Items
Subject is exactly
Cities & Suburbs
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2020-08-03
Lost
Lost in a maze of traffic a day before the second wave of the Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine takes effect..stuck in traffic..outside my car window is a man on the sidewalk intently reading a magazine...he mirrors the state of the city before lockdown ..lost in COVID 19 statistics..we are all at a loss on how the gov’t handles the pandemic. -
2020-07-15
Mangá Tulang Lockdown ni Adíng Kiko, dps
[Lockdown Poetry by Ading Kiko, dps] -
2020-04-15
Twelve Families
It was almost a month since the last one that I went out, to run for errands in a nearby grocery store. Upon passing by, I saw this sign in front of a gate going to a narrow pathway. On ordinary days, it is not noticeable because of the vendors that stayed to earn their living in a busy place like Baclaran, but knowing how many families were actually living in a small space is an alarming situation in the midst of a pandemic caused by a virus that can easily be transmitted from an infected individual through close contact. The ability to survive is [also a] continuous struggle during these times, as the pandemic limits the movement of people, including the capacity to work. Many people lost their jobs that were the source of their living, and has been dependent on the subsidies given by the government, either by cash or in-kind. But for most, it is not enough. The pandemic is teaching us how to be resourceful and resilient on what is available, just to meet our needs. It also pushes other people and the government to extend their help, with the efforts and hopes that one day, we may be able to help one another without prejudice, or loyalty that may only benefit a few. In these times, these twelve families were some of those who are calling out for help. -
2020-04-08
Frontline Heroes
When the community quarantine kicked in, our outdoor media partner, HDI Admix, had a problem. They had all these massive LEDs as part of their inventory, but there's no one to see them with everyone staying home. What we did was reinvent a mass media touchpoint and turn it into a highly targeted one. We used the massive LEDs as a platform to share a message of strength to the only ones who'll be able to see the LEDs, the frontliners. We reimagined them as modern day superheroes fighting the battle against this pandemic. And these short videos aired in over 20 LED sites in Metro Manila for the remainder of ECQ, aside from being shared on social media. -
2020-03-16
Sign of Things to Come
The images were all taken in the morning of March 16, the first working day after the community quarantine was announced. Lots of people were shocked at the sudden scarcity of public vehicles, since they had to comply with physical distancing rules. This caused people to find various ways to get to their places of employment or for some (like me), just went back home. I waited three hours for a bus to take me from Coastal Mall to Philcoa in QC, but can't find any. I was supposed to go to my place of work at UP Diliman to fetch as much documents as I can before I start working from home. Tried waiting for a bus at PITX but seeing the long queues outside, I decided to tell my supervisor that I can't make it because of the public transport situation, then flagged down a minibus back to my home in Cavite. Then the conductor told me that I have to wear a mask, else I would have to get off. Luckily I had one. Later when I arrived home (note: I did not pass through the supposed-to-be checkpoints to and from Cavite), I saw at the news that the government was surprised that this would happen, as if they never expected that reduced passenger capacity due to physical distancing measures would cause longer waiting times for commuters. Similar chaos for commuters later that day (now returning to their homes from work) would happen since they had to get home before the start of the stricter ECQ at midnight of March 17. This lack of foresight and preparation in implementing rules and mitigation measures, as well as the difficulties of the people would be seen a lot later during the ECQ up to this day. -
2020-06-02
The shift to GCQ: when the breaks were off and we were left on the road
When Cebu City was downgraded to GCQ from ECQ on June 1, 2020, most businesses required their workers to report back to work. In this article, I share my personal experience on how difficult it was for a commuter like me to wade through the challenges of the lack of public transportation during a pandemic. -
2020-04-13
The Barricades of Cubao
Last Friday night, an ambulance silently entered our street in Cubao. Although its red and blue lights were spinning, its siren was turned off. In the silence of that Good Friday night, two residents from the building two lots away from where we lived were brought inside the ambulance. As quickly as it appeared, the ambulance left our street. Yesterday morning, as the world celebrated Easter Sunday, the barricades on the streets of our neighborhood were reinforced. Men and women assigned by the Barangay served as guards, checking the identity of every person who wanted to enter the streets. With vehicles banned from passing through the streets, I had to walk several blocks from our residence to the Barangay Hall to get a Quarantine Pass. It was needed to allow me to buy food and maintenance medicines. Last night, we were told that one of the residents that were taken by the ambulance last Friday night had tested positive for COVID-19. Stricter measures would be implemented. This, it seems, will be our new normal.