Punchline
Our ‘New Normal’ is 20 years late
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
IS there, indeed, a ‘New Normal’ in the horizon even after a vaccine is found to protect one’s self against COVID-19 infection? Nope.
Life will actually be back to the ‘Old Normal’ that brought us to the 21st Century. The prescribed health, social and distancing protocol will soon be things of the past and will mainly serve as images characteristic of COVID-19 era. But not as prelude to a ‘New Normal.’
But yes, there will still be a ‘new normal’. It’s about a life with the use of new technology, from cashless transactions to national ID, to use of QR codes, 5G communications, i-cloud in business and governance, etc. These are already happening in many countries including here in Asia that prepared for this new normal more than 20 years ago.
It’s time we ask, what were we doing the past 20 years while other nations were working their new normal? It’s easy… we were just living it up, waiting for anything new to change us, not making the changes for us. It was and still is this lackadaisical view of life that has left us at least 20 years behind our neighbors.
This situation became more evident with the COVID-19 pandemic. Both our national and local governments had to scramble with “D-I-Y” (do-it-yourself) approach, basically providing solutions based on what’s manually possible, applying old systems for production, implementation and enforcement.
It’s safe to assume that we’ve been limited to present constraints through the decades because our national policies on technology development have been wanting. Like how is it possible that we are still grappling with our 15-50 mbs max in internet access today while other countries are already maximizing their inputs and outputs with 350 mbps?
Then, take for example the tedious application, gathering of permits and clearances to enter Pangasinan and Dagupan City when it shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes to have this information processed and forwarded. Then, there’s the required sign-in of personal data before entering government offices and commercial establishments while many towns and cities in China, already use face detection to identify crime suspects in a crowd.
As things stand, we are still busy debating whether we should have the Anti-Terrorism Law of 2020!
And why does it take more than 3 years to settle an electoral protest that involves counting of votes? Only in the Philippines, indeed!
The new normal we speak of is the ancient normal of other countries. We are least 20 years behind their new normal that we anxiously look forward to. Worse, expect 20 years more of arguing and grappling with use of technology before we get to be where our neighbors where 20 years ago. Haay…
* * * * *
THAT BROUHAHA. The brouhaha at the House of Representatives can be summarized in the following:
- It was the usual clash of political personalities, not of pursuit of development agenda for the country.
- It was a clash between rhetoric and black ops vs. experience to accomplish development agenda.
- It was the staging of political patronage vs. accomplishing objectives for development agenda.
Consider the following:
Cong. Lord Allan Velasco is a neophyte (only four years as congressman) in national legislature who never actively participated in budget deliberations as a congressman. In contrast, Cong. Alan Peter Cayetano is a veteran congressman and senator for more than a decade, served as a senior cabinet member who knew the nuances in preparing a national budget. We chose to declare Velasco as new Speaker.
Velasco hammered on the term-sharing issue while Cayetano was looking at passing the 2021 budget as a relevant response to country’s efforts to reopen and accelerate our economy. Ur response? There can be no extension in the term-sharing agreement.
Velasco played on Sara Duterte connection for a replay of the rejection of Cong. Pantaleon Alvarez, then staged a rump session, using a manifest of support signed by 186 members as results of nominal voting. Cayetano relied only on trust and confidence of PRRD in him to ably deliver a budget like he did in 2019 to avoid a repeat of the reenacted budget in 2020. We allowed Velasco to take the Speakership under sham circumstances and promptly removed Cayetano.
In the end, Cayetano was beaten by the old political system. He resigned and didn’t bother to challenge the election of Velasco after it became obvious to him that the latter would not stop at anything, including breaking door locks to enter offices and plenary hall in the morning that were not scheduled to be open till 3 p.m. It had to be done in order to legitimize his election by a manifesto of support. Velasco was applauded.
The country’s development is pushed back and remains in the doldrums.
* * * * *
MAKE THE ATL WORK FOR US. The Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Anti-Terrorism Law 2020 (ATL2020) are out. Sen. Ping Lacson took care to point out that the IRR has given the Bill of Rights a lot weight to help overcome the imagined fears of abuse in the law’s enforcement and implementation.
So, let the communists and bleeding hearts in our society continue to argue for the withdrawal of the law, that’s their business.
Meanwhile, let the ATL2020 begin to work for parents and students working hard for their future. Let it be known that they are ready to report recruitment of members in schools for the leftist organizations that use socialism system to lure recruits, only to be harnessed as armed elements of the CPP-NPA!
Reporting recruitment activities are encouraged by the law. Let’s take the first step to protecting our youth! Submit names of the recruiters and details of their activities to our AFP and PNP.
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
