Hope it works this time

GCQ with Alert Level System (ALS, a new acronym!) is supposed to push the re-opening of the economy, and I really hope this works because we’re near or are already at the end of our rope. Crime against property is reportedly on the rise, and chat groups are full of accounts and warnings about holdups and robberies, women drivers being targeted on the road and even in mall parking areas, as people are driven to desperation to feed their families.

But for the GCQ-ALS to work, guidelines must be clear and must be communicated effectively to the public. Implementation must also be efficient and effective. The national government seems to have left it up to the LGUs to carry out the granular lockdowns in their respective areas; does that mean each LGU will set its own rules? Will it be one positive case leading to a lockdown of a street or floor of a condo, or will it be two cases? And will people be given advance warning or will it be bulaga-lockdown ka na?
We’re all weary of quarantines and seesaw lockdowns. I earnestly hope this time it will be better managed than the past lockdowns that did not really achieve their purpose. We need to be able to live with this pesky virus, that’s the only way we can get our lives back. – Manuel Gomes, Pasay City