Opinion

According to a report recently released by the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), direct COVID-19 deaths may be more than double previous estimates. Many deaths from COVID-19 go unreported because countries only report deaths that occur in hospitals or patients with a confirmed infection. In many places, weak health reporting systems and low access to health care significantly increase this challenge.The investigators reported that by May 3, global COVID-19 deaths numbered 6.93 million, compared with the reported 3.24 million. They also calculate that the cumulative total COVID-19 death rate was 89.5 per 100,000 patients, going from 0.1 per 100,000 in Vietnam to more than 400 per 100,000 in 12 countries, led by Azerbaijan, Bosni...

A number of trees along the roadside near the old airport in Barangay Singcang-Airport in Bacolod City fell last month, not because of natural circumstances but because they were intentionally cut by the Department of Public Works and Highways.Officials of the barangay and the city government of Bacolod endorsed the cutting of those trees, while the Department of Environment and Natural Resources issued a cutting permit to the DPWH. So what is the big deal about it? Let it be known that the trees involved were not just ordinary varieties but they were premium, valuable, and ecologically important species. Although they were planted, two of the trees are classified as threatened species of the Philippines and the world.The cut trees included our national tree, Narra, known to scienc...

During the past Sundays, Jesus revealed his desire to enter into a personal and intimate relationship with each of us. He expressed this by using images, like the good shepherd, who willingly lays down his life for his sheep, and the vine which liberally shares its life to the branches so they may live and bear much fruit. Today, he offers yet another image, more relatable and truly special, that of a friend.A sheep is bought or born into a flock, and a branch sprouts from the vine. But a friend is personally picked; he is chosen. “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you.” What privilege, what magnanimity!But can we truly enter into friendship with God? Aristotle tells us that friendship is between two individuals who have something in common. It is possible only among equ...

If you are looking for inspiration to lose weight, here are two new, large studies from England and Mexico that show obesity is a strong risk factor for poor COVID-19–related outcomes, including death.Hospitalization, ICU admissionIn the first study, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, University of Oxford researchers extracted data from the QResearch database for nearly 7 million English patients 20 years and older with available body mass index (BMI) values registered at an eligible general practice from Jan 24 to Apr 30, 2020. It is the largest study to date assessing body weight and COVID outcomes.Starting at 23 kg/m2, BMI was associated with coronavirus-related hospitalization (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.05) and, starting at 28 kg/m2, death ...

I arrived at SM City Bacolod Monday, May 3, to accompany elderly relatives, Tito Bert and Tita Edith Espina, for a scheduled inoculation of COVID-19 vaccines.It was much publicized and although it has been hammered that one must have registered online and be part of the priority group – the senior citizens and those with comorbidities only - many still went ahead to line up, not knowing there is a process to follow.In general, there was chaos but it was managed chaos thanks to the staff of the Emergency Operations Center and other volunteers from the Department of Education, private hospitals and even among citizens who were lining-up who managed to appease the crowd and restore order.City Administrator Em Ang who heads the EOC was there on the dot along with EOC Deputy Dr. Chr...

After almost two decades of staying in Metro Manila, I finally decided to return home to Negros Occidental on February 11, and this is for good, I think. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought numerous changes in our lives, and I for one had also been affected. For the first time last year I could not travel, and my work-related activities were confined to online meetings and other computer-based jobs, although quite minimal compared to the pre-pandemic days.Since I started my path as an independent professional in 2003, my assignments in various conservation projects and other initiatives involved intensive travels and interacting with people of different socio-cultural, economic and educational backgrounds in various parts of the country, and to a certain extent in other countries. To be ...

In a recent study published in JAMA Pediatrics, an international team of researchers from Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, France, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, the US and led by investigators from the University of Oxford (UK) studied 2,130 pregnant women age 18 and older and their newborns at 43 different institutions in 18 different countries from March to October 2020, as part of the observational INTERCOVID Multinational Cohort Study. For each woman who tested positive for COVID-19 before delivery, two unmatched, uninfected women of similar gestational age (±2 weeks) were enrolled. The 706 COVID-19 patients were at much higher risk than their 1,424 uninfected counterparts for preeclampsia/eclampsia (ecl...

There’s nothing that can topple the COVID-19 crisis from the headlines except politics. And ever since former Cong. Albee Benitez transferred his voter’s registration to Bacolod, tongues have been wagging non-stop.The verbal tussle has been waged on social media, oftentimes below-the-belt, by supporters of Albee and those loyal to Mayor Bing Leonardia.The usually feisty mayor who would not hesitate to retort when baited with political questions has been eerily silent since Albee’s publicity-hyped transfer of residence to the capital city.But of course, it is a slap on the incumbent mayor’s face that 28 of 31 mayors in Negros Occidental vowed to back up Albee’s bid if it pushes through. The only reason why the three other mayors were not able to sign the manifesto of suppor...

The Fourth Sunday of Easter is also called Good Shepherd Sunday because the gospel reading is taken from Chapter 10 of John, which speaks of the Good Shepherd.For many of us, our favorite picture of the Good Shepherd comes from the idyllic Psalm 23, which portrays the shepherd as one who leads the sheep to green pastures and clear waters; guides them through the dark valley; shields them from every harm; and finally brings them home.In today’s gospel, the portrait of the Good Shepherd is further developed and qualified by the personal relationship between the shepherd and the sheep.The true shepherd does not run away when the wolf attacks, but defends the flock, because he is not a hired servant. He owns the sheep. In identifying himself as the Good Shepherd, Jesus claims ...

The only thing worse than being blind is having sight with no vision. – Helen KellerThe cutting of century-old trees along the old Airport generated more than a week of cursing, ranting, maligning in social media, to a point of tagging those who felled the trees as “murderers.”It all started with a netizen who took a picture, posted it and within a couple of days when media took the issue on air, hundreds of angry social media feeds awakened our local officials who immediately ordered a stop to the operations.Cutting down 26 huge trees probably took a few days and unfortunately, despite thousands of people passing through that area, nobody took notice of the operation until the 26th tree was felled. That act saved nine other trees from being cut down.What made that inc...