• Headlines
  • City/Region News
    • Baguio City
    • CAR
    • Nation
  • Sectoral news
    • Elections
      • Elections – 2022
      • Elections – 2019
    • Agriculture, Fishery and Pets
    • Business & Livelihood
    • Education, Arts & Culture
    • OFW | Migration
    • Environment and Disaster Management
    • Science and Technology
    • Tourism, travel and Events
    • Other Lifestyle
    • Police Beat
  • Health
    • Covid-19 Advisory and Updates
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Timek Ti Umili
  • Sports
  • Other sections
    • Features
    • Photos/Videos
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Words for reflection
    • Sponsored articles
    • Jobs in Baguio
    • Elections
  • Ads & Notices
    • Obituaries
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Directory
    • Contribute
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Contact Us
HERALD EXPRESS | News in Cordillera and Northern Luzon
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Headlines
  • City/Region News
    • Baguio City
    • CAR
    • Nation
  • Sectoral news
    • Elections
      • Elections – 2022
      • Elections – 2019
    • Agriculture, Fishery and Pets
    • Business & Livelihood
    • Education, Arts & Culture
    • OFW | Migration
    • Environment and Disaster Management
    • Science and Technology
    • Tourism, travel and Events
    • Other Lifestyle
    • Police Beat
  • Health
    • Covid-19 Advisory and Updates
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Timek Ti Umili
  • Sports
  • Other sections
    • Features
    • Photos/Videos
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Words for reflection
    • Sponsored articles
    • Jobs in Baguio
    • Elections
  • Ads & Notices
    • Obituaries
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Directory
    • Contribute
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Headlines
  • City/Region News
    • Baguio City
    • CAR
    • Nation
  • Sectoral news
    • Elections
      • Elections – 2022
      • Elections – 2019
    • Agriculture, Fishery and Pets
    • Business & Livelihood
    • Education, Arts & Culture
    • OFW | Migration
    • Environment and Disaster Management
    • Science and Technology
    • Tourism, travel and Events
    • Other Lifestyle
    • Police Beat
  • Health
    • Covid-19 Advisory and Updates
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Timek Ti Umili
  • Sports
  • Other sections
    • Features
    • Photos/Videos
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Words for reflection
    • Sponsored articles
    • Jobs in Baguio
    • Elections
  • Ads & Notices
    • Obituaries
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Directory
    • Contribute
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
HERALD EXPRESS | News in Cordillera and Northern Luzon
No Result
View All Result
Home Columns

New test

Gladys Vergara by Gladys Vergara
May 19, 2020
in Columns
1
0
Safety of Nuclear Power Reactors
0
SHARES
3
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Tomorrow, and the next days and weeks after, we will be ushered into another test that will determine how well we can further cope up with the testing times, when the coronavirus remains a potent, frightening threat, when just about everything has been wielded to possibly slow down its onslaught, when just about what we’ve known about life has undergone drastic, even revolutionary changes unprecedentedly unknown just a few months back.

From ECQ, now downgraded to GCQ, it’s still an effort that will certainly put to a severe test how well we can balance off our grimly crippled local economy with the ever-persistent demand of greater, stronger health protective measures that have been our collective endurance these past 8 weeks or so. GCQ means having too loosen up, bit by bit as Mayor Benjie has strategically opted to employ, even as we are reminded just as sternly to maintain all-out vigilance over the preventive approaches that have stood us well during the 60-day ECQ regime.



Which reminds us that just a week ago, our local chief executive was overheard expressing disappointment over the paucity of health protective efforts, precisely harnessed since Day One to keep us out of harm’s way, not just you and I, but the rest of the Baguio community. Sixty days of collective suffering and pain have been assuredly well endured, enough for many of us to publicly commend the city government for its decisive, tough-as-nails, no-nonsense leadership in the whole of society response to the pandemic.

Test, test and test may have been the national battle cry to whip into line everyone towards a singular goal, but there seems to have occurred significant lapses in the health system. Fifty days onward, our local authorities were bemoaning the lack of testing capacity that should have been applied to the maximum, precisely because we just had to know the situation on the ground. In a population like ours, by this time, the numbers should have showed, in full clarity, what they represent, but test results have agonizingly been southside and therefore very much capable of misleading much of what we’re told.

For some reason or another, the tests have not just been done fast enough for us to see the enemy for what it is. Does it surprise us, if pleasantly, that after 60 days the total confirmed tally is 1 Active, 29 Recovered, and 1 Death? The suspected cases are in the high 1,281, 170 of whom are Active, while 1,111 are Recovered. To this day, we still have 680 Possible cases. Somehow, the numbers have a way of benumbing us to believe that the fight against this dreaded disease has gone over the hill.

This is why the transition period of 2 weeks or thereabouts, from ECQ to GCQ, will be a new testing ground for Baguio. Surely, there’s need to re-open critically hit sectors of the economy. Business has to get back on its feet, hobbled it has been much so much. Workers have to return to jobs suddenly thrust out of them in the last two months. The growth drivers of our hurting economy have to hum anew, to breathe out in productive levels and quality.

