DAY 12: ECQ

It has not yet even been two weeks and yet a lot of us have been  devastated.

Let me just enumerate my here and now on Day 12 of the Enhanced Community Quarantine. 

I am on self house arrest, as I would describe it. But I am on a roller coaster ride.

(1) I wake up to the news that a friend, one of the best character actors in the country, Menggie Cobarrubias --- died before 8:30 AM at the Asia Hospital.

Yesterday, a little about this time (as I am typing this), Menggie posted a cryptic message on his Facebook account.  It merely said "GOODBYE" but that was enough for friends to be triggered into reacting. 

I did not even know Menggie was confined --- nor that he has been sick since last week. Liza Dino-Seguerra posted a screen capture of their chat just last Sunday where Menggie was expressing his apprehension because of the drop in his platelet count after having a series of CBCsn He was already feverish for the past three.  He was to have his COVID test last Monday and I am not even sure if he ever got the results before he expired.

The members of the Directors Guild were taken aback by yesterday's shoutout: everybody loved working with Menggie.  Everybody LOVED Menggie.  All the directors were devastated when Joel Lamangan sent messages this morning that Menggie was gone.  Just like that.

I have known Menggie since my very first professional writing job sometime in the late 70s. He was one of the cast members of THE BOYS IN THE BAND IN TAGLISH. 

It was a dinner theater presentation at Hotel Mirador which ran for more than a year.  That was when I met the young Menggie --- and we had worked in various tv and film projects since then.  

Everyone who has worked with Menggie Cobarrubias has only one thing to say about him: he was one of the nicest, most generous and professional people you can ever work with.  There is so much warmth and compassion in his being ... that thinking about it right now just shatters my heart.

This virus took away Menggie from us. The man was an irreplaceable friend and treasure.


(2) It is different when you hear the viciousness of this plague in terms of statistics.  You hear about how many deaths there are in Italy ... or in Spain.  You hear about the rising numbers of casualties in New York City. You are shocked.

But the emotional impact happens when the people taken away are people you know ... or have met.  The plague is coming close to home.

The numerals in the headcount are meant to rattle ... but to give a face to the casualty is to squeeze the blood in your heart and, yes ... the oxygen from your lungs.

I remember the very young Greg Macasaet because he was the little brother of our Grade school and High schoolmate Romeo.  

Greg was also a Romeo as I think all his brothers are named Romeo.  But he was the little boy in short pants who was with Romy going out of the South Gate of De la Salle College then when there were still grade school classes in Taft Avenue.

I remember him precisely and was so surprised to find out that he grew up to be one of the most loved anesthesiologists at Manila Doctors Hospital.  

It broke my heart to think that he gave up his life like a soldier in the battlefield, never flinching nor denying the opportunity to be of service to the sick.  This was the little boy I used to see. And he left a hero.

One thing about these turn of events is that ... there are so many heroes rising from the common folks.  No, there are only a handfuls of impressive political leaders who are proving themselves as leaders.  The heroes are coming from the common folk ---- the doctors, the nurses, the health workers, the sanitation people, the soldiers, the guardians of peace.  The grocery clerks, the delivery men.  They have kept us alive and functioning in these terrible, terrible times.

They may not have their names etched in history books when people look back at the year 2020 --- but they are engraved in a more important place, the hearts of the people they have sacrificed so much for.

They do not have the great platforms not the opportunity to announce to the world what they have done.  But they do so much more. Much, much more than those who claim to be important, significant and indispensable.



(3) I do not even want to talk about that senator.

There has been enough venom spewed from my being about his shenanigans inasmuch as I sincerely want to understand his behavior.

I do acknowledge that there could have been panic when he discovered that he was positive of NCOV and that he may have most likely infected his wife who was about to bring their child to the world.  Any parent would go into a panic mode especially if the baby is ready to be born.

The insistence was there.  Ever the persistence. I can estimate the emotions. Or maybe it is outside the realm of my imagination to know how he and his wife felt knowing the urgency of a C Section operation to spare the baby from viral contamination.

That much I understand. That much we all understood.  

But what most of us do not grasp is the lack of empathy for the greater number of people who were exposed to the virus.  These were front liners --- exhausted doctors, nurses, medical attendants.  These were patients and their companions, worried about their conditions.  These were the hospital personnel. 

Would it have been asking too much to be honest?  Would it have mattered a lot if the cards were on the table and everybody knew what was going on ... and not only serving the interests of the privileged few.

Would there have been more complications if the hospital officials and the doctors in attendance were informed that the senator was already a PUI (Person Under Investigation) because he was not feeling well and he already took the test?

Was there really any controversy about the admittance to the hospital?

At this point, these are all proverbial waters flowing aimlessly under the bridge.  It no longer matters in the shaping of the conversation. It is all about honesty, transparency but most of all ...responsibility.

I would have taken that a panicking father-to-be would have done impossible and even damaging measures to protect his wife and child... but when the news that the same senator went shopping at one of the busiest and most popular wholesale supermarkets in the country, I was ... paralyzed with disbelief.  

This may have been under the time frame when he was already a PUI ... and yet despite all the calls for sobriety and immobility, this legislator was going around flaunting the virus while lining up to buy goodies in a grocery.

Sir, that is not only being selfish. It goes far beyond that.  It is called downright impunity and entitlement.

That is why for all that it is worth, I take my hat off to Senators Zubiri and Angara for having the clarity of mind and dignity of being to let the public know about the state of their health.

As elected officials, they OWE it to their constituents to make it clear where they are coming from and what state they are into.  To reiterate, a government post is that of a PUBLIC SERVANT ... and not someone who treats the public like they are servants.

And finally ...

(4) I have been taught the biggest lesson in these so many days of being confined inside my residence.

I have learned to appreciate so many things I used to take so much for granted.

Like being able to go to the supermarket to buy my groceries without any consideration of time, distance and exposure to unwanted germs.

Like being able to step out of my house and walk my dog, then walk around the premises just to see how your neighbors live or how the streets look at a certain time of the day.

Like being able to go the gym any time I choose to go and spend about two hours there, meeting other gym rats and taking the spinning class.

Like being able to go to a restaurant, buy your take-out or sit and have a bowl of ramen.

Like being able to shake hands with people, hug people and laugh without worrying if the other party is infected.

Like not having to wash your hands every thirty minutes for twenty seconds (one-two-three-four-five ...) or dousing a generous amount of alcohol-based hand gel to insure that you are ok.

Like not turning completely PARANOID each time you accidentally touching your face, terrified at the thought that that was critical moment that could have damaged or punctuated your life.

We are being taught a lot of lessons here.  

And we are going to emerge from all this ... changed and no longer indifferent.

We see where we need to change.  And seeing this is not enough. 
It is time to move.