DAY 21: ECQ

I spent quite some time last night trying to find out one of the mysteries offered by the Universe:

"What has big teeth got to do with the present state of the pandemic affecting our country?"

Until I fell asleep I never figured out this dental enigma.  But I guess in time, when we look back at the events happening today as part of an interesting historical past, someone may be able to explain why.  Why amidst all this chaos, all these insecurities, all these threats (both real and imagined) we spent a certain amount of time judging people by the size of their incisors.

Anyway, onto more important and intelligent discourse:  for the past two days I have been dissecting the points raised by an upload on my wall.  The title of the piece is THE THINGS THAT COVID-19 MADE CLEAR.

As I pointed out in my two earlier entries, there were so many incisive issue that were raised.  Now as we are in the twenty-first day of our lockdown, these concerns have never been more evident and true ... and therefore worthy of discussion, rumination or just plain brain ping-ponging.

I realized that I will discuss the more serious entries to conclude this series of writings --- just for the sake of dramatic impact.

(11) Human beings are opportunistic and desperate no matter their socioeconomic position when raising prices.

This all boils down to the lessons of learned from my freshman year in the course Introduction to Economics.  Let us make one thing clear here: it has got nothing to do with being human.  The concern is a simple case of being --- being in a situation ruled by supply and demand, market forces and, of course, the worst of human vulnerabilities --- fear and panic.

A businessman is a businessman: if he is to remain a capitalist, then let us set aside all attempts to soften the heart or shed light to the pathway in order to convince him or her that the true rewards wait in the afterlife.  

You can gather a spectrum of homosapiens of various shapes and colors and make them sing We are the World and still it will be dictates of market forces that will irk them to raise prices.

( A classic example is a bag of calamansi that I regularly buy from the supermarket.  During the peak season  --- when the summer months like now --- a bag containing twenty to twenty-five calamansis would cost about twenty pesos at most. When I was in the supermarket right before the ECQ, a bag of about thirty calamansis was already priced over a hundred pesos.

I do not believe that a plague of locusts or other insects actually attacked all the calamansi trees north of Manila to create such a shortage.)

Unfortunately it would be fruits and vegetables to suffer most in this sudden price spike. If not for government intervention, it could have been far much worse.  But since there are eyes monitoring such market moves, the consequences are not yet that drastic.

But ... and here lies the rub: if and when things do not go as close to normal as possible as far as transporting fruits and vegetables from places outside the National Capitol Region, the implications in the law of supply and demand will yield more drastic effects.  This would be something immediately felt by those who are already the first to suffer because of the paralysis of work, the closure of mass transport system and the lack of clear direction as to how their damaged livelihood can be compensated/aided by the government.

Some big businesses are generous because they can afford to be generous.  It is the mid-to-small business enterprises which are also bound to feel the brunt of the pandemic and the quarantine.  But it is as if we really have a choice.  

Is it a choice between life or livelihood? Do we dare risk a loosening up of the quarantine and face the possibility of a second wave much like what has been happening to Singapore, Hong Kong and Vietnam?

This bleak argument leads us to another point mentioned.

(16) There are those who earn millions and do not serve humanity. Not idolatrous.

Well, yes.  But there are also those who earn as much and even more who are doing something to help put together the mess that is happening and the bigger debris the pandemic will leave behind.

There are the philanthropists who have the resources to actually become ... uhm, philanthropists ... as there are others who pitch in whatever amount they can afford, meager but still indispensable in the collective effort.

The choice to help is still a choice.

Nobody (regardless of size and weight of purse) can ever be obligated to be charitable.  As I said, it will always be a choice that will reflect the depth of character and width of vision of an individual. Besides, if there is one thing that this pandemic has taught us is that even the richest and most powerful are not spared of the potency of the pandemic.  

What matters most this time is not the act of giving alone but the motives behind such gestures.

A very personal note: since I come from the world of people whose very lives are defined by how much camera exposure they get ... or how they continuously tickle the curiosity of the audience and the fancy of the masses, I have grown very critical about "people helping others" especially when the insist on having a camera aimed at them while they are doing this act of rehearsed love.


Charity, in any form, most especially in critical times such as these should and must be appreciated.  What is important (I guess) is that there is an act of altruism taking place.  But the underlying motive behind the gesture is something to consider outside what is being given or who are the recipients.

