JUNE 20 - JUNE 26, 2021 10 A CITY....FROM P. 7


patients where the body starts to attack its own cells. It is often a fatal precursor. That same day, Dumaguete learned that many members of the City Council were also stricken by the virus. And while President Rodrigo Duterte was in town to lead the Regional Peace and Order Council meeting at the Silliman University Gymnasium, the City began to fear for the health of its city leaders.


both the containment of the coronavirus, and preserving the local economy.”


placed Negros Oriental under MECQ until June 30. This was how we got here. But how exactly?


But later that night, Duterte


A few days later, in the morning of May 30, three days after a lunar eclipse that was also a blood moon, Vice Mayor Alan Gel Cordova collapsed on the way to Dumaguete while joining a bike-for-a-cause in Tanjay—and died of cardiac arrest. He had just recovered from a bout of COVID a week earlier, and should have been convalescing.


The City mourned. The City became rattled with what seemed like a crisis of leadership, delivered unexpectedly by a viral scourge.


comments on the Yes The Best Facebook page gives us a picture of a community grappling with the varied realities of the pandemic, and could be instrumental in explaining the surge.


A cursory look at many


that of the dismissive variety— that COVID-19 is not real, that people are being overly dramatic. “Just a little bit of coughing, COVID-19 na dayon,” is a typical post.


One type of comment is


the more than two months of vaccination using vaccines allocated by the IPHO. And a s


Dumaguete has begun vaccinating people under the A3 priority group.


of June 1 6 ,


The LGU promises that it will continue the current pace of vaccination until the supplies are depleted, with Mayor Remollo pledging to find other ways to get more vaccines directly to Dumaguete. Walk-ins to vaccination centers, however, are still not allowed to ensure orderly vaccination,


overcrowding. On June 15, a day after the


A surprising number of these posts are from expats living in the Province.


and avoid


By May 31, 313 new cases, 1,228 total. The public calls for tighter protocols grew more intense—but Duterte determined that Negros Oriental would remain under the most relaxed modified general community quarantine [MGCQ] from June 1 to 30. By June 2, 138 new cases,


1,315 total.


1,572 total. Meanwhile, a total of a 17,891 people in the Province had gotten their first dose of the vaccine. Also on the same day, the Department of Health announced it was importing nurses from Cebu to help out the local hospitals with the surge. From his sick bed, Mayor Remollo made an “urgent and direct appeal” to the national government to give more vaccines to the City. Within 24 hours, Dumaguete would receive 10,000 vials of Sinovac straight from the national government. The LGU estimated that


By June 4, 429 new cases,


108,624 City residents, out of a total population of 137,214, needed to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity. By June 8, 452 new cases, 1,714 total—a day after OCTA released its list of cities with the highest surges in the country. The PIATF recommended placing certain barangays in Dumaguete with high numbers of COVID-19 infections under granular lockdown—Piapi with 22, Bagacay and Daro with 16, Bajumpandan with 14, and Lo-oc with 12. No one knew exactly what that meant. By June 9, 232 new cases,


1,808 total. 1,837 total.


By June 11, 435 new cases,


By the next day on Independence Day, the Dumaguete City Council requested Gov. Roel Degamo to put in place a tightening of the quarantine status of the City, with the approval of the Regional IATF—perhaps a GCQ, or MECQ, or ECQ. The request was tricky to


is that of the conspiratorial variety—that doctors and hospitals and the LGU were in this scheme to make money. One vi c ious rumo r spread that City leaders were withholding the vaccine to make profit. One Dan Adlawz posted on Facebook: “Malaki [naman] ang kikitain ang mga LGU dito. Curfew violators, pera na. Face shield violators, pera na. Facemask violators, pera na. Swab test, bayad sa laboratory, pera na. Mogawas ka sa balay, dakpan ka, pera. It’s about COVID-19 business.” [Quote edited for clarity.] These two have been


“Exasperating expats,” some people began calling them—and you do see many of these expats in their usual haunts around the City flaunting pandemic protocols. Still, many of the establishments that cater to them have expressed a hesitance to remind them of health protocols. “They are our regular customers man gud,” one cashier in a popular restaurant told me. Another type of comment


among the dominant mindsets in Dumaguete. Around the City, you do


see many people—a lot of them young—going about without masks, without social distancing. On social media, you do see pictures of people having weddings, having parties, having dinners in intimate places. A friend told me they had


a party in a private residence for friends she did Zumba with. Soon after, more than half of them developed COVID-19—with several needing hospitalization. Another friend confided to me, after her father died from COVID-19 while her mother was also in critical care at a local hospital—that no one in her family knew where her parents contracted the virus, given that they mostly stayed at home.


