‘… Metro Manila and other urban areas may yet be assaulted by another COVID surge during or after the Christmas holidays. It may be a dreary and not a bright or joyful Christmas, after all.’
BECAUSE COVID-19 is still everywhere, especially the more communicable Delta variant, easing of health restrictions, with children allowed to go out and the reopening of amusement centers will likely recreate the malls as new breeders for the virus spread. The holiday atmosphere will bring bigger crowds to more enclosed spaces at the malls and at countless restaurants.
Unless strict enforcement of health protocols, along with the limited number of people are observed at all times, Metro Manila and other urban areas may yet be assaulted by another COVID surge during or after the Christmas holidays. It may be a dreary and not a bright or joyful Christmas, after all.
The cycle interrupted occasionally by decreasing infections has regularly returned with a vengeance. A huge throng of children descended on the Mall of Asia the other day, their parents forced to ignore the basic protocols as their wards turned uncontrollable.
This government refuses to break from tradition that it trusts to bring profits to businesses weighed down by an economy staggering under incompetence and corruption. Its myopic sense of economic recovery in a vicious health environment exposes an unsteady imbalance towards the people’s suffering and uncertainty. Instead of taking advantage to orient our children in the essentials of the birth of our Lord we are out to restore the inviting glitter of toys galore and recreational fun to their hearts and minds. It is, after all, the sights and sounds of holiday merriment that the kids have relished, but who should otherwise start to look at life with some meaning in the midst of the country’s deep crisis.
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The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee should live up to the public’s expectations and, above all, to its constitutional duty by conducting a probe on the Malampaya natural gas field that supplies 40% of Luzon’s energy requirement and businessman Dennis Uy. Sen. Dick Gordon should pursue a similarly incisive inquiry in the face of Presidential wrath that the Pharmally investigation by the committee he chairs had triggered.
News sources have supported Joanne Christine Marcenas’ FB post: “The shares of Chevron and Shell were sold to Udenna Corp, owned by Dennis Uy, a campaign backer of Duterte since 2016. Uy now owns 90% of Malampaya The agreement for the project stated that if Chevron and Shell would like to sell their interest, they will first have to offer it to the Philippine government, which did not happen at all. Atty. Rodis, one of those who filed a complaint against Energy Secretary Cusi and Uy, said that the Department of Energy failed to do its job by approving the sale of shares to a company that didn’t even meet the technical and financial qualifications for handling a natural gas field. Note that Udenna entered this contract without any assets and a P100 billion debt loan. It also has a zero track record in handling operations of a gas power plant. Since everything is on loan, Udenna has nothing to lose. It is not liable for any blunder because it has no investments in this agreement. Udenna also now has control over the largest enterprise in the country.”
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From Mark Twain: “Kindness is the language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”
