Flu and frustration

Tell us it isn’t true that the President is toying with the idea of maintaining her power even after 2010. Many have surmised of her plans after 2010 but she has kept mum about it. Is her silence a sign of submission to the haka-haka of the people? Or is she playing the silence game to keep the people guessing? Madame you better say something so that these cockeyed ideas can be shot down in flames before it sends panic and confusion throughout the entire archipelago.

We have literally become the “sick man of Asia” by having the most number of AH1N1 cases. But in reality not only are we sick due to the virus but “sick” to the tee. We’re still lagging behind our Asian neighbors in the fight against crime, the alleviation of poverty, the struggle to keep Filipino overseas workers home from the diaspora. We may have recovered our self-confidence through an inch of progress but what about our self-respect.

The level of frustration on government services remains very high. A major part of it revolves around the poor performance and morale of our government agencies and their corrupt, ego-tripping, self-centered leaders. When a citizenry can’t trust the policeman, the LTO, BIR, their municipality and even the local barangay tanod nor have confidence in the criminal justice system of their courts, then we’re still a “sick” society.

I disagree with Chief Justice Reynato Puno when he said in his speech (during the Philippine Independence Day celebration) last week that with our sorry state of the nation, the Filipinos have no reason to celebrate Independence Day. Even if there is still a lot of work to be done, to the state of our nation, we should continue to celebrate the good things our forefathers achieved for this country. In fact, these historical events should remind us of the good that has beset our nation. We need to have courage, fortitude and with God’s grace, enough wisdom to lead us over the rough patches we are going through right now. 

If there is disunity, it is more evident amongst the people in government, Congress and the Senate who are pulling this country to an abyss. Every Juan dela Cruz across the globe has a reason to celebrate. We are united in heart and spirit. We need to remember that liberty was our goal and nationhood, our birthright. And thus our flag, a brave banner which fluttered over the foxholes of Bataan, the guerilla bivouacs of the Japanese Occupation, over our legislature, government buildings and schools throughout this archipelago in the decades past, remain the symbols of our unity and our destiny.

We must never ever forget that our national flag (the sun and the three stars) was consecrated by both blood and sweat and must be a constant reminder of our duties and the challenges of today and tomorrow.

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Finally, the President must pick up her baton and direct the government’s major efforts toward waging the Forgotten War – the war against pollution. We are one of the most polluted countries in this planet drowning in garbage and poisonous fumes, from vehicles and industrial waste. Many persons, particularly in the damp, recurrent heat, and humidity of the rainy season are coughing their lungs out. Our hospitals are full of patients suffering from asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, pneumonitis and viral disorders – currently dengue and AH1N1. There is a terrible “flu” epidemic which saps not only the body but the spirit. All of these stem from our criminally polluted state.

“Flu” should never be underestimated – just like the bacteria and viruses in the halls of our Congress and Senate (now attacking each other). Historians will remember the horrible Spanish flu which decimated Europe just at the end of World War I, killing thousands. That flu epidemic may, indeed, have changed the course of history. America’s victorious President Woodrow Wilson, in the very hour of his triumph, caught that vicious flu just as he was putting together the postwar League of Nations, an organization (preceding the United Nations) designed to end all wars. The flu so crippled Wilson (the vigorous, energetic and dynamic leader) that he virtually retired from active work even while he remained in office, and the disease soon led to his death.

So what is our Health Department doing about the AH1N1 pandemic? We only hear them on TV telling us the statistics and giving us information about the virus. Is that it? This is exactly how our government works – all lip service. All talk, little action! Look at the Dengue case. There have been disquieting outbreaks of the fast-killing Dengue Fever not only in Metro Manila but around the country. Why has this Hemorrhagic Fever been permitted to reach epidemic proportions? It has been over 20 years now since the dengue outbreak have surfaced and now it is even getting worse.

The Department of Health and local mayors and governors must rush to the rescue, coordinate their acts, to clean up every likely place where those low-flying, deadly mosquitoes which carry the acutely febrile virus proliferate. 

Our Department of Health mustn’t wait for miracles. It must go into action now! Give out more advisories about what citizens, establishments and schools must do. In the airport alone, I do not understand why they just get the temperature of the passengers. They must give a handout to every foreign visitor, “balikbayan” or any Filipino coming from abroad containing preventive measures. This will create awareness and limit the spread of the AH1N1 virus.

This flu epidemic – pandemic (dengue and AH1N1 and the other viruses flitting around) is striking at men and women from all walks of life – executives, professionals, children and delaying school openings. This is a “polluted” country. You can see the pollution, smell it in the air so thick you choke. You can’t even drink water from the tap without wondering what water-borne germs will attack your intestinal tract.

Sadly, in our politics-riddled government, with big shots and bureaucracies fighting for turf, nobody seems to care.