Province was placed under MECQ, and a day before its implementation, someone posted a photo of people panic- buying at Lee Plaza Hypermart.


his brush with COVID-19, Mayor Remollo implored: “There is no need for panic buying. The public market, supermarkets, grocery stores, and pharmacies will remain open under MECQ. Our health marshals will strictly enforce basic protocols of wearing facemasks and face shields, and physical distancing.” But how do you keep people from doing what they want to do, at the risk of a further surge? So this is where we are,


By then recuperated from


P.A.O. along E.J. Blanco Drive. If it weren’t for the pandemic, the bustle of the satellite market will have been considered completely ordinary. But the City is at the


cutting edge of pandemic tension, and yet—upon immediate observation of the marketplace—there are still many shoppers, and many vendors not following health protocols: many are not wearing masks, or if they have been put on masks, are wearing them improperly. And then one woman at


the tabo suddenly loses it, according to lawyer Golda Benjamin. The woman is in her mid-


40s, with the looks of a middle- class tita, one who could wear the most ordinary blouse and still come off sosyal, the type who’d buy basil and thyme at the tabo. She is wearing leggings and a shirt, complete with a face shield and mask for her ensemble. She is alone. She begins raising her voice


in protest: “Ngano man gyud mo dili magtarong sul-ob sa mask? Abi ninyo dili mo madutlan og COVID? Daghan na kaayong namatay. Mga dato gani wala kasagang. Magtabanganay ta. Hasta na inyong face shield, nganong naa sa inyong mga ulo. Gamita ninyo!”


negotiate: Dumaguete being a component City, a change in its quarantine status would also include the entire Negros Oriental. Unlike independent cities like Cebu City or Bacolod City, Dumaguete could not have a quarantine status different from all the other places in the Province. LGUs like Dumaguete could not change the quarantine status of their areas on their own. By then, Cebu Province was again requiring travelers from Negros Oriental to secure a negative RT-PCR or antigen test result before entry. Negros Occidental was also prohibiting non-essential travel to its sister Negrense Province.


“We cannot afford a total lockdown,” Governor Degamo declared on June 14. He said a total lockdown in the whole Province was unsustainable and unaffordable—unless the national government stepped in to help. He saw granular lockdowns as the “best solution to balance


On June 3, when Antonio Ramas Uypitching Sr., patriarch of one of the wealthiest families in the Province died from COVID-19, the City again mourned— but also asked the inevitable question: “If those with means could suffer, how much more those of us without means?” Meanwhile, there are valid


complaints of the vaccination rollout being slow. But from the LGU, we learn that it’s the whole Province, not just Dumaguete, bearing the burden of the process: “We are waiting for vaccines, and the process is national government- province-city/town. We have tried to procure vaccines on our own, but we’ve been told to wait for allocation from the national government. And we cannot compare ourselves to Siquijor, for example. They get the same number of vaccines, but they have less population per category. Thankfully, Mayor Ipe appealed to the National IATF and was given 10,000 vials just for Dumaguete. That is the only reason we are vaccinating again.” From the City Health Office, we also learn that the number of vaccinated residents since June 10—from the 10,000 vials Mayor Remollo obtained—is more than that compared to


Negros Oriental multi-awarded mountain biker Matt Allanic, who normally rides his bike standing up because he doesn’t use a saddle, competes in the 2021 MTB National Championship in Danao City, Cebu Province, where he was ranked #12 out of 56 riders from around the country in the Open Elite category. (Photo by Ibrahim Oca)


