PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday said the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the country is now “fading away” and everyone can now “go back to work” and “go back to our normal lives.”
The President made the statement during a welcome ceremony hosted for him at the Hacienda Bubog in Talisay City, Negros Occidental before the start of the Masskara Festival.
Marcos flew to Negros Occidental to attend the Masskara Festival in Bacolod City.
Such festivities, he said, do not only boost the tourism industry but also give people a chance to go out and celebrate.
“It is a good thing to remind people that the pandemic may have been difficult, the pandemic really put us through the ringer, but we are back. The pandemic is fading away. We are learning to manage it and now it is time for us to all go back to work, to all go back to our normal lives, to remind ourselves of all the opportunities that were before us,” Marcos said.
He noted that the Masskara festival was born of a sad period in the history of Bacolod — during a sugar crisis, and after the tragic sinking of a vessel during the Christmas season. But despite the tragedies, the province adapted and recovered.
“That is why the Masskara festival has taken on such a life of its own because once again, it is the symbol of our reemergence from a crisis, our reemergence from a very, very difficult time, and that’s what Masskara was created for,” he said
The President said he expects the Masskara festival to also symbolize the country’s recovery from the COVID -19 pandemic, noting that businesses have started reopening and people are now going out of their homes.
Marcos said the people are now also managing and learning to live with COVID-19.
“This is a perfect manifestation of the change in our mindset in the Philippines. It is what we have been trying to promote, and that’s why we have tried very hard to remind people that it is time again, as I said, to bring us back to where we were before and even to go further,” he said.
“To know that we, although things are difficult, there’s no denying that, nonetheless it is time for us to go back and exercise once again, show once again the Filipino resilience, the Filipino resourcefulness, the Filipino industry, the Filipino talent,” he added.
During the festival, the President was accompanied by Tourism Secretary Cristina Frasco, Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr., and Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos, among others as they watched the series of colorful dances and the performance of local songs.
They, including the President, did not wear any face masks.
“Ipinakita ninyo sa pag-celebrate ng Masskara Festival, ngayong nakaraang ilang linggo, ipinakita ninyo sa buong Pilipinas at sa buong mundo na tayo dito sa Pilipinas ay nakabalik na, handa na bumalik sa trabaho (In celebrating the Masskara Festival, you have shown in the past weeks that the Philippines has returned, you showed the world that the Philippines is now ready to return to work),” Marcos said.
“Tayo ay bumalik na sa eskwelahan ang ating mga kabataan at tayo ay babalik na sa ating dating ginagawa na pagandahin at pataasin ang ekonomiya ng pilipinas para maging mas maginhawa ang buhay ngbawat Pilipino (Our children have returned to school, and we are returning to our previous efforts to improve and upgrade the economy of the Philippines to improve the lives of the Filipinos),” he added.
The President also said that if the people of Bacolod can hold festivities as big as the Masskara festival, he expects that other provinces in the country can do the same soon.
Marcos also expects that the recovery from the coronavirus disease pandemic would be sustained and continue nationwide.
“Kung kaya nilang gawin ang MassKara Festival sa Bacolod, dapat tayong lahat din ay ganyan din na bumangon na tayo at dahil ang aking pangako sa inyo ay tuloy-tuloy ang ating pagbabangon (If they can have the MassKara Festival in Bacolod, all of us should also be able to rise up and my promise to you is that we will continue to rise),” he said.
COVID WAVES
The independent OCTA Research yesterday said the waves of COVID-19 cases are becoming more difficult to predict as compared to previous years since the pandemic started due to the presence of multiple variants and subvariants.
In an online media forum, OCTA fellow Guido David said that “this year, it has become more challenging to monitor variants, subvariants. In the past, variants come one at a time. Now, the variants and subvariants come at the same time.”
“We also can’t project easily when will the subvariant or variant reach the country. It is really possible to have successive surges in cases because of these variants,” he also said.
David cited as an example the recent detection of Omicron XBB subvariant and XBC variant cases in the country.
He said the detected number of cases of the said variants and subvariants were already felt last month but were only detected recently.
“As we all know and experienced, every time there is a more transmissible variant emerging, we experience waves,” said David, adding: “We didn’t even know that this XBB has caused a wave and now has local transmission.”
Because of this, the OCTA fellow said it has become more imperative for everybody to maintain adherence to the health protocols.
“We can’t be living in fear. It will never reach zero cases. As long as most of the cases are mild, we will just be living with the virus. It is no longer avoidable,” he said.
“I know we have pandemic fatigue. But it is important for everyone to remain protected when living with the virus,” added David. — With Gerard Naval
