Stay home

By Netnet Camomot

TRYING to read a book is impossible now with all the updates and press conferences for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). 

On Wednesday, the Presidential Communications Facebook page posted a reminder from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) for the April 15, 2020 deadline for the Pinoy’s income tax payment and how he could pay for that while staying home. I thought it would be an announcement for a postponement of the payment deadline. 

This is the government we have—always thinking of the money it can misuse and abuse, er, use to buy Covid-19 testing kits for the president, senators, congressmen, governors, mayors, and other politicians and government officials and their families, with the excess testing kits reserved for the madlang pehpohl’s persons under investigation. 

We have to stretch our patience in understanding this: Politicians and government officials have to be healthy so they could run this country, and their families also have to be healthy and free from Covid-19 since they’re the people our leaders and movers go home to, thus, they’re the priority in Covid-19 testing. Bahala na si Batman with the availability of the testing kits.

Luzon is under an “enhanced community quarantine.” Provinces and cities outside of Luzon have also implemented their own quarantines, but it’s still business as usual for the Bureau of Internal Revenue and most probably also for the municipal and city halls for real property and business taxes. 

In yesterday’s press conference at city hall, Mayor Oscar Moreno proposed a community quarantine not only for Cagayan de Oro but also for Misamis Oriental. Earlier this week, he opted for no quarantine but encouraged people to stay home by closing malls (except for their supermarkets, pharmacies, hardware stores, restos, bakeries, and convenience stores) and imposing a curfew from 10 pm to 5 am. It’s a conservative approach compared to what some CDO residents want: a lockdown. 

Moreno, however, had often said in the daily press conferences at city hall that he might impose “stricter measures” if the situation warrants it.

He wants CDO to remain open for Covid patients and also for non-Covid patients from other places who come to the city for their medical treatment and to “harmonize the operations of the Northern Mindanao Medical Center, JR Borja General Hospital, private hospitals, and clinics.” 

We have to trust the government’s response to Covid-19, otherwise, we will be stressed if we continue to doubt its efforts. We have to focus our stress on computing the amount of taxes that will be due for the value-added tax, withholding tax, income tax, ad infinitum taxes, ad nauseam taxes. There’s no end to the government’s need for money.

Each Pinoy now has the responsibility to do his part in social distancing. But with the government continuing to stick to their tax-payment deadlines, and some banks also doing the same for bank-loan and credit-card payments, how can the Pinoy stay home? At least compassionate banks have already extended their payment due dates to 30 days for “qualified” customers. Some utility companies have also extended their due dates to 30 days. 

BDO wins, though, as the most compassionate bank, proving that its mantra “We find ways” is not merely a public relations ploy, by giving a 60-day extension on loan and credit-card payments to “qualified” customers. 

There’s that word again: qualified. Making each of these banks’ clients wonder who among them are qualified. 

At the city hall’s press conference on Wednesday, Moreno asked, “How do we address fear?” Well, if the government, banks, and other collectors can assure the Pinoy that there won’t be penalties and fines for late payments, and if the government can provide food, water, maintenance medicines, vitamins, toilet paper, rubbing alcohol, hand sanitizer, soap, and other toiletries to each Pinoy, then, that Pinoy can stay home. 

The government is now preparing for the worst-case scenario.

Department of Health Region 10 Director Dr. Adriano Suba-an said that the “battle will be at the barangay.” Which makes me wonder if this is now World War 3. In a 2015 Ted Talk, Bill Gates said, “Today, the greatest risk of global catastrophe doesn’t look like this (he showed a photo of a mushroom cloud), instead it looks like this (photo of an influenza virus). If anything kills over 10 million people in the next few decades, it’s most likely a highly infectious virus rather than a war.” 

He also said, “We are not ready for the next epidemic,” although movies do make it look like we’re ready as shown by the actors who played the role of epidemiologists in the movie “Contagion.”

“The failure to prepare could allow the next epidemic to be dramatically more devastating than Ebola,” Gates added. “Next time we may not be so lucky. You can have a virus where people feel well enough while they’re infectious that they get on a plane or they go to a market. The source of the virus could be a natural epidemic like Ebola or could be bio-terrorism.” Brrrrr. Was he talking about Covid-19?

One advice of his: “strong health systems in poor countries.” Hmmm. Is Pinas a poor country?