MAKATI CITY — “You don’t make the timeline, the virus makes the timeline!” declared Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases.
Fauci, currently under fire from his boss US President Donald Trump, had been insisting in the early days of the pandemic that the US, and all other countries for that matter, should have imposed the lockdown much sooner.
Closer to home, Health Sec. Franciso Duque sang different tunes. At the start of the pandemic, he boldly declared there was no need to shut down and close our borders to incoming tourists. Weeks later, he made a sober admission on the need for an expanded quarantine.
Before the Luzon ECQ took effect, I had managed to snag, with much relief, or so I thought, one of the last two remaining seats on a flight back to Manila. It was like seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, and NOT realizing that the light was from an oncoming train headed towards me. Because like everyone, I was not prepared for the trainwreck that followed.
My hubby and I made provisions for as much food, medicines and the essentials as time, space and funds allowed while coordinating and scrambling to make on-line transactions for staff salaries and payables and the allowance for our daughter studying in Japan.
In between making all these practical preparations, I worried about family, staff and friends. I wept and grieved at a distance for friends who had passed, unable to pay my last respects. Short expressions of sympathies through Messenger were sent in lieu of flowers and personal visit.
After days of frustration, worrying and shaking mental fists of fury at a government that was fumbling all over the place, I took solace from fervent prayers uttered in the deafening silence of my grieving heart at random times, even during the insomniac nights.
Depressing scenes of reported hoarding, corruption, price spiking basic commodities, insensitive cockfighting, karaoke and gambling sessions were mercifully punctuated by the timely bursts of good news of people recovering from the virus and the heartwarming acts of kindness and support for the front-liners and strangers.
My friends and I belong to a group called Save Bakery and Café Philippines that was created to initially to save small bakeries and cafes which are severely affected, like many small businesses, at this time.
Because of CoViD-19, the SBCP has morphed into a venue for people to sell their goods, donate food and source ingredients to allow for more production.
Nothing beats seeing the thankful posts of front-liners receiving anonymous donations. SBCP has enabled us to shoot little rays of sunshine to shut-in seniors, sick or depressed people through gifts of freshly baked goods and even helped us overcome our own depressions through our shared baking experiences and mishaps. The short supply of eggs, yeast and flour became our reality too!
Chef Mark B, who owns a culinary school in Subic, opened up his kitchen and cooked up hundreds of meals for health workers in the area. My green thumbed friend, Beng C, who is into hydroponics shared vegetables to neighbors in Batangas.
We see corporate giants donating huge amounts to help the marginalized sectors, offering debt relief or rent holidays to their lessees who are struggling under the weight of paying for fixed costs without the benefit of a steady income stream.
We don’t know how long this quarantine will last. It is my fervent prayer that we can indeed go back to work in Metro Manila on the first week of May.
In the meantime, let us flatten the curb by staying at home and taking precautions to stay safe.
Let us be passionate in pursuing a culture of kindness and a generosity of spirit even in these bleak times. As the saying goes, “We can throw kindness like confetti” and we can light lanterns along the dark tunnel that we are speeding through and emerge into the light on the day that this quarantine is finally lifted.
Ampo and amping tang tanan!
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Marissa Ngan-Dames joins the MetroPost as a regular columnist. She was gold medalist of the Center for Asian Culinary Studies. As president and COO of DTC Promos Inc. in Manila, she conceptualizes and implements events, activations and promotions for various food companies like Unilever, Robina, and Nestle.
Author’s email: [email protected]