“Shoot them dead.”
April 3, 2020
So it’s almost the end of the third week of the ECQ. For some reason, Week 2 and 3 kind of just whizzed past by in a stressful blur. I don’t know if it’s just me. I managed to finish all the stuff I’m meant to do for work. I made it my personal goal to be done by the third week so I can just spend the last week…dilly dallying around. Not that I haven’t dilly dallied enough for the past weeks.
It’s not like I can’t see much from where I am right now at my parents’ house in Antipolo. The areas around have been locked down. I’ve only been to a grocery store nearby. There has been no announcement yet on whether the lockdown will be extended or if we will push through with the scheduled lifting of the lockdown on April 12.
So March ended just like that, now it’s April. But the month changing doesn’t seem to matter anyway, when we’re on quarantine.
The past few weeks have been anxiety-inducing, I’m not gonna lie. Tuning in to the news everyday, then being made to just sit at home, unable to do anything. We’re all battling an unseen enemy, but since this crisis started it’s been clear that we have another more formidable enemy at hand—the incompetence of this government. Most of the leaders (of the LGUs and national) have been running around aimlessly, like their heads have been cut off. Then they gang up on those who are actually doing their job. Too much politicizing, not enough solutions. Then amidst all this chaos, what do we get? Threats of force. Fantastic.
What really gets to me is how this administration still has enablers and supporters despite their obvious incompetence. How can they still try to justify each and every shortcomings? Then we also have the politically apathetic, who are either also blind like the supporters or who simply just don’t give a rat’s ass about what’s happening around. They usually start with a disclaimer like “Hindi ako DDS or Dilawan…” as an effort to be neutral perhaps, then they’d proceed to scoff at the idea of speaking out and resisting and end their post with some bullshit quote about love or positivity. I wonder how these people live with themselves.
Days before the quarantine was announced and implemented, I had a lot of thoughts about what’s going on that I wrote them all down on a note on my phone. I was supposed to post in on Facebook but it’s one of those things when you’re overcome by emotion that you type something out then you take a deep breath to steady yourself and when your mind’s all clear you decide not to post it. But now reading it I still stand by it. Here it goes:
Yes, this pandemic is concerning. A lot of people are suffering and dying, particularly the geriatrics. Yes, we should take action and observe A LOT of precautionary measures. The community transmissions are scary. But what’s scarier is how it’s bringing out the absolute WORST in people. All the unnecessary panic and fear mongering and the ridiculous hoarding of basic necessities. It’s like each man for himself and it shouldn’t be. Then there are those people spreading unverified shit to everyone just so they can say that they were the first one to spread the news. If this rumoured lockdown takes place and we’re all stuck at home, maybe we can all reflect on putting the same energy they’re pouring on this issue on the following:
- finally do something about wildlife trade that started this whole suck-fest in the first place;
- the still staggering global suicide rates because of mental health stigma (that still claim the lives of thousands each year);
- deaths caused by violence against women (again, still claim thousands of victims each year);
- climate change (which WILL literally kill us all in a few years HELLO???);
- world hunger (that affects MILLIONS).
Now, three weeks on, I’ve got another one for us Filipinos. How about after all this, we pour our energy into…
6. getting a new government.
Strange Little Girl 