METROPOST


TO VAX....FROM P. 9


on June 16, the first day of Dumaguete in MECQ. It is 8 a.m. at the Tabo sa


side effects among the vaccines, but with very good data on providing protection. Lola will be observed naman post-jab to see if she has any reactions to it. Everyone should get vaccinated. Nothing compares to the overall suffering when getting CoViD, especially among the elderly. It affects everything and everyone. We now have the means for


prevention, and a better life. Any vaccine available is the best one. Because the sooner one has protection, the sooner we can move on from CoViD, like the other countries. No to fake news and anti-


vaxxers.


immunity’ other than ‘weeding out the weaker ones’. CoViD is a constantly-mutating virus. As we are seeing exponential growth in the variants popping up, it’s highly unlikely we will reach a point when having CoViD is no longer a threat to health due to natural immunity.


but we know that older people and babies die from the flu annually. So we also anticipate the same with CoViD that has definitely shown how virulent it is. That is why we vaccinate to


The variants MAY be milder And here is the thing with ‘herd


THE WIDE READER ....FROM P. 14


for locals, that included a two-night stay complete with complimentary breakfast, plus a selection of tokens that included a bottle of wine, or snacks good for P500 to be consumed pool-side, or take- out dinner from any restaurant via Food Panda.


did not want to miss. I’d stayed at Rovira Suites once before in pre-pandemic days, and loved the well-appointed rooms with their little balconies, the general quiet of Bantayan that embraces the property, and the pool. The exquisite pool was a huge draw. Swimming in it while the evening deepens, and the hotel lights give everything a glow that is quite an experience. So I took it to get away from the horrors of pandemic days, to pretend everything was all right. I went back again sometime in February 2021 to celebrate an eighth anniversary with the beloved—and as a gift to myself for surviving the harrowing two months preceding that, which led to a kind of breakdown on my part. Staycationing was a way to rejuvenate.


build up immunity faster than the ‘natural way’ wherein one may not even survive the initial infection to build up his own resistance. By all means, give Lola the


shots.


It is an unexpected demonstration of exasperation, completely untypical in the City of Gentle People. But others around her soon join in expressing a mix of frustration and anger: “It has been more than a year since our last strict lockdown in the City. And yet, here we still are!” “Tinood!” others chime in.


will be the biggest help kasi it will show the many people who know and love her that it is definitely okay to get vaccinated.”


“Nag-antos na ta tanan. Balik na pud lockdown. Atong mga doctor, dili na makapauli sa ilang mga anak. Wala’y trabaho na pud ang mga isira na tindahan.” It precedes a slow-mo moment at the tabo. The buluyagons do not


And so earlier this week, Mama got to be #96 in line for a jab session in the morning. Being a scaredy-cat for needles, and any kind of tusok in general, I had to bribe her with her favorite: ice cream (from the sari-sari store across). Which certainly made her forget her anxieties — until the Moment of Truth — err, Tusok came. I’m not too sure but as she


say anything. Some go on to straighten their masks and their face shields. Some bow down their heads. Some vendors go about accommodating customers, putting vegetables in plastic bags.


The woman then walks away, but not without parting words: “Maluoy mo sa inyong


kaugalingon ug ma-COVID mo.” Upon her wake, no one seems surprised at the outburst. No one goes, “Hala, na-unsa ‘to siya? Ngano siyang nag-wild?”


silence at the Dumaguete tabo is some sort of an affirmation: “Hala sa, sakto baya siya!”


And having Lola get the shot


A few days ago, I tried out the newly-refurbished Dumaguete Royal Suites Inn,


That was an opportunity I


also along L. Rovira Drive in Bantayan. (What is it about Bantayan that calls to me?) This time, it was staycation for work—and the deluxe room we were provided by the friendly staff gave us that space for doing the grind while ensconced in fantastic comfort. The property has been around for so long, and it is only now that it is getting a significant facelift.


