I AM an ordinary citizen with no political agenda, affiliation or ambition. But like everyone else, I’ve had enough. I’ve had enough of the mudslinging, the mediocrity, the misinformation.
Let’s stick to the science. For months, we’ve been bombarded with a plethora of so-called cures for Covid-19, some so ridiculous like hairdryers, you wonder why anyone would actually share them.
If you want to read up about Covid-19, always check the credibility of your sources. With all due respect to doctors, not everything touted by a person with a medical degree is reliable. We must always look into the background of the author of the video or the article.
It doesn’t matter whether the author is a doctor, a scientist, a world leader—no one should escape a background check.
A conspiracy theorist? A career shrouded by accusations of fraud or deception? A somewhat shady past? A peddler of pills, potions and books? You have to look past the name and the title. Dig deep into the motivations of the author. Always vet your sources.
Learn to know who to listen to. We have many well-regarded doctors in our community. Let’s listen to them instead of listening to our friends and neighbors unless we actually trust their judgment and/or intellectual capacity to filter fact from fiction.
Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of our doctors and nurses. They bear the brunt of this disease 24/7. They who must stare into the terrified faces of the dying as well as of the anguished faces of the living—till the very end. They risk their lives every day to serve us.
Sometimes people rant, out of frustration. I rant too. Every day. But I don’t do it on social media where everything eventually goes south. I’ve learned over the years to hold back, to think twice, to ask myself, is there another way to get this message across?
Sometimes, the vitriol cannot be contained. Maybe, it needs to be spewed out. But we can move past it and learn to work with one another. The stakes are too high. If we have to kill egos to save lives, we should do it.
Let’s not bow to the mounting pressure to reopen the economy even when we are not ready. Who does not want shops to reopen, jobs to return, free and unrestricted mobility? But the virus still runs rampant in our community.
If we want to save lives, we cannot do as we want. We have to do as we should.
I am an ordinary citizen with no political agenda, affiliation or ambition. But like everyone else, I’ve had enough. Enough of the dogfights. Enough of the disorganization. Enough of the disunity.
You know why we can’t move forward? Because we’re pulling the cart in different directions. And we do Cebu a great disservice.
Cebu is not bereft of talent. The problem might be that we have too many.