LAPU-LAPU CITY Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan said that his local government unit (LGU) is winning in the fight against Covid-19, “at least for now.” Is Chan, a survivor of the dreaded disease, joking or bragging?
I would like to remind the honorable mayor that if he is joking, it’s no joke to fight this kind of disease. Even the most advanced and powerful nation such as the US is having a hard time combatting this new pandemic. This is no ordinary health crisis. We have no experience in handling it. No template and precedence like other catastrophes. Facing this invincible enemy is no joke. This will be a protracted battle until such time that a vaccine for Covid-19 is discovered.
If Chan is bragging, I’ll have to remind him of these quotes: “Bragging saves advertising.” “A braggart is recognized by his headgear.” “Tell me what you brag about, and I’ll tell you what you lack.” “He who boasts much can do little.” “Great boast, little roast.” “You may boast to strangers but tell the truth to your own people.” “Never boast—you might meet someone who knew you as a child.”
The basis of the mayor that they are winning in the fight against Covid-19 are the daily graphs that show that reported positive cases are decreasing and figures of daily reported recoveries are increasing. Although, he said, this is “too early to tell.” Even using the phrase “it’s early to tell” as a qualifier for his statement does not mean that the Lapu-Lapu local government unit (LGU) is “winning in the fight.” Maybe the right phrase Ahong should have used was “the spread has been contained” because positive cases have been decreasing. Not “winning the fight.”
This reminds me of the controversial statement of Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque sometime last June, when he said that “the country is winning in the fight against Covid-19.” Experts from the University of the Philippines predicted that Covid-19 cases would reach 40,000 by the end of June. When the date came, it did not reach 40,000 but only 35,000. So Roque claimed that we defied UP’s prediction and “we are winning the fight because the prediction did not come true.”
Is that the same theory adopted by Mayor Chan? Just because the number of positive cases is decreasing and the number of recoveries is increasing, he would claim that Lapu-Lapu City is now winning the fight? Mao ni tinamban nga analysis sa mayor.
How are we faring in the fight against Covid-19? The data we have provides an imperfect picture. The number of confirmed cases, however, depends largely on the extent to which an LGU tests the community. We have limited testing on patients who are seriously ill in the hospital. We generally haven’t tested people who are only mildly symptomatic or don’t go to the hospital. We don’t know how many have the disease. Is Lapu-Lapu City continuing to conduct testing, rapid or the Reverse transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR)? I doubt. Basin wa nay testing, so wala nay kaso. (Maybe there is no more testing, so that is why there are no more new cases.)
It reminds me of a joke. When the Health Minister of Burundi, a South African country, was asked by reporters why there is no Covid-19 case in his country, the health minister answered, “We have no Covid-19 case because we don’t have testing.”
If Ahong insists that they are “winning the fight” against Covid-19, then we will make Lapu-Lapu City the model. We will adopt their strategies and we will make Chan a consultant. We will send Secretary Roy Cimatu back home and replace him with Ahong. Mabuhi si Ahong. (Long live, Ahong.)