By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
That is how Cordillera is in terms of the number of people who turned out to be positive of the new strain (UK) of the covid-19 virus. To be more specific, however, it should be “Bontoc, Mountain Province is No. 1.”
Not so different was the situation when we had “Cordillera is No. 1” as our headline more than two decades ago. It was not for a good thing that we were No. 1 then. It was because this region was the No. 1 supplier or source of marijuana. I think we are still No. 1 in that respect.
Now, it is with respect to the UK variant of covid-19. I opened the websites of national dailies in the wee hours of the first day of the week and the number of positive cases in Bontoc was their top story. Out of 16 who had the new variant in the whole country, 12 were from Bontoc.
While everybody must have treated or taken it as just another news, it is not so when you know families that got hit by the diseases. It sucks. It was supposed to happen to others, but not to people you know and their relatives.
It was the same feeling that lawyers in Baguio had when one of us posted in social media that he just got out of the hospital because of covid-19 but he had yet to fully recover as his lungs got scarred. Two of his children whom he infected also just got out of the hospital. He admonished, “Take it from me. Covid is real.” And for everyone to pray. Spiritual realization might be the silver lining behind all these.
Apparently, an OFW from Bontoc arrived from abroad and then his or her family or clan had a reunion of sorts. Probably, a “kanyaw” to ward off bad spirits. That became the super spreader. Little did they know that the spirit of the virus do not respect how the internals of pigs that were butchered looked like. Nor did it have any respect for the prayers of the elders. Well, there is now something called science.
Par for the course in such affairs is the serving of alcoholic drinks. And when people get tipsy, health protocols are the first to be forgotten.
Some lessons should be learned from that fiasco, like the stricter enforcement of health protocols. But there is one more that we Igorots have to deal with. It is the attitude behind what we hear everytime, “Oho! Mamati kad ta!” The ensuing words are usually to the effect that covid-19 is being used to scare people but is actually a business—a big source of income– of those in government.
But close to home are the hard evidence. People we know being hospitalized along with members of their families.
So if you are a “hampas lupa” like me, better to be careful than sorry. “Bawal magkasakit o ma ospital” as they say. It is so needlessly expensive that many of us cannot really afford.
So those who are saying, “Oho! Mamati kad ta!” are stupid. Ironically, they are the ones who can hardly afford the consequences. So that makes them doubly stupid.**
