THERE are idiots and then there are EPALs, both equally disgusting and irritating. They are the last thing we need now that we are facing a coronavirus a.k.a. SARS-CoV-2, more popularly known as the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s like we need an idiot and an EPAL like we need a hole in our heads. The pandemic would be much more tolerable without those two.
Let’s start with the Idiot. Originally it meant an “ignorant person” but the more usual reference now is to a person who lacks basic intelligence or common sense rather than education, a person affected with extreme intellectual disability.
The wearing of facemask while in public is de rigueur not only because your life depends on it; there are also ordinances in Iloilo Province and “I Am Iloilo City” with fines and legal sanctions for not wearing one.
The purpose of wearing facemask is to protect yourself and the rest of the natives you come into contact with. You see, the virus COVID-19 is transmitted from person to person via droplets from a cough, a sneeze or your saliva. The favourite point of entry of COVID-19 is through your nose, mouth and eyes hence the facemask.
Any sensible person knows that for the facemask to be effective it must be worn properly covering your nose and mouth down to your chin, and must fit snugly.
And then there are the idiots which unfortunately you see almost anywhere in “I Am Iloilo City”; these are the ones wearing facemask but their noses are not covered, and the ones wearing facemasks but only their chins are covered, exposing their nose and mouth.
And this tops it all – their facemask is just hanging on either ear or on their forehead like a sweatband.
Considering that these are idiots they, of course, never got the point why we are required to wear facemasks, and it is not to hide their ugly faces or cover their foul-smelling breathe.
I need not repeat the logic and scientific reason behind the wearing of facemask in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic as you are, I hope, not an idiot.
Remember those people riding motorcycles with their helmets hanging on their arms and not on their heads where it is supposed to be? Yes, they are one and the same idiots.
Meanwhile, an EPAL in Filipino slang usually refers to a person who inappropriately presents himself in a situation or butts into a conversation.
This is slang derived from the word papel (paper). It is now used to refer to shameless self-promotion, particularly of politicians.
In short, it’s just a public official inflicted with the severe malady of entitlement and hubris.
This public official is also suffering from a severe and rabid form of desire to impose herself to the citizens of “I Am Iloilo City” even if doing so is not even part of her job description.
Let me park a recent statement of “I Am Iloilo City” Mayor Geronimo intended for Cong. Julienne Baronda a.k.a. “Jam-jam” posted in his Facebook page:
“As mayor, I am [the] local chief executive. I am in-charge of LGU. Si Regional Director Jose Roberto Nunez sang OCD, head of the IATF. Kon congressman kaw, ano obra mo? Kon indi gid mapunggan lawas ‘ya ti pahilabot sia eh… Ari na di nga matawhay na ni, na-istoryahan na ni, gamuhon pa nila. Akon bala indi na ninyo paggamoha, papulion ta sila anay nga tapos na ang trabaho ta. Pangabay ko kay Jam-Jam way man kita nag-away palihug ibilin sa IATF ang obra nga na.”
The natives of “I Am Iloilo City” are fully aware that Mayor Geronimo was referring to the situation concerning recently repatriated overseas Filipino workers wherein a good number of them were tested positive for COVID-19; obviously they were not tested properly or were not tested at all while on quarantine in Manila despite the strict pronouncement of the mayor and governor of Iloilo that only those tested negative will be allowed entry.
The repatriation of OFWs is not in the job description of “I Am Iloilo City” representative Julienne Baronda. As a member of Congress her job is to make laws.
I can understand that in this COVID-19 pandemic she is irrelevant as the ball is in the hands of the executive not the legislative; she is a politician first and foremost with ambitions so she desperately needs to be in the limelight to stay relevant.
But not at the expense of the safety and survival of the natives of “I Am Iloilo City”. (brotherlouie16@gmail.com/PN)
