RESIDENTS in Cebu City will have to wait until May to pick up the pieces of what will be left of their lives.
The enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) has been extended for another two weeks by Mayor Edgardo Labella, aka Mr. Nice Guy.
I’m sure he has valid reasons for prolonging the suffering of so many people.
Oh wait, I might get arrested for spreading “fake news” by saying people are suffering. So let me say that again: I’m sure he has valid reasons for prolonging my suffering.
How’s that?
Kidding aside, I’m sure it was with a heavy heart that the mayor arrived at this decision.
I mean, he is aware that the National Government only allotted a P200 billion budget to provide subsidies that range from P5,000 to P8,000 to over 18 million families for two months, right?
Or that, in some barangays in some cities in Metro Manila, only less than half of the intended beneficiaries for the cash assistance were approved by the agency?
Where I live in Sambag 1, the barangay has distributed half a sack of rice and 10 cans of sardines and 10 small cans of corned beef since the ECQ took effect on March 28.
I don’t eat rice, so I plan to give my allocation to a deserving family in the neighborhood one of these days. Also, I should have enough groceries in my cupboard and meat in my freezer to last until June.
Even if I start running low on supplies, I have more than enough fat to burn off so I can look like I never gained weight since the City shut down the oval and I started working from home several weeks back.
But let me point out that I and some others like me are the lucky ones.
Many, and I mean many households have more than five people living under the same roof. They have to be fed. At least once a day. That is, under the worst case scenario.
And since many people are temporarily out a job, they have no choice but to rely on government handouts.
I don’t envy Mayor Labella’s position. He has a tough time ahead of him. And that’s why, even though he had my friend arrested, I believe he deserves our all-out support.
The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has placed Labella, his administration, the Department of Health and different law enforcement agencies in a difficult and novel situation.
They have been trying to strike a balance between protecting everyone from infection and making sure those whose lives have been affected by the ECQ can manage to eke out a living.