2020: End of the World

2020, when everybody thought it was a simple community quarantine to contain the contagion, that nCorV- 20 was just an outbreak from before like the Black Plague, the Spanish Flu, SARS, and H1N1, we took things for granted and went on with our lives. The government, later declared an enhanced community quarantine before the second week of March had ended, it was raised to a community lockdown.

Everyone panicked. People were lining up and began to panic buy food supplies, sanitizing materials, and other essential supplies. The others flocked towards the bus terminals and train stations, trying to leave the chaotic situation at the state capital.

Some people were left inside the Metropolitan Manila stockpiled and hid inside their homes. Those less privileged who were not able to afford what privileged few did, they sacrificed their safety to earn meager amounts of money just to survive. The Federal Government took precautions and steps to make lives easier but it isn’t enough for everyone, those who benefited were the rich and elite. The working-class people continued to work while being exposed to an unseen danger.

Most of them felt fear, some felt vulnerable, people felt that this will not be over soon. Worst case scenario, it could be our end. People are usually afraid to die, they always do, they think that dying is the scariest scenario they could imagine. The way I see it, we are destined to die, it’s inevitable, it doesn’t take a rocket science degree for us to figure out if we are going to die. We cannot stop the inevitable, so what is the point of everything? What is the point of all these struggles and everything, when everything is senseless?

By midnight of March 15th, the borders of the state capital, Metropolitan Manila were closed, the Philippine Army rolled out checkpoints and activated their reserve personnel, the Metropolitan Manila State Police kept the law and order inside of the Capital State. No one gets in and out of the state, the Army personnel were the ones who were delivering the goods in Distribution Centers. They declared this was an effort to contain the spread of disease.

After the total lockdown was declared, my mother was transferred to Fort Rizal Medical Hospital due to her health conditions, it was arranged by my cousin who held the rank of Colonel in the Army.

My father and I stayed here in Laguna, he works in a facility in Laguna of the telecommunication company, PTC, or Philippine Telecommunications Company. My father took pride in their work, how they were able to keep communications running despite the pandemic.

Life here was bliss, until one day a shocking report came out, the first case of a mutated form of n-CorV 20 was reported here in Laguna, then it spread to the people here, one by one people fell ill, it didn’t take long before we realized that the contagion has arrived, no one was safe, the horseman Pestilence rode his way across our land.