REMEMBER what I tackled last week about this barangay in Laguna's first district whose officials seem hell-bent on filing charges against each other while COVID-19 cases are on the rise?
This week, that barangay is once again the hot topic in social media after some councilors reportedly showed up drunk during a Zoom meeting.
But this is no ordinary Zoom meeting – it’s a conference with some officials from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), according to the uploader of the now viral video.
Aside from being drunk, these barangay officials allegedly hurled disparaging remarks at the DILG officials who – incredibly – managed to keep a straight face at the sheer disgraceful conduct that was being shown at them.
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Another thing that bothers me is that some statistics given by the local government concerning new COVID-19 cases could be so vague to the point of being meaningless.
In San Pedro City, for instance, the barangays of San Antonio and Pacita I are now reporting the highest number of COVID-19 cases.
Fair enough, but residents want to know exactly WHERE are these cases coming from, even though data showed that most of these cases have already been brought to hospitals or other isolation centers.
San Antonio, for instance, is the largest barangay in San Pedro City. It extends from the “old San Antonio” near the town proper to Southville 3A in the far west, almost to the border with Dasmarinas City, Cavite.
With its sheer size and population – not to mention that San Antonio is the first barangay in Laguna after Metro Manila – residents are left in the dark on where exactly are the COVID-19 hotspots in their barangay.
Of course, we’ve all heard of the reasons why such statistics are sometimes kept secret: the local government does not want to cause undue panic among residents or cause them to discriminate against COVID-19 patients.
But we’ve said this last year, and we’ll say this again: the people are more anxious and alarmed when they don’t know what the heck is going on.
And with COVID-19 cases rising at an almost unprecedented levels since it began exactly a year ago, transparency is vital, more than ever, if we expect the public to fully abide by the health protocols.
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So far, no local official in Laguna has “cut the queue” in the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination program.
And that’s good news, especially with reports of mayors, councilors and even private individuals getting their shots even though they aren’t on the priority list.
Let’s hope our top officials heed President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive to give top priority to our health frontliners who are risking their lives to control this pandemic.