Ria Palma, 40, plantita, Mapandan – A year ago, my already hard-up life became harder, more financially miserable, when the country was put on lockdown because of COVID-19 pandemic.

We were only relying then on the meager income of my husband who worked as a driver. We have two boys, aged 12 and 10, and I am a full-time housekeeper. My world crumbled, as if hope was out of sight for several months. We were totally unprepared. Everything stood still, people’s movements were restricted. My husband became jobless and how could we survive?

We were so anxious, always worried. We would always cry for having nothing.

Initially, we relied on whatever was available. Malunggay helped us a lot for our daily meals. The government’s relief goods were helpful initially. But for how long?

There were a lot of uncertainties. My husband did odd jobs to keep us through.

I also learned to be enterprising. I sold different comfort foods and other items online which I got for consignment. (If I could not sell them, I returned them to the store owner and would get new ones that are basic necessities of every family).

Later on, when restrictions were eased up, I shifted to selling plants and I now belong to the league of plantitas. I earned more as a plantita and maybe because housewives are excited to take care of plants, be it ornamental or the ones grown in backyard for food.

Thanks to boredom and the need to be physical fit because my sukis found the need to destress and the plants I sold somehow helped them.

I wished that livelihood programs of the government, or financial help, would reach the real needy ones  like us because it disheartens us to learn that some undeserving people got the “manna”.

Kaya tuloy, ang lagi namang sinasabi ay “Sana all”. (Eva Visperas)

 

Kristine de la Cruz, student, Villasis—It is now one year since the start of the pandemic but we don’t seem to see the end of our ordeal. We were scared by the report that COVID-19 is going to stay with us for a long time, which means that even if most of our population would soon be vaccinated, the threat of the disease will stay.

This modular learning we are doing is not the right one for us. It is boring and, excuse me to say, making this generation dull. But what can we do? It is the government that decided that we must abandon face-to-face classes in order to stay safe from COVID.

It is about time, they take a second look at the proposal to gradually open  face-to-face classes. We miss our classmates, our teachers and the campus life that we used to enjoy prior to the pandemic. Add to this to the hustle that we were used to going to school.

Ain’t they telling us that COVID-19 cases have gone down significantly in some areas, especially Pangasinan? For God’s sake, they should let us go to school before some of us students lose our sense of balance! (Leonardo Micua)

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