Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson and Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia called on the public to join forces in the battle to regain freedom from COVID-19 as the Philippines marked its 123rd Independence Day on Saturday, June 12.
“The independence gained in 1898 and the fight we had to take to redeem our freedom in 1946 proved that of all the endowments we have as a people, our independence is among the most costly and the most demanding of all,” Lacson said.
“As we commemorate this second Independence Day amid a pandemic, we as a people are given an exceptional opportunity to honor the independence won a century and decades ago by taking part in this battle against an enemy that threatens not just our country, but the entire humanity,” he said.
He said Independence Day is a good time to be reminded “that while we do not exactly know when this war will end, we are not without hope. With our best efforts for collective restraint, cooperation, and discipline, we will again, as in the past, prevail and reclaim our freedom”.
MAYOR’S CALL
Leonardia urged Bacolodnons to unite and support local health measures against COVID-19 “in order to attain that freedom of well-being,” during the Independence Day commemoration at the Bacolod City Public Plaza Saturday.
“In April, we again started to have a three-figure statistics of COVID-positive cases and this recent spike and rebound of the virus is already a cause for alarm as our hospitals are challenged to cope with the surge of patients. Our quarantine facilities also are closely watched. The situation is alarming as we are now in the high risk category, putting our healthcare system in jeopardy,” he said.
“I call on everyone to join us in the battlefield. Let us not just give the fight to the heroes of this generation – our front liners who from the beginning of this pandemic until now have already been burdened and crushed but have remained firm and undaunted, all because of their devotion and dedication to service,” Leonardia said.
In this crisis everyone needs to join hands to come out triumphant, he said.
“Let me appeal and awaken in each of you that innate heroism and the instinct to survive in order to attain that freedom of well-being. We cannot remain passive or just be an observer. Let us all be up in arms and how? We can do it by simply observing the health protocols demanded from each of us,” he said.
He stressed the need to wear masks properly, avoid mass gatherings, sanitize as often as possible, avoid crowded places and consult a doctor at once if needed.
At the Bacolod BAYS Center, there are doctors and nurses ready to assist, he said.
“Vaccination is now our best weapon against this virus enemy,” he also stressed.
“We are proud to say that our city is among the first of the cities in the Philippines to allocate a big budget to purchase doses of vaccine aside from the allotment we have from the national government. We need to attain herd or community immunity so that we can shoo the virus away with our antibodies that now are ready to fight against the invader,” he added.
DOC’S TIPS
Dr. Hector Gayares Jr., keynote speaker at the Bacolod Independence day rites, said “Let us not forget that each of us has a role to fulfill. This is not just only through the efforts of the government but that it calls for our individual participation—observance of minimum health protocol, getting ourselves vaccinated and building up our health. Part of the armamentarium at our disposal are the internal soldiers in our body.”
Gayares, who is now chief executive officer of the Scheer Memorial Adventist Hospital in Banepa, Nepal, is also a member of the Bacolod COVID-19 Vaccination Council.
He shared seven tips “to have a winning internal armed forces or immune system.”
Every tip is represented by each letter of the word “FREEDOM,” he said.
“F” for fluids – drink at least eight glasses of water a day.
“R” for rest – get at least six to eight hours of sleep every 24 hours. Sleep should coincide with ones circadian rhythm — awake and working by day, asleep and resting by night. That is the natural order for the restoration of cellular functions and life.
“E” for exercise – for even only 30 minutes a day. It gives a feeling of well-being and erases the stresses that bring down the immune system.
“E” for environment – 30-minute exposure to the early morning sun will provide 20,000 to 30,000 IU of Vitamin D that is crucial for optimal function of the immune system and will reduce the risk of respiratory tract infection by 30-70 percent.
“D” for Divine help – all the other concepts that each letter stands for will be for nothing without the help of God.
“O” for outlook – with negativity sickness will always be ones companion but if one stays positive sickness will not stay around.
“M” for meal – food is the fuel for our body.
Leonardia and Bacolod Rep. Greg Gasataya led this year’s Independence Day celebration with the theme was “Kalayaan 2021: Diwa sa Pagkakaisa at Paghilom ng Bayan.”*