

A cousin has just sent money from abroad and I sent half to UP and the rest will be used to buy masks and face shields for delivery guys and to hospitals that may need mattresses or PPEs.

So last night I slept again very late (2 am-ish?) I was booking my vaccine schedule and what I got was 11 April. My neighbors, one of whom is a cancer patient and her mom has several co-morbidities, were able to have theirs today and they were quick. Unfortunately, the venue I chose is one of the busiest and my neighbor said it took her classmate 5 hrs of waiting even if you booked your slot and got assigned to a specific time. So I may have to rebook this again because the 11th is my daughters’ birthday and I can’t be away for 5 hrs.

The email I received after booking my vaccination schedule last night.

I booked via EZConsult, Zuellig Pharma’s telemedicine platform that the Quezon City government is using. It’s easy to use and hopefully the backlogs in the vaccination centers would be ironed out soon. I also need to go to a pulmonologist by Friday so that my medical records can be pulled out of the polyclinic near my house where my recent records are. I need to present a medical certificate that I have chronic respiratory disease i.e. asthma to show at the vaccination center. Good thing also I scanned all my past Rx including Symbicort, which is used for asthma and COPD. I belong to A3 (18-59 years old with co-morbodities) that’s why I should be qualified to be included in this batch. I’m not really eager to get the China vax but you have to get what you can. I’m a single parent and my children have no one else but me.

I’m also preparing for the event that there might be COVID home care at some point so I will have to buy 1) pulse oximeter, 2) disposable and washable PPEs, 3) look for vendors of oxygen tanks, 4) stock up on flu and asthma medicines. The first two items can be ordered via Lazada. 3 and 4 can be obtained from Mercury. Being prepared can’t hurt because Philippines’ healthcare system is collapsing.

Doctors’ group laments ‘doomsday’ situation in Metro Manila hospitals

CNN Philippines file photo

Political parasites

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This guy is a partylist congressman, who is what I can call a political parasite/whore without any shame at all. I had interviewed him in the past a couple of times but I didn’t produce any story after those interviews because there was no substance at all. Such a waste of space.

Anyway, he has been spreading all over social media that he is freely giving away Ivermectin as cure for COVID-19. This idiot 1) wasted people’s money buying an anti-parasitic drug for animals that 2) could harm people taking it, especially with the wrong dosage. This is what the US FDA has to say about this:

Here’s What You Need to Know about Ivermectin

  • FDA has not approved ivermectin for use in treating or preventing COVID-19 in humans. Ivermectin tablets are approved at very specific doses for some parasitic worms, and there are topical (on the skin) formulations for head lice and skin conditions like rosacea. Ivermectin is not an anti-viral (a drug for treating viruses).
  • Taking large doses of this drug is dangerous and can cause serious harm. 
  • If you have a prescription for ivermectin for an FDA-approved use, get it from a legitimate source and take it exactly as prescribed. 
  • Never use medications intended for animals on yourself. Ivermectin preparations for animals are very different from those approved for humans. 

What we need are vaccines, not anti-parasitics drugs for horses! I just want to hit his face with my classmate’s urn.

Meanwhile, I’m presenting my haul from the last two Lazada sale (3.3 and birthday sale)…I got 480 pcs of sticker tiles to make my ugly bathroom more tolerable. My landlady didn’t even fix the bathroom when we moved in. I refuse to spend so much for tiles to make my bathroom more presentable. Even this already cost me PHP 3,000.

Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I just have to solve the problem of the floor tiles. I don’t know if re-grouting will solve its dingy-ness or I should waste money for something that is not mine and have the floor re-tiled. I don’t think my landlady will be willing to shoulder an expense like that for aesthetic reasons. Maybe I should just buy more exchange traded funds (ETF). I bought it at PHP 100 per share last week and now it’s at PHP 98.35. I have to even out my portfolio.

So I have to hold out and make do with what I have and be satisfied with just repainting/refreshing the walls of the apartment. I should save up until I have my lot and tiny house constructed. My friend just told me the other day that there is a 150 sqm lot that is for sale somewhere in our hometown for PHP 1.6m, which is a bit expensive given its location. Maybe I should look around some more. I wish I can drive to Anilao and check out some lots…

Patience. Patience. No one is chasing me. A better option will come up.

Another friend asked me, are you still angry? I said, hmmmm somewhat. If my anger is triggered, then I will be a seething tiger and I’ll be in a bad mood for two days. But most of the days I try to bury it and try to move on. I just pray that he doesn’t catch COVID and his lover doesn’t mangle his home care if ever gets sick of it–he has an abnormally high risk of heart attack due to elevated LDL. If she turns out to be that young bitch, then I don’t know if she can handle 24/7 care of another person while she is still very much under the supervision of her parents.

Taking care of critically ill loved ones requires you to put brakes on your own life. Their needs come first before your own. I’ve had experience taking care and raising premature infants in the neonatal ICU (they allowed me to stay there for more than a month since I had two infants). My children battled sepsis, pneumonia, and a host of other things for more than a month and everyday I didn’t know if they would live or die. I was running around Metro Manila and Laguna looking for blood for transfusions. I diligently monitored their O2 sats and heartbeats every moment I could while watching various tubes sticking into their bodies that were barely bigger than my hand. I didn’t cry at that time; I could not afford to be emotional during those days. I learned how to be level-headed and be lucid in times of intense emotional moments. I’ve also nursed my parents, especially my father, when he was in and out of the hospital for years. I don’t know how I was able to do those things. I’ve schooled myself to be a highly functional individual and learned to compartmentalize so I could cope. That’s why when my father died, I was the only one who was functioning in my family even if I only had three hours of sleep that entire week. I facilitated the legal procedures, the paperwork, the arrangements for the wake, the housekeeping, the financials, the cremation, etc. Then I crashed after all was said and done. I crash only when I allow myself to crash.

So would you help if he gets sick, my friend asked. I said if I’m asked to, I will. But I just wish he’d just leave the country soon because he’s going to be safer elsewhere than here because this country is going to the dogs. You still love him, don’t you, my friend said. I told him, that’s already a given, I’ve already come into terms with that; you don’t easily pull a switch and that is that. Unlike J, who just–poof!–love is gone. I wondered if he really even loved me. Maybe it was just infatuation.

I am just waiting for the moment that I will become indifferent. It has been almost four months. Four fucking long months. I wish i could just fast-forward time and be done with it.