Filipino Sojourner: January 2021

NOTE: Just like many of my tasks, this blog post is currently unfinished. I know that half of January 2021 has passed and it is too late now for a post looking back at my experiences in 2020. BUT I dedicated plenty time on this and I realize that this is a good way for me to remember all the topsy-turvy events that I underwent for the first year of the terrible decade. Hopefully, I will able to finish in the first half of this year.

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As the world counts down the hours, minutes, and seconds to the new year; this is the opportune time to look back to the year that was and how it upended my life.

JANUARY

Taal Volcano 2020 Eruption (Source: Wikipedia)

After the firecrackers, loud noises, and explosions when we said good bye to 2019 and welcomed 2020, Taal Volcano followed up with it's own explosion on the 12th of January.

I still remember how puzzled I was when I saw a weird looking sky that afternoon when Taal Volcano spewed its fury. I saw half of the sky covered with dark clouds and the other half still blue with white clouds. "Will it rain?" I wondered.

My parents, who live in Metro Manila, called and asked how we were doing. They were worried because Taal Volcano erupted. That's the only time when I knew of the explosion. A few minutes later, ashes started falling and covered everything with dark grey color.

As the ash fell through the night, I considered evacuating to my parents house for the sake of the kids and my pregnant wife. Fortunately, the ash stopped falling the next morning so we decided to stay home. I then spent the whole day cleaning the ashes on the road and in our backyard. It was a back breaking task but must be done to avoid respiratory illnesses for me and my love ones.

The Taal Volcano explosion caused panic among the people, including those who will not be affected by the ash fall. Chaos ensued in Luzon. People started hoarding face masks while resellers took advantage of the situation by overpricing their facemasks.

A few days after Taal's explosion, our lives returned to normal. I didn't know by that time that Taal Volcano's tantrum is the just the beginning of 2020's series of unfortunate events. In January, there were already signs of the dark days ahead.

Photo of the Month

Heto na ang final solution sa construction needs mo: FINAL HARDWARE. (Source: Google Earth)

Meme of the month

(Source: Dad's Jokes)

Blog posts this Month:

Jollibee Party Package Price for 2020

Final Words:

King David's wicked plan to murder Uriah after raping Bathsheba is a proof that humans will do everything to cover up their crimes.

FEBRUARY

February is the month when the Wuhan virus starts gaining public attention. I shared many stories about it in my social media pages. One post that strike the cord is the news about the whistle-blower doctor who warned China's government about the pandemic. That doctor was imprisoned and eventually he died due to the virus.

This doctor is just the first of the many people silenced by Chinese government to prevent the spread of the news about the Wuhan virus.

February is also the month when Duterte and his minions commenced their operation to strip ABS-CBN of its franchise.

This is also the month when I took my one and only travel for the year. I visited Cebu City once again and for the nth time before the government placed the whole Philippines in in lock downs (a.ka. community quarantine).

Photo of the month

French woman pouring tea for a soldier busy in a firefight. (Source: War History Online)

Meme of the month

Iyak ang kalbong Bato.

Blog post this month:

Playtime for the Kids in Rizal Park Children's Playground - this is about our visit to Rizal Park as a family to visit the children's playground in. It was a fun filled day, which reminded me of our visit to the playgrounds of Baguio's Burnham Park.

Final Words:

Prayer, prayer; pray for a while each day, and life will be easier and bearable. Learn to speak with God without words and, in this way, practice the prayer of meditation.

- Bl. Josefa Naval Girbes

MARCH

The major event this month is the beginning of the world's longest lockdown due to Wuhan virus. On March 16, the government declared the start of Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) for the whole Luzon Island. It is the start of calvary for many Filipinos, specially those who lose their jobs and livelihood, just because the inutil president who did not stop people from mainland China from entering the country.

(Source: News5)

My daily routine was suddenly changed as I find myself working from home.

It was a great struggle for me balancing work and home concerns. There were times I tried waking up early just to finish my daily tasks. Unfortunately, it was a futile exercise. But still, I was thankful since I still have work. Countless of Filipinos lose their jobs and livelihood.

A great struggle for me this month was buying our supplies. There was no public transpo so I rode the bicycle while carrying a week's worth of food and supplies. The queue at grocery stores was long and I spent almost a day buying our supplies. Also, choosing grocery items was a pain because I had to message pictures to Mrs. Ahab to make sure that I'm buying the right brand.

Hoarding was also rampant this month that grocery stores no longer had instant noodles, canned goods, and alcohol.

One of the realizations I had during this month is the importance of protecting our farmers and the local agriculture industry. As I said in a Facebook post, we need to protect the Filipino farmers because in times of pandemic and worldwide disasters the countries where we import rice will priorities their citizens before they export their food supply.

My greatest realization for this month is this:

No point arguing with a Dutertard.

Another realization is that the so many meetings that I attended prior to the pandemic can be done via emails. Meetings in our office is actually a waste of time. Not attending meetings is one of the positive effect of this lockdown.

March is also the month when the powerful government people violated quarantine rules without any consequences. Koko Pimentel and Omar Duterte are some of the high profile violators. And this is also the month when Cynthia Villar once again revealed her matapobre self to the public. This time she insulted the nurses.