WHILE staying at home in view of the community quarantine imposed by authorities, including the 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew, everybody is expected to remain indoors in order, so they say, to keep safe.
Almost all activities ground to a halt, thanks to the over zealousness of local government officials to implement the DILG and the presidential orders to “lock down” all areas in order to contain the dreaded coronavirus.
We’ve heard of the measures put up in Metro Manila such as social distancing, that is, minimization of gathering of people in a single place like malls and the strict monitoring of the number of passengers able to board public utility vehicles.
In the provinces, the same measures have been adopted, but with the familiar grumble of drivers who stand to lose more because of these measures. Desperate times, desperate measures indeed. For those devotees of various saints and patron saints, they have to make do of smaller groups conducting religious services. Say, how much harder should they pray so that this crisis will eventually end? Pray, tell me.
The question in everyone’s mind is when will this unsolicited disorder end? Your guess is as good as mine.
The situation is reminiscent of war times when every move is monitored, every goods and services rationed. We definitely have no choice but to grin and bear it.
In some places, they appear like ghost towns: no mobility, no movement. Everybody is safely ensconced in his home.
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Meanwhile, live audiences have been forbidden in live TV shows, depriving the mass-based viewership of live entertainment.
There are other diversions we can engage in such as parlor games like dama and chess, card games without the betting, sports like badminton and tennis and workouts in gyms. These diversions are helpful to deviate or disabuse our minds from the present gloomy state of our existence. There are other diversions, healthy and productive, in which we can indulge while the crisis persists and is prevailing.