Lockdown

Starting 10 PM today, quarantine passes issued by the Cebu City government will no longer be effective. The government was kind enough to warn the citizenry about this at 9 PM. Hope you weren't sleeping.

So what is this? Lockdown? ECQ? EECQ? What cockamamie thing are we going to call this?

What this means is that people can only travel within their barangays? Maybe. Who knows? Vagueness seems to be the defining quality of this government. It's annoying, honestly, that the government leaves the citizens to "fill in the gaps" for themselves, so to speak, and then blame the citizens when they end up doing things not to its liking. Now there's tell that the army is patrolling the streets shooing people away. Maybe they'll lock us in our homes and weld the doors shut like El Jefe's Chinese buddy did in Wuhan. 

These are very bad times for Cebu but instead of support, all we Cebuanos seem to be receiving lately is scorn. This is all on us apparently, since we're all so hardheaded. If I didn't know better, I think the government is scapegoating us. Nevertheless, I don't feel insulted. It's only natural for people to look for things to blame during crisis. The stubbornness of the Filipino is a believable excuse and the government would naturally prefer that explanation than admit any lapses or incompetence.

At this point, I'm wondering if I should just get the virus to get this damn thing over with. I'm kidding, I think. This is all getting so tiresome and to be frank, I'm starting to feel anxious. I can imagine other people reacting poorly to the latest news. But we must not lose our heads as difficult as that is.

Deep breaths, eh?

Bread - Make It with You

Extreme Rules Deluxe Community Quarantine-pounder with Cheese

Last Tuesday, Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) standards were reinstated in Cebu City given the non-stop increase of Wuhan virus cases. The government was nice enough to announce this during midnight just on the day it was to take effect for maximum disruption. Sometimes it seems the government is having way too much fun with the extraordinary powers it now has over our lives.

Non-Filipino readers may wonder what "ECQ" is. During the outbreak of the virus, the government came up with several grades of quarantine standards. The strictest is Extensive/Extreme Community Quarantine or EECQ. ECQ is a step below that but don't confuse it with Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ), which is not as strict as ECQ but is still stricter than Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ). General Community Quarantine (GCQ) is considered the least strict of all. Of course, this all shouldn't be confused with a "lockdown" which is a different thing altogether. You got all that?

What's the real difference between all these forms of quarantine? Hell if I know the specifics. Go look up an infographic on google or something. Best start learning how to use the internet. All these different quarantines makes Bush-era America's color coded "terror level" look genius. Why couldn't we have added some colors to the mix? That would have been nice.

Why is the outbreak so bad here? Everyone has their own theory - people being "stubborn" is the favorite. It's only human to play the blame game. But I do wonder why Cebu is getting the harsh treatment while Manila, a city much more dense in population, gets bumped down to GCQ. 

Whatever the reason, it's just more shit to deal with.

Johnny Cash - Devil's Right Hand

Neroche - Earth Druid