A poet writes an open letter to Senator Cynthia Villar amid the present crisis being faced by the country.

It can be remembered that Villar made a controversial statement about the medical professionals in 2013, saying that they’re not required to finish Bachelor of Science in Nursing because they’re only wanted to become caregivers.

“Actually hindi naman kailangan ng nurse ay matapos ng BSN or Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Kasi itong ating mga nurses, gusto lang nilang maging room nurse, sa America or other countries, parang mag-aalaga. Hindi naman sila kailangan maging ganoon kagaling,” Villar said.

Netizen Embong Vitero on his Facebook post asked the whereabouts of Villar amid the coronavirus cases.

Vitero pointed out that while Villar is missing in the public eye, the nurses that she allegedly belittled are now fighting the virus in the frontline.

According to him, nurses are facing an invisible enemy and risking their lives to save others.

He also asked Villar if she even distributed relief goods to the people affected by the virus.

The poet, before ending his post also introduced himself as the father of a medical professional.

You can read his open letter below:

“Open letter to Sen. Cynthia Villar,
Hello Madamè, naalala n’yo pa po ba ito? Naalala n’yo pa ba kung paano ninyo minaliit ang kakayahan at kapasidad ng ating mga Nurses?

Siguro naman po ay hindi ninyo yan makakalimutan. Dahil yan ang araw na nadama mo ang pagkamuhi ng lahat ng mga Pilipinong Nurses sa bawat panig ng mundo dahil lang sa hindi mo pinag-isipang pahayag laban sa kanila.

Ngayon pong dumaranas ng krisis ang Pilipinas maging ang buong mundo, nasaan na po kayo? Nagsu-survey po ba kayo ng mga bukirin na pwedeng pagtayuan ng subdivision o sitting pretty sa inyong palasyo habang panay ang spray ng alcohol sa buong katawan maliban sa leeg mo na walang nakakakita?

Alam n’yo po ba kung nasaan naman ang mga Nurses natin na sa tingin mo ay gusto lang maging “room nurses”?

Nandoon po sila sa unang hanay ng mga pilit lumalaban sa isang salot na virus na hindi nila nakikita. Nandoon sila sa unang hanay na kahit may takot sa kanilang dibdib ay hindi ipinagkait ang kani-kanilang mga sariling kaligtasan mapigilan lamang ang pagkalat ng kinatatakutang COVID 19 na ito.

Nandoon sila sa unang hanay na kahit alam nilang mas una silang pwedeng maging casualty ng digmaang kanilang sinusuong at ang pangamba para sa kaligtasan ng kanilang pamilya ay pikit matang pinaninidigan ang sinumpaan nilang tungkulin habang ikaw ay nananatiling ligtas sa iyong kinaroroonan at kumakain ng masasarap.

May ginawa ka bang tulong kahit man lang magbigay sa mga kababayan mo ng 1 kilong bigas at 1 latang sardinas upang kahit papaano ay malamnan ang kumakalam nilang tiyan?
Marami ka ng atraso sa bayan Madamè. Sa mga Nurses, mga Teachers at sa mga magsasaka.

Sana ay makatulog ka pa ng mahimbing at tumagal pa ang buhay mo hanggang sa ika Isang daan at limampu mong kaarawan,”

The post already reached 1,000 shares on social media.

Villar who received criticisms during that time quickly apologized for her remarks.

“Taos-puso po akong humihingi ng paumanhin sa lahat ng mga nurse at kani-kanilang pamilya na labis na nasaktan sa aking kasagutan sa tanong na ibinato sa akin sa isang programa sa TV,” Villar said.

Albay Representative Edcel Lagman urged the doctors and nurses in the Philippines not to be swayed by big salaries being offered by other countries and prioritize helping the country amid the COVID-19 crisis.

“Patriotism and self-protection in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic demand the temporary ban on overseas deployment of Filipino healthcare professionals and workers like physicians, nurses, and laboratory technicians,” Rep. Edcel Lagman said in a statement issued Saturday.

According to Lagman, the Philippines should focus on hiring all possible healthcare workers in the country to fight the rising cases of the virus.

“With the Philippines’ unabated escalation of the number of persons under investigation (PUIs), persons under monitoring (PUMs), and persons confirmed positive for the novel coronavirus, we need all available medical professionals and healthcare workers to assist in the campaign against the viral menace,” Lagman said.

To attract the nurses and doctors to work in the country, Lagman suggested that the government should be compensated more.

