WHEN the government speaks, we listen. Otherwise, there could be chaos.
When the government barks decrees, we obey. Otherwise, there could be civil disobedience.
And when the government gets angry, we could be in deep shit.
Happily, the PBA (Philippine Basketball Association) and the PFF (Philippine Football Federation) listened and obeyed when the government ordered on Monday another stoppage of organized group activities—and that includes sports training—from August 4 to August 18.
That essentially means shuttering the two leagues’ planned practices in preparation for a grand comeback, whether individual or group activities, for the next two weeks at least as the pandemic appears, again, to be infecting a vast number of our folk—seemingly without letup, gardemit.
Just days back, there was a spike of 10,000-plus new cases in the metropolis and its environs alone in just two days, more than four months after the severely contagious virus first appeared in the Philippines via Dumaguete City. Those infected is nearing the 200 thousand plateau, with deaths listed at almost 2,000.
President Duterte’s move to re-impose the MECQ (modified enhanced community quarantine) in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal was a result of tsunami-like surges of Covid-19 infections in these areas following the easing up of mass movement restrictions some weeks back.
It was also Duterte’s way of responding to the frenzied plea of our health workers for the government to call “a timeout” and make another serious review of our Covid-19 strategy amid what is feared like a “collapsing” health-care system.
“Coach” Duterte listened to his so-called first five and, to his credit, he promptly made the adjustment. Derail the virus ploy. Return the MECQ and, in effect, ignore the contrary strategies of his assistants, namely Dominguez and Lopez.
OK, the coach did some scolding after yielding to his players’ pleas but, hey, tell me, who is the mentor that doesn’t do that? Unless you have a sissy on the bench.
In short, a coach yelling at his players is as natural as a mother-to-be screaming at the top of her lungs when her child is about to be born.
So, c’mon, ref, blow your whistle and let the game begin. Prrrt!
THAT’S IT While the PBA is on hold yet again, everything seems to be going smoothly in the NBA (National Basketball Association) restart. No single infection has been reported thus far in what they call the NBA bubble inside the Walt Disney World complex in Lake Buena Vista, Orlando, Florida, since the July 31 resumption of games that were halted on March 11 following the infection of Utah’s Rudy Gobert. As if by design, Gobert made the first basket of the NBA’s return before sinking the winning charities himself for Utah’s 106-104 win over New Orleans. Gobert’s niche in NBA history is secure.