When the government fails the Filipinos, people power rises. Bayanihan at its finest.
Filipinos are accepting and have big hearts. We do not hesitate helping our brethren, be it our fellow countrymen or foreigners (white Russians, European Jews, and Vietnamese refugees come to mind). A lot went hungry when the government started imposing lockdowns again without enough or no financial support to the most vulnerable. So kind-hearted souls started a community pantry, in Maginhawa St, Quezon City.
The sign says “Give only based on what you can afford. Get only based on what you need.” According to anecdotal reports, no one or only a few abused this honesty system. There may be one or two who brought sacks but most only got what their family needs. The queues were long but everyone was disciplined.
This community pantry concept spread like wildfire nationwide. ❤️ It is so heartwarming. When the government failed, ordinary Filipinos rose up to the occasion to make sure no one goes hungry.
Farmers and fisherfolk donated to the community pantry. Excess produce and catch were given to those in need.
Of course dirty politicians will mess up this pure-hearted endeavor.
What this FB post says is that the barangay captain in Los Baños has been demonizing the founders/organizers of the local community pantry because they refused to play politics. The barangay captain wanted them to move the donations to the barangay hall/office so it would look like it’s his initiative. Or the donated goods will be repacked with his name/seal in it. Because politics.
DDS trolls began red-tagging the efforts, saying this is a communist move to brainwash the people. Of course they will tarnish the movement because this is a slap on the face of the Duterte administration that failed the people. It proved that the demon in Malacañang doesn’t fucking care and is just concerned about image and obsessed with bringing down critics.
As part of my continued support to the less fortunate, I will buy rice packs tomorrow and bring these to various community pantries around me.
Because we can’t let anyone die of hunger while we are privileged to be able to stay at home and live comfortably.
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:
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.
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.
So much for vaccine diplomacy. We should have had the 10 million Pfizer vaccines by now if DOH Sec Duque did not “forget” to sign the papers for their procurement. Some people in my industry say that the “dropping of the ball” happened to favor the China vaccines because no one in the country wanted to be vaccinated with it, based on polls. Now China dangles the Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines as part of their vaccine diplomacy in exchange for this:
Chinese vessels, believed to be crewed by Chinese maritime militia personnel, are seen at Whitsun Reef within the Philippine exclusive economic zone on Saturday [Philippine Coast Guard via Reuters]
The Philippine FDA hasn’t even approved the use of the Chinese vaccines for healthcare workers nor senior citizens nor those with co-morbidities and yet we have subjected our healthcare workers to these vaccines when there should have been better alternatives.
Given the blatant disregard for Philippine sovereignty and the evil Philippine president has already sold the country to China, Defense chief Delfin Lorenzana is breaking away from the stance of the Duterte administration and has given hostile statements against China for the second time. Usually whenever Lorenzana issues statements like these in the past, he comes back to recant his statement or divert the issue after probably being scolded from above. This time he can’t take it anymore and continues to be on the offensive.
Meanwhile, I’ve learned from a veteran journo in my FB network, Quezon City has started the vaccination for senior citizens and residents with co-morbidities. I signed up via the Zuellig platform, which handles the database for QC. I learned that asthma is counted as one of the comorbidity, making me and my daughters high-risk residents. I just tried but I’m not counting on it since there are more vulnerable citizens in my area.
Ikaw ba ay kabilang sa A3 Priority Group? Ito ang mga indibidwal na 18-59y/o na may controlled comorbidities (chronic respiratory disease, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, cerebrovascular disease, malignancy, diabetes, obesity, at iba pa) pic.twitter.com/lo71gpXm6R
I hope my hometown is able to procure as well so that my mom, a senior citizen, and my brother (who has hypertension) can be vaccinated soon.
At the home front, I finished the curtains for the girls’ room and are now hanging there:
I’m quite proud of my handiwork. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I’m now finishing mine so that I can hang it in my room about three days from now. Sushi always accompanies me while I sew. She always sleeps at my feet or at my chair’s headrest.
My cats could not leave me alone. My girls are now protesting, “Mommy, why is that they always stay with you but not with us?!”
MY babies. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Hmmm, I should restain the floorboards with varnish. They get so much wear because of my rolling chair.
I timed my walk-jog in UP Diliman this evening to coincide with the Black Friday Press Freedom protest. I missed the first one held in Scout Area last week because I was covering the BSP Bankers Night.
The press has been under heavy attack since Duterte came into power. Incessant attacks on Philippine Daily Inquirer (and its owners) forced the Prietos to sell the opposition paper to businessman Ramon Ang (San Miguel Corp [PSE:SMC] president). Now Rappler is under threat with the revocation of its registration by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). ABS-CBN’s franchise is in danger of being not renewed…because broadcast franchises are hostaged by Congress (really archaic rule, by the way).
We are living in dangerous times. Anyone critical of this administration is being silenced, be it on social media, in mainstream media, or even in the streets of this country.
Everyday is a struggle but we must not lay down our arms. Once we give up, we will let ourselves die a slow and painful death.
Some bankers have asked me what do I think about Rappler’s Philippine Depositary Receipts. As an SEC/PSE reporter, I have my own take on it, which may be separate from the issue on hand. But this does not negate the fact that this administration is out to get us those who criticizes its policies and actions.
I will post later my opinion about the PDRs, which I had first posted on Facebook.
My head is aching right now. I could not write a single word for work. I’ve been having a hard time sleeping here in Singapore because martial law has been declared over the southern region back home. And just as I suspected, the president has been wanting to declare it since November. Now he has the perfect excuse to do it.
Published May 24, 2017 6:43pm
By TRISHA MACAS, GMA News
President Rodrigo Duterte has thought of declaring martial law as early as November to combat ISIS, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Wednesday.
“Actually, matagal na iyan pinag-iisipan ni Presidente iyan. Matagal na naming pinag-uusapan iyan,” he told reporters in NAIA after Duterte gave a press briefing.
Lorenzana said they advised the President against it.
“In fact, iyong pumunta kami sa Butig last year, sinabi niya na, ‘You prepare for martial law. Pero saan ba ito? Island by island ba or whole Mindanao or Philippines?’ Sabi namin hindi pa naman dapat. So the thought process niya nangyari na eh long ago pa,” he added.
Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao on Tuesday while he was on an official visit in Russia.
He cut his trip short and arrived in Manila on Wednesday afternoon. —NB, GMA News
As a communicator and as person who lived towards the end of the repressive regime of Ferdinand Marcos, I applaud that the ordinary people are given the power to express themselves and not be subjected to the caprices and sometimes questionable filters used by some media gatekeepers to be able to have their voices heard.
However, there are limits to this freedom: your freedom ends when you are already stepping on another person’s own freedom.
Facebook and Twitter (but more of Facebook) have become toxic places for public discourse as these now sow hate among users. It has become an effective vehicle for misinformation of a population that has become a parody of some sort. The bullies are now silencing whoever is opposing them; sowing fear or ambivalence among those who have become wary or tired of offering contrary views.
And it doesn’t help matters that the owner of Facebook is playing god.
Norway’s largest newspaper has published a front-page open letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, lambasting the company’s decision to censor a historic photograph of the Vietnam war and calling on Zuckerberg to recognize and live up to his role as “the world’s most powerful editor”.