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Numbers Affecting People's View of Coronavirus

As COVID-19 continues to take a toll on people's everyday lives, it can be visibly seen that its effects are slowly dwindling compared to when it first hit two years ago. One could say that the situation has become more controlled and tamed due to the numbers decreasing in the Philippine Coronavirus Statistics, but it has never been the case as new problems arise.

As more variants rise, more Filipinos become careless with the imminent danger wafting through the air as they continue to roam outdoors, leading to constant changes in the numbers as stated in the news reports from the Philippines to the Worldwide Health Organization (WHO). With the current issue of the widespread of Omicron along with other strains in the National Capital Region (NCR) of the Philippines, it is safe to say that the pandemic is nowhere near resolved. Despite the huge number of vaccinations in the country and its aid in preventing and reducing severe infections of the virus, it is clear that its public effect has become a double-edged sword as the numbers of positive carriers of COVID-19 continue to spike, as shown by the data released by the Department of Health (DOH), where the number of hospital admissions rose from 17% on December 17 to 23.5% by the end of the year 2021 due to some Filipinos skipping quarantine and other factors such as the holidays. The effects of the declination of the numbers in the last months of 2021 are also evident as most of the public starts to dismiss all the warnings and safety guidelines released by the government, and the positivity rate of the virus rose to 28% in NCR, according to a post made by Dr. Guido David on Twitter on January 1, 2022. In just a week, the 7-day standard of the positivity rate increased from 1.15% to 12.94%, and NCR is now classified as high-risk once more (David, 2022).

While data analysis and number presentations serve an important role in keeping track of the pandemic that has dominated the world and our lives in the past two years, it has been concluded that these numbers have a large impact on how the public sees the situation. Each rise and fall of the numbers has its own complementary reaction as well as the other factors affecting it. While the numbers presented in statistics aren't that accurate due to limited testing and complications in determining the causes of deaths and sicknesses in the country, they are without a doubt still highly influential on the numbers recorded in data with the extension of the citizens' reactions on a rather large scale, thus the effect and its continuous numerical changes. Warnings alone aren't enough if one doesn't possess the required discipline, as most people tend to be assured once numbers drop but become frantically anxious once numbers begin to climb once more.

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The Self

“The Valley Of Amazement”

The self, ourselves. For all we know, what makes us “us” is ourselves. We make our own path and who we are is determined by us and us only. But is it? 

From when we are born, people often said that our physical appearance -no matter how young we are back then- was from our parents or our grandparents. That our eyes, our nose, the shape of our face, our lips, our skin color, our overall appearance and how we look like, is from them. Even our talents and brains.

So who are we really if our beliefs and appearance came from the people around us? What is our pure-self being? Who are we really?

Some people believe that they are who they are on the way they are brought up, some say they are who they are because of their experiences. If you’re going to think hard about it, both statements are basically the same. Who we are are affected with the people around us and our experiences with them, regardless of where our physical appearance and mental capacity came from, those are the ones which makes us us. 

So what does it mean to be true to oneself?

Easy, if you accept the fact that it’s not you who made who you are but the people and the environment around you. Accepting that simple fact is one step forward to being honest with yourself, because you can’t be who you are now without those supporting elements. Whether you became bad or good- or even nice is because of them, the only control you have is how to react to the obstacles given to you and how you respond to it.

So what does it mean to be true to oneself?

To put it short, “Accept the Glorious Mess that You Are.”

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Martial Law, probably one of the most hated word and law in the Philippines because of it’s bitter past. A lot of people who had lived during those dark days recounted those days as if it just only happened yesterday, telling it’s gruesome story of how their lives back then seems to be a nightmare envisioned from hell, but not all Filipinos seems to agree.

“Apo On The Wall”,  a simple poem written by BJ Patino. So simple yet has a lot of essence that gives a big impact on those who reads it and understand it completely. Ironic how something so pure and innocent can make your heart break. 24 lines all in all and the sufferings of a child is told. Not everything is easy, a lot of expectations are expected, so young yet one must uphold the family name. Well, “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.” and as a kid ourselves, we know this one pretty well, and it’s heartbreaking to know that we’re going to pass this down to the next generation someday, forcing them into their roles that one mustn’t ruin the name that his/her ancestors worked hard for, and the connections and the respect and power that their name has gained. But anyway, if there’s anything that this poem proved to me is that the Philippines will continue to live in an endless cycle: One will overthrow, one will take reign, one will discipline, one will disagree, one will rebel, one will complain, one will fight for freedom that has long been given (if not, is too much), one will start using one’s voice, thus beginning another revolt. It has always been like that. Nothing is ever enough, no one is ever enough. Whoever sits in the position, there will always be complains and uprisings against anyone once the public disagrees thus beginning the cycle one again. 

How this poem affected my views with the past and the future? 

Simple, History will always repeat itself, it’s lessons will never be learned as long as everyone keeps on looking in the small picture.