At the same time, when the economy is re-opened, even in gradual, calibrated, sequential process, there is real danger that with more human bodies out there, the chances of the virus latching on to warmer hosts simply loom larger than it may seem. With the health system of tests and more tests improving by the day, forecast to be done at 1,000 each livid day, wouldn’t the number of infections exponentially rise, just as emphatically we strive to be on the rise, economically? And if this materializes, God forbid, wouldn’t the health facilities painstakingly put in place, be suddenly besieged by an upsurge of warm bodies? Would our health caring system be capable of serving its dedicated mandate, to the last man and woman conscripted to provide testing, tracing, isolating, and treating?

It is well enough that Mayor Benjie, wizened as he has been from the wars fought and the combats he had all his professional life, realizes the kind of situation that will rear up in a re-opened economic setting. This is surely discernible from the strategic choice of opting for a well-calibrated, cautious, and deliberate approach — baby steps, as he terms it — precisely because any slight hint of a spike in cases, any definitive sign of malingering prevalence, any indicative clue of a 2nd or 3rd wave in the pandemic’s virulence will be met with strategic pull-backs of people out at work.



Surely, it is time for the economy to be pushed up from the debilitating quagmire and allowed to breathe anew. It has been battered badly in the last two months and to allow this moribund condition, at so much cost to the government, will not infuse life, or be simply too late the heroic effort. Every locality caught up in the maelstrom of restrictions needs to let loose from the vise of deprivation imposed. Everyone who lost his job and sole income source may be able to withstand further difficulties the first and the second month, but extend it to another month of uncertainty and he becomes a candidate either for lunacy or death by hunger.

All throughout the collective ordeal, we have beenl encouraged by what we have done together, while staying safely apart from each other and keeping ourselves safe and secure. Despite difficulties arising from restrictions meant to foster better public health practices, we have shown what utmost unity, cooperation, and solidarity can do to help alleviate everyone and prevent the virus from infecting the populace. By our shared solidarity, we have spoken volumes in making our sense of humanity, our spirit of bayanihan, shine through.

In this new phase of our struggle, let us keep up the faith of being brothers and sisters bonded by a common destiny. Sure, small victories have been worthily earned, no doubt because we listened, we complied and we obeyed government’s efforts to make us out of risk every step of the way. In the last 60 days, let our little triumphs inspire us to be one in spirit in disciplining ourselves, very much at work while very much conscious of staying safe all the way.

And yet, as we continue addressing vigorously the covid-19 threat, there must be time wisely spent to begin looking ahead. Opportunities for growth have to open up anew and recovered in no time.
Our floundering economy deserve a strategic headstart to bounce back and re-grow. Slowly but steadily, Baguio will rise up on the backbone of a program that emphasizes how being better can emerge from building back in far better ways.

As a city nearest the Philippine skies, there’s always our loving God spraying the perpetual sunshine of endearment a blessed people like us fully deserves. As narrated by our glorious past, we will overcome. Always as One.


Previous Post

NGCP announces 8-12 brownout on Thursday, May 21

Next Post

Philex extends P12.9 M assistance to villages

Next Post
Philex assures integrity of tailings pond 3

Philex extends P12.9 M assistance to villages

ADVERTISEMENT

Recent News

Nickel Asia receives silver citation for Best Managed Basic Materials category in FinanceAsia Awards

Nickel Asia receives silver citation for Best Managed Basic Materials category in FinanceAsia Awards

June 18, 2025
NGCP’s Mariveles-Hermosa-San Jose 500kV Line now at full 8,000MW capacity

NGCP holds stakeholder consultation to tackle TDP 2025-2050

June 18, 2025
MP conducts PMRB capacity, deputation training 

MP conducts PMRB capacity, deputation training 

June 18, 2025
Atok LGU is regional literacy awardee

Atok to help boost booming tourism industry

June 18, 2025
ADVERTISEMENT
HERALD EXPRESS | News in Cordillera and Northern Luzon

Herald Express is a news organization based in Baguio City that has a weekly publication and an online news portal. The newspaper is circulated in the different provinces of Northern Luzon. The name of the fastest-growing publication in town is coined from the word ‘quick messenger’ which is self-explanatory.

Follow Us

Search

No Result
View All Result

© 2024 Baguio Herald Express | Website Design and Development by Neitiviti Studios

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
Cookie SettingsAccept All
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT

Add New Playlist

No Result
View All Result
  • Headlines
  • City/Region News
    • Baguio City
    • CAR
    • Nation
  • Sectoral news
    • Elections
      • Elections – 2022
      • Elections – 2019
    • Agriculture, Fishery and Pets
    • Business & Livelihood
    • Education, Arts & Culture
    • OFW | Migration
    • Environment and Disaster Management
    • Science and Technology
    • Tourism, travel and Events
    • Other Lifestyle
    • Police Beat
  • Health
    • Covid-19 Advisory and Updates
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Timek Ti Umili
  • Sports
  • Other sections
    • Features
    • Photos/Videos
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Words for reflection
    • Sponsored articles
    • Jobs in Baguio
    • Elections
  • Ads & Notices
    • Obituaries
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Directory
    • Contribute
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Contact Us

© 2024 Baguio Herald Express | Website Design and Development by Neitiviti Studios