‘Naguit’s family should file a
criminal complaint against the private hospital while the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, of which Naguit was an accredited member for many years, should conduct an immediate investigation.’
THE festive Christmas weekend has caused COVID cases to rise once again. In Marikina City, face masks were ignored, especially at restaurants, fastfood outlets, and convenience stores. Those loaded with liquor forgot about putting them back on.
At our neighborhood in Barangay Fortune, it has become fashionable, even before Alert Level 3 was declared, for unmasked people to walk around or congregate at former depressed communities (looban) and in the streets, as if to show they are not vulnerable to the deadly virus that has felled tens of thousands of Filipinos, including the fully-vaccinated.
These areas were particularly chaotic on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, marked by large numbers of “palaro,” heavy drinking, and wild videoke singing until late into the night.
The overworked police and barangay tanods had been tied up with crime incidents that picked up during the holidays, as well as the apprehension over the persistent danger posed by COVID-19 and the Omicron variant. Local officials chose to look the other way and declined to be fun-spoilers during a major traditional celebration that may otherwise cost them not a few votes during the coming elections.
Pinoys belong to the great majority in poor countries that contribute to the state of miserable poverty through widespread and deliberate violation of laws and ordinances, which was portrayed in a recent study by the Wallace Business Forum.
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The hard-working veteran anchor of radio DZME, Francisco “Kiko” Naguit, met his tragic end on Christmas Day when he was rushed to a private hospital in Manila. He had suffered brain aneurysm the day before that required immediate surgery. But doctors refused to perform the emergency operation unless the family paid P300,000 in cash.
While his family and relatives scrambled for funds, Naguit, who should have been confined at the ICU due to his critical condition, was tended to at the emergency room. His friends say he would been well taken care of in a public hospital.
His wife, Edna, immediately wrote to Sen. Bong Go, pleading for his intervention and financial assistance from the Malasakit Center.
Naguit, the president of the Manila Police District Press Corps, expired the following afternoon after his family came up with only P50,000. The violence of merciless neglect and the atrocity of homicidal indifference simply did him in. Naguit’s family should file a criminal complaint against the private hospital while the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, of which Naguit was an accredited member for many years, should conduct an immediate investigation.