Put bluntly, it is not easy to trust acts of generosity recorded by cameras to create heartbreaking or heartwarming moments of "goodness" that could go viral in the net.  There is a substantial difference between something caught by the camera --- from something staged --- or even rendered for the camera because of other purposes aside from doing goodness.  I will leave it at that.

This observation goes hand in hand with another point raised.

(25) Politicians take the opportunity to pull the rival's rug.

The problem becomes an even greater problem when the entire scenario is politicized.  Yes, we can beat that drum and start singing songs that insist that we should be in this together.  But it cannot be helped.

One thing that the pandemic taught us is that we, as a country, cannot exist on our own without acknowledging, assessing and analyzing the moves of other nations both big and small.  Everything that happens around the globe affects us --- and what we are going through is not a problem just of the republic but of the rest of the world.

We are not alone in going crazy because we still cannot decipher any source of light at the end of this tunnel.  Social distancing is an alternative ... but not a solution.  The more we think of this as the most effective means of flattening the curve, the more we realize that we need direction.  We need to be guided, to be made aware of plans, of possible solutions most especially after we emerge from all this to find a world so completely different from the way we left it before the 14th of March.

At this point, we do not need politicians. We need leaders.  As long as those who are meant to shepherd us act as politicians, then we are doomed.  This is not about power or its perpetuation. 

Sirs, it is about the survival of the people.

Finally, let me consider two points together for discussion.

(22) Humans are the real viruses of the planet.
and
(23) The planet regenerates quickly without humans.

Not much elaboration is needed here.

Step out of the house in the morning.  The air smells different.  Look up in the sky ... and discover a shade of blue that you have never before seen in your life.

Then, at night, step out and stay on the same spot as you did in the morning.

I used to see these skies before when I would stay in the province.  Or sometimes along the shorelines of White Beach in Boracay.  Now, in my front yard in Muntinlupa, I can decipher constellations.

And here's another thing: I live in an enclave which serves as a bird sanctuary.  This means precarious little boys and young men cannot go around with their airguns to shoot down flying creatures around the periphery.  

I have a number of trees in my garden and the birds usually gather there especially at night to roost ... but never have so many gathered since the lock down was in place.

Netizens post photographs of views from their condo balconies, showing how Manila has been cleansed of smog so that you can actually see the hills of Antipolo and far beyond.  Some post photos of that beautiful cerulean waters of Boracay or the turquoise waters of Manila Bay.  We have never seen this before.  So why now? Of course we know ... because the humans were kept away.

These weeks ... no, even months of self-imposed isolation has given the earth the time to breathe.  Yes, it is rejuvenation, regenerating ... because we were kept out of the way.  Now we realize how it is supposed to be and it got all screwed up because we, as a species, emerged to be so arrogant, entitled and all-knowing.  And now what?

There is another entry which I find too sensitive saying that a powerful country won the Third World War without firing a single nuclear missile.  I am not about to accuse any nation of instigating or maliciously planning this for reasons of economic sabotage or power grabbing.

Rather I would like to think that indeed --- we are in the midst of the Third World War --- and like all major catastrophes brought about by man, the folly and carelessness here is OUR fault and OURS alone.  We abused nature ... we challenged our limits but this time she fought back.

The Third World War is being fought not with nuclear weapons, military strategies and the likes.  It is a battle against an invisible enemy which we instigated and propagated because of our arrogance.

We are all praying that this be over.

In a span of three weeks, there have been too many losses and heartbreaks.

There are too many disillusionment of people we hoped to be there for us only to find out that they are nothing than asinine circus performers who swindled us into having faith in them.

I wrote it once and I will write it again.  When we step back and attempt at the life that we had before 2020, we will be surprised.  This pandemic has shaken the world right to its roots.  We think we got it bad ... there are more challenges that lie ahead.

Our challenge is to cope and adjust.  And hopefully learn the lessons where so many deaths paid the price and so much sadness became the investment to acquire a deeper wisdom.

Now let me figure out again this whole issue about big teeth.
As a friend of mine pointed out today: be wary of those with unusually big bicuspids.  Remember what the little girl wearing a red riding hood found out. You don't mess around with them big biters.