Lockdown has been extended to the end of the month. This is, after all, a life-and-death emergency, caused by a never-before encountered—novel, as it is in fact called—virus; it is best, indeed, to err on the side of prudence.

As suddenly as it was imposed, and with no end in view, this lockdown caught everybody unprepared.

One worries naturally for the daily wager—the hand-to-mouth street vendor, the tricycle driver, etc. My newspaper delivery boy and my pan de sal baker are themselves unsure where to get their sustenance if they didn’t go to work.

A friend’s kasambahay, a single mother, took her usual every other weekend off just before lockdown to be with her son in nearby Cavite, little knowing that one home trip would mean home quarantine and cost her her old paying job.

My own driver, who had no regular dependents but stood ready to help his old needy folks, couldn’t come to work, quarantined, too. He rents a room in Cubao, but holds a Makati ID, and that makes him ineligible for cash or food aid from the Quezon City government. We sent him a full month’s pay.

But who’s to know what lies ahead? One thing certain was the poor and their dependents, unless the government stepped in quickly with subsidy, would face a fate more certain than the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) but just as deadly and more undignified—starvation. Can we blame them if they defy the lockdown in search of sustenance?

Ill-prepared

The hospitals, the health workers, and even medical doctors seemed themselves ill-prepared to deal with the virus. As front-liners, they come closest to its carriers, real and probable; without proper protective gear and reliable testing kits they don’t have that one possibly life-saving step ahead of the virus.

In these times, one doctor’s death, or one nurse’s or one front-liner’s, is one death too many. In our region, it’s a shame to have the highest mortality among health workers. We also have overtaken the twice more populous Indonesia for the number of COVID-19 cases, and we have only begun testing. The good news is, the increase in cases seems to have slowed.

The least the government can do is prioritize the concerns of front-liners. Without them, we’re all helpless against the virus. And when the vaccine comes they should have first access to it. I just hope the vaccines don’t go the way of testing kits, which, as scarce yet critically needed as they were, went first to politicians and their families.

This practice seems to continue, and we have no reason not to believe the foreign secretary when he says that all visitors to Malacañang are tested every time they come.

In case we have forgotten our own rights to make demands of government, Sen. Leila de Lima, who has lost most of hers, having been in illegal detention, denied bail, for more than three years now, sent a reminder from Crame: We are within our rights to demand of this government basic services, subsidy and transparency—it owes us.

El que no llora no mama. He who doesn’t cry gets no milk. I doubt we’ll ever get a formal accounting of the P275 billion emergency fund if we don’t cry out for it. He is even threatening to borrow more or sell government assets. He says the government is broke again. My husband has just reminded me: Duterte had more than a trillion pesos left in the treasury by his predecessor, President Noynoy Aquino. Dare I ask whatever happened to it?

Goodness and generosity

More than the pandemic, I dread this government’s alliance with China. The treasonous surrender of rich territorial waters to it and the puzzling delay amid the pandemic of the travel ban on its nationals—logical carriers of the virus, having come from its geographical source—should be enough evidence of the unhealthiness of that alliance.

Through all this there are always people, rich and poor, who never cease to amaze with their goodness and generosity. At the forefront are the usual religious who have always been there for the poor.

Just as consistent is our vice president, who has been reaching out to help the farthest and poorest. She claims to be simply filling the gaps, but, with her small budget, it’s truly amazing what she’s been able to do. Particularly admirable is her ability to produce protective gear and transport, and secure dormitories for front-liners, and also supply them with daily food packs.

Another surprise is the emergence of young, proactive mayors. Promptly responding to the emergency with a nobility of spirit and a high sense of innovation, yet meager resources, they definitely show up the national leadership.

But, personally, the most welcome shock is the number of seniors who have beaten the virus.