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Showing posts from July, 2020

Memoirs of a Quarantinee

My Covid ordeal started on March 6 when news of the suspension of classes in Metro Manila due to reported cases of Covid came out and another news of a lockdown in Italy because of thousands of Covid fatalities. My daughter is studying in Manila and she is in Quezon City where there are many confirmed Covid cases. She’s alone in her place and relatives are far from where she stays. I texted and called her a lot, always checking on her. My sister is also in Italy and she is immuno-compromised because of a heart ailment and diabetes. Daily, I would check on her, too, knowing that Italy is suffering much from the pandemic. These two alone made me scatter-brained. March 10, I got word from a friend of a possible lockdown in Metro Manila and that would mean a difficulty in mobility.   Despite the numerous texts and calls I made to my daughter urging her to go home, she hesitated because they were having online classes and she has to submit some outputs online. March 12, my sanity seem

EASTER IN THE FACE OF THE COVID PANDEMIC

For us Christians, Easter is more than just a religious celebration. Easter symbolizes FAITH, LOVE, HOPE, and SALVATION. In the midst of the COVID pandemic, Easter becomes very meaningful.   In the past, we may take it as just ONE OF THE HOLIDAYS.   We look forward to it as a family occasion or a trip to one of our dream destinations.   Sometimes, because of the excitement, we even neglect to find time to reflect on it. This year, is definitely different.   We have at some point given more time to reflect and pray during the Holy Days. For sure, we have prayed more often and more seriously than ever.   We had been more attentive to the readings and homilies in the masses.   We had been more prayerful not only for our personal intentions but also for others.   In the past, we may have missed attending masses for some reasons.   But now, we search the web for masses and prayers. And most beautiful of all is that, we have tried to reach out to help others despite our own ina

Men We Call Heroes

This is a little late. But I got angry enough that I think I needed to say something about it. Germans learn about Adolf Hitler in school. It gets lectured, aga in and again, why such a horrible person like him gained so much power and followers to make his horrible ideas become reality. They get told about how Hitler manipulated the mindset of his fellow Germans, about how his charismatic speeches sounded like redemption, about how he took advantage of the fact that his country was now an international disappointment and strategically used it to launch a political career that would kill millions. Most importantly, Germans learn not to let a dictatorship like that ever happen again. They learn not to make the same mistakes. Germany has to acknowledge that they spawned one of the most horrible people in the world every day. It's a stain they can never erase, and a stain they had to painfully accept. But it's good that they acknowledge it. Because they accept that mis