It’s sad, really, really sad.
Thousands of people are dying in our country due to Covid.
When the pandemic first broke out at the beginning of the year 2020, no one expected that our agony would be prolonged. My family was glued on tv waiting for the news regarding the vaccine’s progress.
We thanked the heavens and scientists profusely when the vaccines were finally out.
It’s good that vaccines have reached some of our countrymen’s arms but are not enough to give us herd immunity.
Many, due to misinformation, don’t want to be vaccinated because baka daw merong possible side effects.
Guys, since the day you were born, count how many vaccines have you had? Anti-polio, anti-measles, anti pertussis, flu vaccines, anti-rabies, anti-tetanus, anti-shingles, anti-pneumonia. Aside from that, how many injections have you had? Lahat nun hindi nyo alam kung ano effect sa inyo.
I just spoke to my sister yesterday, she told me her classmate in high school died 3 days after feeling sick. She didn’t want to be vaccinated baka daw kasi merong side effects. She died. Sayang, she could still be alive, who knows. At least merong panglaban.
I also spoke to Gilbert yesterday, he lost his wife to Covid two weeks ago. They both didn’t want to get vaccinated. Meron daw blood clotting and heart attack pag nagpabakuna. Ewan saan nya narinig yan.
He said gettig sick of Covid was tough. Phlegm engulfed his whole lungs that’s why he couldn’t breathe but his body was strong he survived a grueling fight for his life. Unfortunately, his wife was the weaker one.
I also spoke to my former classmate Rey, the owner of Grand Monaco Development. He, his son Jerome, and his youngest daughter got the virus. He didn’t know how and where. He said they seldom went out and he conducted his business meetings mostly over the phone.
They were fully vaccinated last month with Sinovac.
His two kids were asymptomatic. Rey was having chills and fever at night so on the 3rd day, they called an ambulance to bring him to a hospital. Walang mga bakante. Asian Hospital was putting him in a tent. Buti na lang he found a friend who owns a big hospital in General Trias Cavite.
They didn’t have the required medicines so Rey’s family was the one sourcing for Remdesivir, etc. from different pharmacies. His first 5 days were the toughest according to him. Thrice he thought he would just die. He couldn’t breathe, para syang naghihingalo, ang lalim na daw ng hugot nya parang wala pang hangin. Eh kasi balot na pala ng plema ang lungs nya. He started feeling better after a week and was discharged on the 15th day.
What made it tougher for him was hearing other patients crying in pain and wailing. At least 3 died each day in that hospital during the 15 days Rey was confined. There were three who just gave up, removing the oxygen, dextrose, etc. Nagpakamatay na lang daw. They couldn’t bear the suffering anymore add that to the agony of not knowing where to get the money to buy those P 50,000 medicines. And that’s daily.
Rey is now recuperating in his residence in Alabang. He spent a total of P1,500,000 for his hospitalization, medicines, and other medical expenses. He is not yet back to his old self. Mabilis daw syang mapagod at hinihingal sya kahit konti lakad lang sa loob ng bahay. His doctor told him it could take two to three months before he could regain his old strength.
Our dentist Beth is sick of covid. They are fully vaccinated with AstraZeneca. Her husband Art got exposed to their house boy. And nahawa si Beth syempre kasi they stay in the same bedroom. Art’s on his 11th day at the Lourdes Hospital while Dr. Beth is outpatient but she goes to the hospital every day for Remdesivir infusions, and CT Scan, chest x-ray She’s lucky because her daughter is a doctor of medicine. She narrates her heartbreaking experiences while at the Emergency Room each time. She describes the scenes like it’s doomsday. Patients crying, nonstop wailings of relatives whose loved ones have died.
I cannot imagine the tremendous grief people are going through. At grabe naman ang mahal ng mga gamot. Bakit? Paano na yung mga walang pera?
1. A classmate of mine spent two months in the hospital and luckily he survived with P4M cost.
2. Another one survived and spent two weeks in the hospital, spent P 800,000
3. Gilbert and Wife —– Wife died, Gilbert survived, spent P 500,000.
4. Rey, 15 days in the hospital in Cavite, spent P1.5M
5. A female school teacher in Rizal spent all her hard-earned life savings of 500,000 and still, she lost her life.
and the list goes on.
The amount of money a patient has to raise is staggering. May sakit ka na nga worried ka pa kung saan kukuha ng limpak limpak na salapi para ibili ng gamot na daang libo isang araw? At ang nurse daw ay P5,000 per day. At bakit naman daw naging 65,000 pesos ang gamot na Tocilizumab. Hindi ba genocide na yan?
Instead of buying face shields and face masks from China, we could’ve used the bilyong-bilyong pera
to buy Remdesivir, and other required medicines directly from the manufacturer with no kickbacks, for the boys, etc. We could have used some to support the medical workers, the nurses the doctors. We could have built dozens of decent isolation and quarantine facilities, health centers.
The challenge is how to minimize the overpricing of the project contractors to allow for their huge profits and commissions to those officials approving the projects.
I wish we could have also used some of the billions in constructing schools that double as emergency evacuation centers. Ang problema naman dito, laging may commission ang mga officials.
It’s not the government’s fault that we have a pandemic. But it’s their fault that they are not able to handle the situation properly. There is no true leader here.
I have no more words to describe the tragedy we Filipinos are facing. This is the time when we need competent, honest, hardworking, true government officials na merong seryosong malasakit sa taong bayan. Our country is sulking in despair and desolation. People are dying.
Five days ago I watched on Netflix the documentary November 23 Attack on Paris.
It was a tragedy ending with 140 lives lost and at least 800 wounded due to multiple terrorist attacks. The way their officials handled the situation and response was something to be admired. No fanfare, no grandstanding, no pa macho macho na “uubusin ko kayo”, or pa gwapo, “isang bala ka lang”, “mga p_tang_i_a nyo”. The French President Francois Hollande announced a state of emergency. His speech was short and simple but has depth. They immediately mobilized the police, hospitals, ambulances, SWAT, and within minutes did a crisis management meeting. The decision-making was swift and decisive. I don’t wish that something like that happens here or anywhere in the world but I am just saying that the French government officials conducted the crisis professionally, competently, and moved with solidarity.
I wish our leaders are like that too. We are in a state of emergency. And what are they doing?
