MONDAY at the mall was a bit of an improvement over the weekend, if to improve is to reduce the number of shoppers. We are all kids at heart – wild young things asking to be punished, restrained, stopped from doing what we shouldn’t be doing. Eager to break out of our cages and snap our chains without minding the don’ts and don’ts of malling and moving outdoors, how many will regret their impulsiveness when as a doctor predicted, we will see a spike in COVID transmissions?
Gov. Jonvic Remulla did the smart thing by shutting down Cavite’s malls as a preventive measure. On the other hand, de bold and de brave PNP Gen. Sinas was not one to be intimidated by the crowds and the virus. In full uniform, he showed up at a mall in Metro Manila minus his “mañanita” brods and without fear or embarrassment while his birthday bash was still being investigated for violation of “Heal as One” guidelines. After all, his superior officer had already pronounced the party “not a violation,” on top of which his services are “indispensable,” De Bold One being in charge of “several anti-COVID programs.” Such as arresting violators of the health protocols?
Behind the clouds of these childish pranks a silver lining appeared in the form of a higher water level, 3 meters up, in Angat dam. We paid a high price for this windfall of rain from heaven, a billion bucks worth of crops destroyed by Ambo, so let’s use the water without wasting a drop.
For ABS-CBN, a glimmer of silver shone last Tuesday, when the lower House threw out its own bill for a five-month provisional franchise and went the whole nine yards instead, by calendaring weekly hearings to decide on the network’s franchise for the next 25 years. That silver could still be tarnished by the calendar itself: Do the House and Senate have time to tackle “all the issues” before the network declares a storm and pulls the plug in August due to bankruptcy?
Under the cloud of a part-time economy, a banker praises another bank for its no-interest, no-penalty program for credit card holders, at least during the lockdown. Any kindliness is a golden deed, why the bank says they find ways.
