Shadow

16 million estupids!

He was merely joking. This was the statement of President Rodrigo Duterte to his critics who continue to taunt his supposed courage and hold him to his campaign promise that he will personally go and reclaim the Spratlys by riding a jetski and planting the Philippine flag to ward off the Chinese.

Those who believed in him must have been stupid! And who else are these but the 16 million die-hard Dutertards who view him as a demigod who can crush the evils in this world.

Anti-Duterte netizens are having a ball, flooding social media with memes and mocking the president’s supporters that their own patron are calling them stupid, that they were merely taken for a ride. Ouch, that hurts!

Duterte’s rise to the presidency was based on his accomplishments as the tough mayor of Davao City that allegedly cleansed it from illegal drugs. The more uncouth he was, the more they believed that he was the solution to our problems like drugs, corruption in government, poverty alleviation, etc.

Now, the president said it was all a joke and one must be stupid to believe his claims.

I guess the president still thinks he is funny when he utters these. But this time around, the joke is on him and the 16 million others who stupidly made him president.

Of course his allies came to his defense saying they knew he was merely joking then because it was near impossible to reach the islands via jetski. That was something they were silent on though while Duterte was peddling that idea during his campaign.

The rough and tough president made his excuse the strong waves and that he could drown as he is no swimmer. But this time around, even those who thought of him then as their redeemer, are seeing his true colors. Another story of a bully getting bullied and now he is starting to shrink in the eyes of his devotees. His yakking has no more value and people are truly getting tired of his nonsensical ranting.

Amidst all that, we are getting another scare as the Department of Health confirmed that they have identified travellers who are carriers of the B1617 variant or the India variant which the World Health Organization has tagged as “a variant of global concern” with very high transmissibility.

This means it can spread more easily in the population and while we’ve imposed a travel ban from India recently, there are now calls to their Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, to lock down their country from the rest of the world to contain the spread.

A recent report placed the total number of cases in India at 22.3 million with daily cases breaching 400,000 cases. It is horrific to see the reports coming in from India where people are left to die on the streets as hospitals cannot keep up with the deluge of cases.

What is worrisome is that the cases identified with the Indian variant here were found on OFWs that flew in from other countries and have never been to India recently. WHO found that India strain in October 2020 and with ease of travel as some countries started to open up, the strain found its way to other countries already.

This is probably what prompted the National Inter-Agency Task Force to again change their protocols for incoming OFWs and balikbayans. The previous protocol requires the traveller to get tested on the 5th day and if the result is negative, the person is cleared to go home to their final destination.

This time, the new protocol requires a mandatory stay of 10 days at least. The swab will now be taken on the 7th day and even if results come out negative the following day, the traveller must finish the tenth day of quarantine before getting released and must continue the isolation for another four days to complete the 14-day quarantine requirement.

This new protocol will be financially draining on the ROFs because they will have to shoulder the hotel accommodation and the testing fees while the OFWs will be covered by OWWA.

But, while most LGUs will immediately yield to the wishes of the national government under threat of sanction, the Province of Cebu is defying the new protocol and passed a local ordinance last Monday, with their own relaxed protocols for those arriving via Cebu.

Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia already said last week that she will not be dictated upon and will not follow the “repressive” protocols issued recently by the NIATF.

Under their ordinance, those arriving in Cebu from abroad will immediately be tested free-of-charge by the LGU. They will then be transferred to their hotels and the moment their results return negative, they will immediately be cleared to travel to their final destination.

Gwen certified the ordinance as urgent and it was passed without any objections in just one session. This is one bully who does not want to be bullied.

Will there be a showdown between Cebu and the national government over this? Will the feisty lady be cowered into submission? But while Gwen may be looked upon as a hero by her constituency and travellers who enter via Cebu, the province may be in danger of another surge if their protocols differ from the rest of the country. What will she do when that happens?*

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