Letter To The Editor: Outbreak in Tuburan

The typhoid outbreak in Tuburan was a sad incident. To say that it was sad is even an understatement. When news of it started to break, I immediately went to the hospital, as a concerned Tuburanon, to see how I could help.

At first, people were coming in one after the other at an interval of probably an hour. But suddenly people were arriving in twos and threes and the interval was becoming shorter and shorter. At this point, I felt my heartbeat’s interval starting to become shorter as well only to realize that I was in panic.

Since the disease is spread through water, I started to entertain the thought that what if people will be arriving in hundreds. I mean, how many people could have drunk that contaminated water in a time. Not to discredit the doctors and nurses in the district hospital of Tuburan who responded appropriately, but considering the limited resources of said hospital, I thought Tuburan was in big trouble.

But as expected, help immediately came from Governor Gwen Garcia and her brother the congressman of the third district Pablo John “PJ” Garcia. At the onset of the outbreak, they were present to lend assistance to the poor people afflicted with the disease. They assured the patients that they were going to give free medicines and shoulder the hospitalization. If they were to be referred to Vicente Sotto they could avail of the medical assistance from the funds of Congressman PJ Garcia. To address the problem from the source, he assured the people that he will allocate funds for a chlorinator.

The political differences between the Garcia’s and Mayor Diamante did not keep the former from helping the people of the town. I could see that for them, when it comes to public service, politics is of no consideration.

My only dismay was that Mayor Diamante, who we thought as the father of Tuburan, was nowhere to be found when his people needed him the most. He only sent his brother, the councilor, to assess the situation. In fairness to him, he did what he can. But as the mayor, he could have effectively helped the Tuburanons as he could command the mobilization of the town’s resources. The mayor’s absence seems to suggest that he is avoiding being with the Garcia’s despite the urgent need for his presence.

If Governor Gwen Garcia and Congressman PJ Garcia and even Mayor Adlawan and Vice Mayor Dumdum of Asturias, like him who also had previous engagements, were able to lend assistance immediately, then there is no reason for him not to be there. As mayor and father of the town, he should have been there before anyone else was.

They say in a relationship, if you don’t take good care of your partner, somebody else will.