By Ermin Garcia Jr.

 

THE “water world” we’ve been seeing in Dagupan City the past weeks (and perhaps in other communities), is definitely merely a preview of the worst to happen. I’m referring to a situation when a code red typhoon hits northern Luzon in the middle of a 3-day high tide period in Dagupan City.

We’ve seen this during Typhoon Pepeng in October 2009. We’ve seen the worst having been confronted with the irrefutable fact that the city is a catch basin of every flooded community around the city. Floodwater from higher grounds have found a natural channel to the city.

During the Pepeng calamity, recall that the city had to deal with floodwater from the mountain, daily releases of excess water from San Roque Dam and floodwater trapped in the city streets amid non-stop torrential rains. Most barangays were surviving the onslaught with chest-high floodwater for over a week.

Needless to say, that scenario can be repeated any time soon! It’d be instructive for the city government to start planning today in anticipation of a repeat of that Pepeng-made disaster: the three factors converging with the city at center. The expected disaster scenario will just be a repetition unless an intensity 6-7 earthquake shakes the region as well.

So, it will be totally unacceptable for the city government to use that overused lame alibi that it was “caught unaware” if it didn’t prepare enough to escape culpability!

Preparations at this time should already include plans and allocations for logistical resources for mobilization of evacuation of families in every barangay, management of evacuation centers for mobility, food, medicines and emergency power, provisions for communications in every barangay, local isolation facilities for COVID cases, coordination with hospitals for emergency cases and finally designation of key operators and planers at the command center.

“Heroic” efforts at the last minute will be jeered, that’s for sure.

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FULLY VACCINATED. I am finally done with my second dose of Sinovac! Consider me “fully vaccinated” – until DOH decides I need another dose after six months! 

But quite frankly, whether Sinovac vaccinated persons will be required another dose won’t really bother me. Sinovac is not a mRNA-based vaccine. Instead, it uses natural dead virus to serve as antibody… it’s the traditional process for vaccines and allows for one’s immune system to work with it.  

The mRNA is a one-shot deal that uses manufactured protein like a “one size-fits all”. It can work for some but bit risky for those with comorbidities. (My personal assessment of mRNA).  

And personally, I don’t take to the vaccines as 100% virus-proof since these have only undergone first clinical trials and have been authorized only for “emergency use”. But why did I take it nonetheless?  

I view the vaccine like a raincoat provided us for the rainy season. It covers your body but doesn’t fully protect you from getting wet from the rain. You need an umbrella and/or a pair of water boots to be fully protected. Where will the umbrella and boots come from? From our immune system! We must continue to strengthen it to avoid being hit by rain on the head and getting our feet wet.  

Then I treat myself daily like I’m on “home care” for COVID, doing all things needed to strengthen my immune system. I’m also ready with Ivermectin and Lian Hua!  

If I still get Delta variant… and die with it, I must consider it as part of God’s plan.  

So, for a stress-free life amid the pandemic, I strongly suggest we do all for a stronger immune system, then TRUST and ACCEPT!

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UNFAIRLY TREATED. The recent warning of President Duterte to prevent persons that have not been vaccinated to leave their homes is ostensibly directed at persons who refuse to be vaccinated, invoking their rights to choose what’s good for their bodies. However, since the motive and objective of the government is obviously for general welfare of the public, those who choose to reject it will just have to face the consequences of their actions.

But what about those who want to be vaccinated but cannot be accommodated by their LGUs because of the short supply of vaccines? Should they be punished as well? Or those who presented themselves to be vaccinated but were turned away just like what happened to our Sports columnist Jess Garcia Jr.?? He’s peeved by his situation through no fault of his.

Jess, being a senior citizen and a resident of Mangaldan, was advised to report to the town’s vaccination site on a day appointed last week. Sitting comfortably, he learned then and there that there were only 250 doses of the Jansenn vaccine, but having been listed, he was confident he would be given what’s due him. He waited out for his turn i, only to be told in the end that he and 16 others that the 250 vials have all been administered and there was no vial left for them.

To his consternation, he found out he was listed as 252 yet he was never told he would not be included in the quota, ditto for the others. They were allowed inside the site, made to wait without any idea that they were not included. Imagine how they felt being treated unfairly and taken for granted.

What I surmise happened to Jess and others in Mangaldan was everyone who was listed was allowed inside the site, even knowing there were only 250 vials available because obviously the vaccination committee expected “no-shows”. That was reasonable but when nothing was done to keep those listed beyond the 250 mark of their status each time a no-show was reported was a serious lapse.

Were there “no-shows”? Nobody knows but the vaccination committee obviously exercised discretion to select who can take a “no-show” slot… and Jess will never know.

At very least and to make it up to those who waited in vain, the vaccination committee should have guaranteed them first priority for the next allocation from DOH.

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LGU’s SUPPORT. The success life story of Hidilyn Diaz is not simply about rags to riches of a girl who once lived in the anonymity of a small barangay in Zamboanga City.  

If there’s anything to be learned from her journey, many talents are born, trained and supported within the communities.  The likes of Manny Pacquiao, Lydia de Vega, Onyok Velasco, etc. were not born with silver spoons in their mouths but rather from families that struggled for comfortable lives.  

They were in the countryside, not from Metro Manila. They fought for what they knew were their God-given talents and, but in most cases, they were ignored by their local governments which perhaps should explain that, with the exception of Hidilyn, they were not provided enough training opportunities to enable them reach the pinnacle of their dreams for the country – to make the country proud in the world stage.  

In Dagupan City, what I saw what then Mayor Belen did for the young budding athletes, was in the right track. It was the first time the city government opened its doors wide for the young Dagupeños to excel in sports. The city hall provided resources that our athletes then could only dream of.  

Alas, the Lim administration immediately pulled back, thinking perhaps that sports development cannot be a priority. Perhaps, too, it’s providential for the administration that it didn’t have any plans for sports development because the pandemic would have blown that away anyway. 

But still, the administration cannot escape culpability for refusing to act positively for the city’s youth all because of politics.

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THE PUNCH THROUGH 65 YEARS. Years ago, we introduced an opinion column in Pangasinan language by Santiago Villafania (Aristos), a renowned authority on the language’s evolution, to keep Pangasinenses in touch with their root language, and to familiarize the young ones with nuances of the language as spoken and written.

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