“In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so.” –Immanuel Kant

The ongoing dengue fever outbreak, which has since prompted the Department of Health (DOH) to declare a national alert after a reported 450 people have died from the virus, would have been avoided if not for apathy and negligence. It’s appalling, with dengue leaving dead bodied piling up, how an entire nation can be so unprepared. Had preemptive steps to minimize the threat been taken, lives would have been spared and medical preparations could have been made.
Looking at statistics, nobody can escape blame.
Between January 1 to June 29 of this year, DOH reported a total 106,630 dengue-related cases. Where was everybody during that time? While infants were dying from a horrific virus, the public was glued to the midterm elections, watching politicians campaign; from debates to watching post-election speeches—nobody noticed dengue fever had surpassed the epidemic threshold in many regions.
Amid a death toll rising at an alarming and scary rate, it took incoming administrations to take the initiative and declare states of calamity in order to create a public awareness and tap government resources.
Had the midterm election not taken place, the major focus would have been combating dengue fever.

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Buboy Fernandez, vice mayor for Polangui, Albay and trainer to Senator Manny Pacquiao, confirmed the boxer is eyeing the presidency. However, 10 years ago, following his TKO win over Oscar De La Hoya in December 2008, Top Rank founder and CEO Bob Arum floated the idea of Pacquiao running for president.
During a press conference, he introduced the Filipino boxer as “the next president of the Philippines.”
Before the 2022 presidential elections (assuming he is unable to wait until 2028), Pacquiao is expected to fight two more bouts, regardless of the result of this weekend’s fight against Keith Thurman. After him, two more boxers are expected to inflict harm on 40-year-old boxer’s head; hopefully, his mental state remains intact for the elections.

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Alex P. Vidal, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo./WDJ