SO MUCH has been written, spoken, and rammed through our throats about this pandemic and admittedly, all this information is beginning to wear us down. Some would argue though that we cannot close our eyes or get away from this reality because it hits us right on the face.
Well, all of us must manage our respective stress levels vis-à-vis all the information that affect our sensibilities every single day. We must seek balance. I suggest for sanity’s sake – no pun intended – we take a break from the news occasionally. After all, the news will continue to flow with or without us.
Right and left, front and back, we are bombarded with information and stories on COVID-19; the skirmishes between India and China; the South China Sea drama; criminality arising from the pandemic; ordeals of LSIs and ROFs; our infection ranking among ASEAN member states; people needing to go back to work; government’s balancing act; the state of our politics; ad infinitum.
All these noises will really drown us. Thus, it is important to be able to sift through the noise and keep our perspective. But how? I am convinced you know the alternatives. Like if you check on your social media platforms, you will see your friends developing new hobbies. Oh yes, many of them are into gardening! Some are into cooking while some others are into selling.
I see many of my neighbors walking and jogging on the expanded dirt road in the middle of the rice field at the back of my house. Looking at them in the early morning makes me smile. Isn’t that a good sight! There are indeed many creative ways to manage the bad news. But at the end of the day, we still need to know what’s happening around us.
Professionally, I need to read the news and catch up on local, national, regional, and global information since this is important in my line of work. But it does not mean I take pleasure in doing it! Sometimes it gags me; other times I feel like puking. If you don’t feel that way from time to time, I congratulate you. You’re one of a kind!
There are issues that I advocate wholeheartedly. There are issues that I am quiet about. There are issues that I keep an objective view on. And there are issues that I forge ahead instead of getting stuck.
Why? Will it do us any good if we keep harping on the what-should-have-been instead of moving forward? Let’s revert to that when all this is over and done with. In the meantime, let’s move forward because that’s the only way to go.
***
Our condolences to the bereaved family of former Bohol Officer-In-Charge Governor Victor de la Serna who passed away on Wednesday morning, July 8, 2020 at the age of 78. He was laid to final rest at the Dampas Catholic Cemetery in Tagbilaran City in the afternoon of the same day.
Speaking as a Boholana, I think among the most admirable traits of the man were his brilliance – de la Serna topped the Bar Exam in 1965, making him Bohol’s first Bar topnotcher and the San Beda University’s fifth, his courage, and his being a crusader.
In an article written by Angeline Valencia in The Philippine Star dated November 1, 2012, de la Serna was quoted as saying, “Only fools believe that an aspirant for the position of city mayor or governor would spend millions of pesos just to get elected for purely public service.”The man indeed, calls a spade, a spade.
I am not privy to his many crusades but what struck me the most was his advocacy against the sale of the provincial power and water utilities in Bohol. In a Tribute on Kwentas Klaras Thursday morning, former Tagbilaran City mayor, Atty. Dan Neri Lim said the fight will continue even with the demise of the legal luminary.
De la Serna served as a delegate to the 1971 Constitutional Convention. He also taught at San Beda College of Law and was one of President Duterte’s admired professors.
***
For comments, you may reach the writer at belca.87@gmail.com./PN
