Legaspi: Our quarantined faith?

THE country will start opening its doors to everyone because of the downgrades of community quarantine. This means that there will be places that will really go back to the old normal while some will embrace a “new normal” for several days and still go back to the old ways.

Unless cases of Covid positive will rise in the next weeks in the country, we will forget the almost three months of quarantine. Some community leaders and concerned individuals are saying that what we have done in the past will just all go to trash once we lift restrictions.

Modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) areas, like Negros Occidental province and Bacolod, will start to allow everyone to go out today as long as they follow the health standards set by the health authorities. Wearing of face masks, gloves, washing hands with soap and water and alcohol, social distancing and others must be followed with the aim that the virus could not be transmitted. Protocols in public transportation must and should be observed too. With all these, we can minimize transmission but we cannot assure that the virus will get eradicated.

The main reason for the downgrade is simply economic. There is a need for our business sector to rise and do business once more. It is needed since the country is a little dried up now as to resources and could no longer afford to give more to the people. Although while I believe that the President still has many ideas on the survival of the nation, but when financial resources could no longer sustain, those good ideas will just remain as concepts. So there is a need to open back businesses.

What is incomprehensible is that while we allow businesses to resume why are there people who are still against religious gatherings? A Catholic priest asked, is it because religious organizations are not taxed? So, it does not contribute to the economic recovery of the nation?

He added that if one would think deeper, the church creates activities that would bring people to the business. Take the case of Sundays, if you only have 50 percent churchgoers, go around the malls and business establishments, this would already create business and secure revenues for the government. But since there is no direct business, they think that religious gatherings are just a waste of time and are non-profitable.

We just celebrated Pentecost Sunday and allowing mass gathering in churches could have been the best gift we could give to the Catholic

Church. Hopefully, next week, we are allowed already to congregate in our churches with the health protocols being followed and the suggestions of the bishops also be implemented. We look forward to a gathering of faithful thirsty of the Eucharist.

After the announcement of the downgrade, many places in the country

registered an increase in Covid-19 confirmed cases. Although a good

number of recoveries have also been reported. Authorities are saying that the increase could be attributed to the testing kits that the country had purchased and the creation of more testing centers in the country.

At this point, my great congratulations to all Negrosanons and Bacolodnons for the cooperation and solidarity shown during the quarantine period. May we quarantine ourselves more this time on a personal mandate and make the local governments feel that what they fight for is truly the answer to the ending of the spread of Covid-19.

Together, we pray with our religious leaders that our civic leaders would recognize our hunger and thirst for our physical relationship with God and our fellowmen. We pray fervently that the Holy Spirit inspires our leader to decide with compassion and faith.

St. Ezekiel Moreno, pray for us.