The renovation shows in the new stylistic choices of bed, fixtures, and bath—and overall, a modern and bright feel for the entire hotel. There is, of course, the bonus of having one of Dumaguete’s best restaurants just downstairs to give us our fill of a good dinner. We did just that: we ordered the cream of mushroom soup, Hawaiian pork, grilled squid, Yangchow fried rice, and strawberry cheesecake—and did not count the calories.


I’m glad I get to do this once in a while—and it helps to think we are also supporting the local economy by doing so. The pandemic has taught us that life is too short not to seek escape and pleasure—and if you can find both within your city, and will not break your bank account, I say go for it.


REGIONAL TRIAL COURT OF NEGRO SORIENTAL 7th Judicial Region


Branch 35 Dumaguete City


In the matter of petition for issuance of a New Owner’s Duplicate copy of OCT No. 0-V-3608


IDA V. MAGHANOY, Petitioner x--------------------------------------------/


issuance of a new owner’s duplicate copy of Original Certificate of Title No. 0-V-3608. Petitioner Ida V. Maghanoy, through counsel Atty. Alexylle Rose Garsula-Concepcion, prays that after due notice and hearing, this Court issue an Order directing the Register of Deeds for the Province of Negros Oriental to issue a new or replacement owner’s duplicate copy of OCT No. 0-V-3608 in lieu of the lost one.


braced herself for that dreaded jab, was it my imagination she seemed to turn a tad shade of green? Anyhow, that little scary moment passed, and we’re happy to note she suffered no ill side effects of any kind to this day.


There is silence instead. One can hope that this


For the rest of you out there who may still be harboring doubts of the similar kind that we went through, this is our story. Yours may or may not turn out the same, but I guess it all boils down as to whether you want to take that leap of faith or not. We did! But I have a funny feeling it will take two ice cream cones to drag her next time for her second jab session. (Linda Bañas-Alvarez)


Petitioner alleges that she is one of the co-owners of Lot No. 1042 situated in Sibulan, Negros Oriental, covered by OCT No. 0-V-3608, having purchased a portion of the same from Lydia G. Taas-Dales by virtue of an Affidavit of Adjudication of Estate of a Sole Heir with Sale dated May 20, 2020. Lydia G. Taas-Dales is the only surviving legal heir of Luis Caluscusan Taas who is one of the registered co-owners of the aforementioned property, specifically a 1/11 portion thereof, equivalent to about 1,881 square meters, more or less.


of OCT No. 0-V-3608 had been in her possession and custody per her late father’s instruction. But sometime in 2010 or 2011 during one of the deadliest typhoons to hit Negros Oriental, Ms. Dales’ belongings, including the owner’s duplicate copy of the title, was destroyed. Still, Ms. Dales exerted diligent efforts to locate the same but the same proved futile. Thus, Ms. Dales executed an Affidavit of Loss, and caused the registration of the same on the original copy of OCT No. 0-V-3608 on file with the Registry of Deeds of Negros Oriental. WHEREFORE, finding the Petition to be sufficient in form and substance, the Petition shall be heard on Aug. 10, 2021 at 10:00 in the morning at the Session Hall of this Court, at which date, place and time, any interested person may appear and show cause, if any, why the Prayer in the Petition should not be granted.


consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in this Province and its component cities. Pursuant to Sec. 109 of P.D. 1529, furnish the Register of Deeds for the


Province of Negros Oriental with a copy of this Order. Likewise, let this Order be posted by the Branch Sheriff at the bulletin board of this Court, the Office of the Clerk of Court, the Negros Oriental Provincial Capitol, the Municipal Hall of Sibulan, Negros Oriental, and at the barangay hall of Lo-oc, Sibulan, Negros Oriental, where the subject parcel of land is located. So ordered. May 5, 2021, Dumaguete City, Philippines.


(Sgd.) Glenda J. Yee-Uymatiao Presiding Judge


MetroPost 2021 June 13 • June 20 • June 27 At Petitioner’s expense, let this Order be published once a week for three Ms. Dales relayed to the Petitioner that the owner’s duplicate copy Raffled to this Court on April 22, 2021 is a verified Petition for the ORDER Cad. Case No. 2021-5055


Republic of the Philippines Supreme Court of the Philippines


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