“The ban must be coupled with a hefty increase in the salaries and allowances, including hazard pay of medical frontline personnel in both public and private health facilities,” Lagman who’s also one of the lawmakers who rejected the Bayanihan We Heal As One act said.

Lagman made the statement after he discovered that the U.S. Department of State: Consular Affairs said that they’re looking to hire international medical staff to handle the increasing number of coronavirus cases in the country.

“We encourage medical professionals seeking work in the U.S. on a work or exchange visitor visa (H or J), particularly those working on #COVID19 issues, to contact the nearest U.S. Embassy/ Consulate for a visa appointment,” U.S Department of State: Consular Affairs Facebook page wrote.

Some Filipinos also commented on the Facebook post of the bureau and expressed their interest in working there to join the fight against coronavirus in the US.

As of writing, the Philippines already reported 803 confirmed cases of coronavirus.

President Rodrigo Duterte spends his 75th birthday under home quarantine, following the advice by his doctors and the Presidential Security Group (PSG) after having contact with some public officials tested positive from coronavirus infection.

Senator Christopher “Bong” Go shared several photos of President Duterte while doing some paperwork, one day before his birthday

.

On March 28, Go then shared another photo of the President during his birthday, eating fried fish and a bowl of soup.

According to Go, the only wish of the President for his birthday is for the people to follow the enhanced community quarantine rules and stay at home.

“Dahil home quarantine si Tatay Digong, di muna sya maka almusal sa paborito nyang karinderya sa Davao! STAY at HOME si Tatay digong sa Birthday nya! isa lang wish nya sa birthday nya. Stay at home kayo lahat! manatili sa inyong tahanan! pagpuyo lang! mga kapatid kong pilipino, pwede ba regalo na natin kay tatay digong?” Go said on his post.

Usually, President Duterte prefers to spend his birthday in Davao City and sleep.

However, because of the COVID-19 crisis, the President decided to stay in Metro Manila to supervise the action of the national government.

A few days ago, PSG almost sued a congressman who recently visited Malacanang and was tested positive to coronavirus a week after.

Fortunately, the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) admitted that there’s an error to the said Congressman test result and clarified that he doesn’t have coronavirus.

However, members of PSG who guarded President Duterte will still undergo quarantine.

They also put the Malacañang Complex under lockdown until April 10.

The Board Member of the 6th Provincial District of Cavite slammed the national government for only appearing on television while at the same time, passing the responsibilities to the Local Government Units (LGUs) in handling the COVID-19 crisis.

In a Facebook post on March 28, Board Member Kerby Salazar criticized the Department of Health (DOH) and other national government agencies for passing the burden to the LGUs.

Salazar slammed DOH probably because of its decision to reject the COVID-19 testing center owned by Marikina City despite the need for its residents to be tested from the virus.

He was also saddened that people are still afraid to criticize the government regardless of what’s happening in the country right now.

“Nakakalungkot po na sa kabila ng pinagdadaanan ng ating Bansa, takot pa din magsalita ang karamihan.” Salazar said.

“Andaming bayan ang gustong gusto na magconduct at magprocure ng Test Kits para sa mga Kababayan nila. Pero ano? Kumusta naman ang DOH? Decline and disapprove pa more?” he added.

The board member also lectured the national government, saying that the COVID-19 crisis in the Philippines may not happen if they decided to issue a travel restriction to China earlier.

He also took a swipe to some officials who only did was to appear on television and to pass the responsibilities to the captains and mayors without ensuring if the LGUs have enough funds to feed their constituents.

It can be remembered that President Duterte ordered barangay captains and other local officials via televised address to distribute help to their people.

“Lalabas kayo sa TV pero ang gagawin niyo lang ipapasa ang responsibilidad ng pagpapakain sa lahat ng tao sa mga Kapitan at Mayor. Ginagalit niyo pa ang mga mamamayan imbes na magbigay kayo ng maayos na updates on how to best flatten the curve o di kaya maisaayos ang problema. May ibinaba ho ba kayong Ayuda sa mga Lokal na Pamahalaan na hindi sapat ang kakayahan na tugunan ang pangangailangan ng kanilang nasasakupan?” he said.

“Sana noong may 3 Chinese Nationals from Wuhan, na nagpositive sa #COVID19 nagpatravel ban na po kayo. Yun naman po ang hiniling naming mga Kababayan niyo noong panahon na yun. Diba?” he added.

Before ending his post, he said that criticizing is also part of the solution to the COVID-19 crisis.

Hospitals in the Philippines are facing a shortage of Personal protective equipment (PPEs) that is used to protect the health workers treating COVID-19 patients from getting infected by the virus.

