By Leonardo Micua

 

THE world is on edge because there is a man in eastern Europe who wants to enforce his will on all peace-loving nations in the whole world. With him on rampage, no nation feels safe as he may yet ignite a full-scale war in Europe that could even spark a World War 3 and end of the world.

Any more false move by Vladimir Putin could put the whole of Europe on fire. Ukraine might only be the beginning of his misadventure but it seems the Russian president will not stop after he succeeds in bringing Ukraine down to its knees.

With his state of the arts weaponry, approximating the armaments of its number one rival United States, Russia may still bring the war to other neighboring independent states that earlier signified their strong desires to join the defense alliance North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

With Mr. Putin ordering his nuclear deterrent forces three times already to get ready, it seems he is running berserk, threatening a holocaust to finally bring into submission Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenski and his brave people.

This shows that despite the harsh economic and financial sanctions imposed by the free world upon Russia, Putin became more dangerous than before, bullying the whole world.

Still fighting after eight days with their Russian aggressors, there is no sign that the Ukrainians will capitulate soon even if most of their cities, including their capital Kyiv, had already been pulverized by the invaders.

This could have further enraged Putin who seemed to have ratcheted on using the weapon of mass destruction in order to bring all Ukrainians into submission.

But while the brave Ukrainians are fighting the Russian invaders with their full might at whatever cost it could bring, NATO and the world can only watch nervously by the side line. With the veiled threat of Putin that anyone who interferes in the conflict will face serious consequences, all seem hesitant to cross the border into Ukraine and fight alongside with them.

We can only hope, Mr. Putin will change his mind and let peace reign in his heart.

*          *          *          *

We might be too far away from the battlefields in Ukraine but we do not feel insulated from the war’s deadly impact. The price of gasoline and diesel as well as prime commodities had gone sky high overnight affecting all Filipinos without any exception.

Members of the Alliance of United Transport Organizations Province-wide had earlier asked for five peso additional fare but with the diesel fuel now selling at close to P60 per liter, the group might raise their petition LTFRB to 10 peso additional fare for a P20 minimum fare.

Expect the riding public to protest because a P20 minimum fare would be a bitter pill to swallow for ordinary workers who are not getting any adjustment in their wages.

The higher pump prices of gasoline and diesel are expected because the price of crude oil in the world market as of this writing has now gone up to 110 dollars per barrel and may still soar in the next few days because of the crisis in Ukraine.

Our imports from the Middle East may soon be scaled down, too, because European nations previously depending oil from both Russia and Ukraine are now shopping for oil in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and United Arab Emirates.

*          *          *          *

We heard that Victory Liner has resumed its Dagupan to Cubao trips with the downgrading of risk classification of Metro Manila and in Pangasinan and Dagupan City to Alert Level 1. The trips are no longer point-to-point (terminal to terminal) as the buses can now pick up and drop passengers along the way.

Victory Liner became the second bus company to resume its trips from Dagupan to Cubao and vice versa. The first was Five Star which at first was on a P2P arrangement.

The new risk classification should also pave the comeback of Solid North and its sister company Dagupan Bus, that had since closed their terminals on Perez Boulevard and Arellano Streets.

Clearly, it is back to normal for all of us as COVID-19 will be treated as an endemic disease, like the seasonal flu. With buses running from Dagupan to Manila, expect the economy to reopen and grow.

But we should not stop practicing minimum health protocols if we do not want COVID to stage a comeback soon. The disease has stalked us and affected our lives and economy as well as our movements for the last two years. Bye COVID!

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments