Quarantined Thoughts 19 March 2020

 Quarantined Thoughts 

Day 4/March 19, 2020

Time: 10: 10 A.M.

Place: La Paz, Iloilo City

 

*I don't want to sound like a privileged individual while some of my fellow Filipinos have been struggling to feed their families and keeping this pesky COVID19 at bay at the same time. 

 

*But no one is ready to be "imprisoned" like this for 14 days or for a month. This isolation might even take longer than expected. Let me say that staying in a room in a hometel could be suffocating and downright boring with the television, that is tuned in to news most of the time, and Facebook, which is the source of some of my amusements and some news, as the means to contact the outside world (Does it sound apocalyptic, monasteric?).

 

*Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Trenas has been efficiently running the COVID19 prevention program and I truly appreciate his efforts in keeping the city virus-free. At least, I don't have to needlessly worry about the situation here while being holed up in one of the hometels in the city.  But he has to place the city on lockdown soon before it's too late. My only worry is that I will need to go out to buy provisions and medicine.   

 

*As far as my families and friends in Bacolod, in Bulacan and other parts of the country and the world are concerned, everybody is doing fine. They are keeping themselves healthy and safe which is enough for me to stay worry-free. 

 

*I've submitted yesterday the grades of my UPHSI students on CRS. With the suspension of online classes until April 14, I have no other preoccupation.  However, this hasn't stopped me from creating my own daily routine which, I believe, is helpful in this time of the pandemic. I've got my alarm set at 6 A.M. to start the day and from there it rolls until I hit the sack around 10 or 11 P.M. depending on the news or the happenings on Facebook.

 

*During this time, I've developed a fondness for the Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto for his quick-response scheme and his proactive leadership. Who would have known that his positive action would lead me to view him as a potential president that this country badly needs? I just hope that there are other leaders like him who would step-up and perform their duties well. Unfortunately, I have to wait ten years before I can vote for Vico to be the next president. So, I really need to survive this pandemic, that's why I'm willingly staying in this room until this quarantine is over. 

 

*Mel Garcia, my former batchmate at DLSU-Manila, has been helpful in various discussions, both serious and humorous, as I ride this out. At most, he is very supportive of my advocacy for Vico Sotto for president. Most of the time we chat about the pandemic, our disappointment of the situation and the way it's being managed by the national government, and the proliferation of fake news that he happily verifies with his biophysicist friends. 

 

*Lovella Divinagracia and her family sent cake and spaghetti last Tuesday as they celebrated the birthday of their son, Patrick, who passed on to become an angel a few years ago due to an illness. They are my family here in Iloilo, and as they also try to keep themselves healthy in their home, I keep in touch with Ms. Love every now and then for some updates.

 

*What I worry about is the discovery that there might be asymptomatic people (like Migz Zubiri) who are going around without knowing that they are carriers of the virus. Since there is no testing being done as of yet, I'm afraid that the numbers might increase exponentially until it's too late to really contain the pandemic. I hope that I'm wrong.

 

* I'm using this quarantine as time to write anything- poems, short stories, research- to keep my mind busy since "an idle mind is the workshop of the devil". I don't want to be depressed or bored while keeping myself isolated. This is the perfect time to focus on writing which is what I love best.

 

*There are so many organizations, including the ones from the university where I teach, that contribute to the campaigns for more protective gears and other provisions for the frontliners. I just wish that I could also do that. 

 

*I devote time to pray and meditate. This helps me keep my spirituality and strengthen my mental health. In this time, our only weapon, aside from a healthy immune system, is our mind. I try to keep it active and focus on those things that I can do.

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