Philippine Red Cross chairman and Senator Richard Gordon suggested to nurses and doctors to wear adult diapers to save the supply of PPEs.

Gordon explained that doctors and nurses who are working in intensive care units (ICUs) are not allowed to wear the same PPEs when they left the room to have a toilet break.

“Mag adult diaper yung mga doctor and nurse kasi kapag nasa ICU ka at lumabas ka hindi ka makakabalik ng pareho parin ang suot mo, magbabago ka ng soot, magastos yun” Gordon said in an interview with 24 Oras on March 27.

The Philippine Senator also pointed out that nurses and doctors who treated patients in Wuhan, China have been wearing adult diapers to relieve themselves during their grueling shifts.

“When doctors and nurses are in the ward, they cannot eat, drink or go to the bathroom,” Han Ding, deputy director of Peking Union Medical College Hospital in Beijing, said in Wuhan, the South China Morning Post reported.

To relieve the shortage of PPEs, celebrities and volunteers are donating the said equipment to hospitals.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 Sent over our first sets of PPEs for our heroes #frontliners with our hero #Darna herself @therealangellocsin ❤️❤️❤️ i decided to put bible verses and words of encouragement to uplift their day❤️❤️❤️ Mabuhay po kayo and Maraming Salamat po sa malasakit ❤️???? #sinulidcontracovid #michaelleyva #michaelleyvamanila #frontlinersph??

A post shared by Michael Leyva (@michaelleyva_) on Mar 25, 2020 at 4:41am PDT

Those volunteers include fashion designer Michael Leyva and actress Angel Locsin who distributed PPEs to hospitals.

The Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) said that they’re not going to investigate their party’s President Aquilino ‘Koko’ Pimentel III over his infamous Makati Medical Center visit.

In an interview, Surigao del Sur 2nd district Rep. Johnny Pimentel, the spokesperson of PDP-Laban said that someone in the party should raise the issue before they discuss it.

“We will not initiate any probe on him unless may mag-raise sa party, [but] I don’t think so,” Pimentel said in an interview.

The spokesperson then defended Koko, insisted that the Senator may not really aware of his condition when he visited the Makati Medical Center.

“Si Koko naman is a very straightforward person. I don’t think gagawa siya nang ganun. Tingin ko hindi niya talaga alam at that time,” he said.

“According to him, nalaman naman niya yung gabing yun 9 p.m. [Tuesday]. He was at the hospital 7 p.m., let’s give him the benefit of the doubt. Inexplain naman niya na nagpatest siya. We believe him,” he said of the senator.

Pimentel then expressed the “full support” of PDP-Laban in the controversy he’s facing right now and they believed that it would not affect the reputation of the ruling party.

He also commented that the issue was just being amplified by the netizens until it became out-of-control

“Pinalaki nang pinalaki eh,” he said.

Senator Koko was criticized by the netizens and also by the medical community for staying beside his wife despite showing symptoms for the past few days.

Makati Medical Center denounced the recent act of Koko and called it ‘irresponsible’ and gave the health workers more problem.

“His admonition for everyone to observe social distancing, enhanced community quarantine measures, washing of hands and personal hygiene are nothing but empty rhetoric because he himself violated all those,” Makati Med statement read.

After receiving a tremendous amount of criticism, Pimentel finally apologized and asked the netizens for understanding.

“I’d like to extend my apologies to the Makati Medical Center. Please tell me how I can make it up to you,” Pimentel said on a separate statement, “just allow me in the meantime to recover and of course please give focus on my wife and the two lives which are involved here, which are at stake,” 

Meanwhile, a group of lawyers is preparing to file multiple cases against Koko, explaining that the Senator should not escape his accountability.

“The Palace has received reports that certain officials who are considered persons under either investigation or monitoring, pursuant to issued guidelines, have allegedly breached protocols set by the government through the Department of Health.

The reports being aired in the open are, however, conflicting; hence, the Office of the President deems it appropriate that the same be formally evaluated by the concerned agencies upon a complaint or otherwise to ascertain the true facts behind the incidents.

The protocols set by the government for persons under investigation or monitoring, must be strictly and absolutely observed by all people falling under the said categories, regardless of their socio-political status. They are not meant to discomfort or burden anyone. They have been established to ensure that public health and safety are secured at all times. There are no exemptions for any person on these health protocols. Those holding high positions in the government are enjoined to set an example to their constituents by strictly observing them.

The equal protection clause of the Constitution imposes equal treatment to all. Any transgressor, therefore, must be dealt with in accordance with the law.”