LAST week, watching hope. This week, that hope we see in watching women.
We watch the country’s own Leni Robredo. She has said on national television that it is not the time for politics, that where her office sees gaps in services needed by the people, it steps in. Indeed, in this era of Covid-19, our efforts should be geared toward the common goal of beating the invisible enemy.
To that end, the Office of the Vice President (OVP) quite early on provided free shuttle services for frontliners to get to and from work. A gap filled. The OVP is also early on providing free dormitories for health workers to bunk in near their workplaces. A dozen of such dorms were set up in various spots in Metro Manila. Another gap filled.
Closer to home, that one was being set up in Baguio in coordination with the University of the Cordilleras, as per a broadcast announcement of the Vice President.
Even closer to home, women councilors making waves.
Councilor Philian Weygan-Allan has for more than a month now been providing a market to home delivery of goods. Each district has one day a week to pre-order from a list posted on a Facebook group chat set up per district. You place your order and the next day, the orders are delivered at designated drop off points. This column and so many others in District 13 have benefited much from this service. It should be one that stays even post-Covid war. Talk about a gap being filled.
In this same light, Councilor Weygan-Allan has also discovered populations not served at all by the various programs of the government. The populations are from the ranks of stranded students, seniors, those whose OFW relatives were unable to send them money.
The good councilor sourced relief packs for these people and calls for donations to be able to give them relief, calling the effort “1500 sa Akinse,” referring to the number of recipients targeted every 15 days. Please coordinate with her office if you would like to assist the endeavor.
Councilor Mylen Yaranon has also brought to light other populations she has personally helped, making us realize that the pandemic has indeed hit us hard. In a broadcast this week, she disclosed that even her whole salary has gone to relief efforts. We can only say that blessed are those who can give and do.
Other women we watch making waves are on the world stage are Germany’s Angela Markel and New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern. The former is both a leader and... a scientist. This combination is said to have been pivotal in the control of the pandemic in Germany. Markel is also lately quoted to be a warning of a second wave. The latter is credited with being a singular communicator whose clear and honest messaging holds her country together at this time.
And of course, we know that at this time too, women in every home everywhere are holding their households and families together despite all odds.