He that will not apply new remedies, said Francis Bacon, must expect new evils.
I don’t know if Mayors Vico Sotto, Isko Moreno and Rex Gatchalian, all of the mega city Metro Manila a.k.a epicenter of COVID 19, have read Bacon. Chances are, they probably have.
While most mayors in the country have made themselves scarce in light of the virus scare ( malaguang lapitan, masakit pantunan, easy to approach but hard to find), the three have been exceptionally creative in finding ways to serve their constitituents ease their existential hardships.
The time calls for thinking out of the box; most politicians have decided they’d rather be in the box instead of seeking out, reaching out to their people. It’s been said that campaign is what a politician says, action is what he does.
In the case of Vico, he’s apparently not squeamish at all to stick his neck out and try new ways to make public service a more creative one in elevating public interest to a more responsive, not just reactionary, le vel. For that, he may have earned the pique of some, even the country’s top officials.
Just recently Malacananang has broadsided him for allowing tricyle drivers to sustain their usual hand-to-mouth way of living, even threatening like-minded local executives of getting the full brunt of the law. Dura lex, sed lex is casually invoked like instant noodles. They conveniently forget Cicero’s s the welfare of the people is the supreme law. Vico’s last name may have saved him from real trouble.
In these Kafkaesque times, control freaks are all over the place. We need a counter balancing group of men with not mere suggestions but real solutions to every problem that emerges in our midst. This Administration seems to have them in short supply. Why not outsource, which is a global strategy.?
Even the ever implacable, undiplomatic Secretary of Foreign Affairs has broached the idea by seeking the help of Chinese doctors who may have a better idea on how to flatten the curve versus corona. After all, this pandemic of a product has China has its origin and,if stats are enough to go by, China is way, way ahead of the curve. Unless truth, which is the first casualty in war, is a collateral victim
Richard Gordon may not be a Sinophobe, but he may have to call a hearing of his Blue Ribbon Committee if Locsin’s idea is a brilliant one or just shooting the breeze.
The current lockdown imposed in several areas in Luzon has among others, limited peope’s access to the food basket by way of wet markets or tiangge or talipapa. Vico has thought of bringing the market closer to the people. It’s so practical it’s almost heroic. It spares the hoi polloi a lot, from money to time and other hassles and harrasments. Why the national government hasn’t come up with this idea is as annoying as seeing Bong Go always seated beside his master everytime his on camera. Or maybe, that’s why.
I’m sure there are Ivy League brains in Duterte’s team, it’s really a wonder such simple an idea as bringing basic services to the people hasn’t been part of this lockdown strategy. What gives?
A case in point: I have a pharmacist daughter who I drive to and fetch from a local hospital four times a week because there’s no public transport from where we live and where she works. At a checkpoint one time, I went through the usual two or three questions. I expected to breeze through the process, my passenger being exempted, only to hear from a soldier or cop that my daughter was exempted but not me. When I reminded him that there was no public or government transport, he backtracked and waved me in.
One simple thing:why don’t they issue passes to private vehicles to ferry exempted individuals?
The President was a long-time mayor before he aced the presidency. He must have been marinated in the nitty gritty of poor people’s lives. And yet, it doesn’t show.Not at all. What is obvious and evident is control at all cost. That is a military mind, not a civilian mind. It may not even be that of a lawyer. Of course, that’s another story.
The silver lining on the horizon is that some courageous and well-meaning public servants are willing to take political and personal risks to be in touch with the hard and painful realities in the lives of the people who voted them into office. The likes of Vico, REx and Yorme are exemplary. I’m sure there will be more. A little pushback will go a long, long way.
The stupidy of politics is best illustrated by a funny story, probably not apocryphal, that when Vico was still campaigning, his rivals were so driven out of their wits that they even banned a poor cake vendor who shouted ” bico, bico” as she peddled her merchandise.
As I write this, Rex has replicated– copy, in plain language– Vico’s bulb-like idea. Digong’s highly-ensconced technorats had better catch up.
Critical mass , hopefully, will follow critical thinking. That, plus a crossed finger.
