By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
President Duterte pulled no punches against Sen. Manny Pacquiao in his Talk to the People a few days ago. On the one hand, I’m relieved the great pride of the Philippines in boxing is not the ruling party’s horse in the presidential race next year.
I’ve said it before – I adore Pacquiao as the people’s champ in boxing and in many other things that buoys the “Filipino dream” of rising from abject poverty to be, as the senator himself says, “something out of nothing.” But please, Sen. Pacquiao, don’t run for president.
Digong’s “killing” of Pacquiao’s political ambitions for 2022, however, does not mean that the fighting senator is an ingrate or a liar. The President said it himself – “he’s a long-time friend.”
So, when someone as trusted and loyal as a friend like Pacquiao – who, by the way, is the acting president of the ruling party – opens his mouth to criticize the government for corruption worse than the past administration’s – a true friend in Duterte should listen.
I guess that’s pretty much hard to do for Duterte when he’s more concerned these days of preparing the candidacy of his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, and maybe his own run for vice president, as well, than fixing the problems in government.
* * *
I commiserate well with fully-vaccinated inbound travelers who protest the government’s strict 10-day quarantine requirement. I agree – it’s not a very welcoming policy for foreign investors, and how I dread the thought of stealing hours and days away from reunited families of returning overseas Filipinos.
But I understand how the IATF must stand on the side of caution. Remember that the scary Delta variant, which spreads like Gremlins, has spread through 85 countries and since it’s new, very little study could be had if vaccines actually work against it.
So far, only Pfizer and AstraZeneca have published studies of how well their serums shield the body from a Delta attack. Even then, Pfizer’s efficacy is slightly diminished from 94 percent to 89 percent.
We have not banned travelers from all these countries, not even those where the caseloads show a marked increase of the Delta variant because our only defense would be the days they spend in quarantine.
More importantly, there is no credible mechanism in place to verify whether a proof of vaccination presented by a traveler is genuine or false. Until the World Health Organization brings all countries to have a unified vaccine pass that can be digitally processed for verification, how else would our authorities in the airport be efficient in their gate-keeping duties against this deadly disease?
* * *
SHORT BURSTS. For comments or reactions, email firingline@ymail.com or tweet @Side_View. Read current and past issues of this column at https://www.thephilbiznews.com
