Items

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  2020-05-27

  Dreaming Again

  Ms. Lea Salonga launched a campaign, #LSdreamagain regarding the things we miss or dreams we crave while on lockdown. One of the things I miss is the brush of the wind on my face. Even before the pandemic, I am what you call a treehugger, so I crave hugs. Hugging my niece and nephew is one of the things I am looking forward to after this "period". Savouring the simple pleasures of life.
• 
  2020-08-15

  Our youth is yours

  Turning twelve is a toast to tweens. To the parents, it’s a wistful goodbye to childhood. Before the March 16, 2020 enhanced community quarantine, two mommy friends and I were happily hatching a surprise party for our tweens. Our kids were childhood friends who shared the same birth month. Secret Viber invites were sent to the parents of their classmates and to close family. Then the news of the Covid-19 pandemic took over the headlines. Metro Manila was going to be on lockdown. The viber chat was shutdown with the cancellation of the party. The chicken nuggets and fries celebration was shelved. Michelle, Mika and Maddie would mark their memorable 12th year on this earth witnessing a global pandemic that would rock the world.
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  2020-04-22

  The 3Rs COVID-19 taught me

  COVID-19 pandemic shakes the entire human race and how the disease triggered the press button to let us all “slow-down” or “pause” to almost our entire usual goings remains an enigma to one and all
• 
  2020-07-28

  Entry #072820

  I have been feeling a lot of things right now. The indifferent, numb self battered by how people are not prioritizing life over this health crisis has experienced some form of reawakening. And I've poured my raw thoughts over today's journal entry. a day fresh of the recent SONA, a day away from getting back to the hospital frontlines. I want the crisis to end soon. but I cannot do it alone. we should not do it alone
• 
  2020-07-07

  The Way to HOPE

  I wrote an account of the moment I knew I was positive of COVID-19 and my long and winding trip to the isolation facility. I want the readers to have a glimpse of it and understand what that felt like and not to be overcome by fear once they find themselves about to embark on the same journey.
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  2020-07-25

  Arras, Rehas, Oxygen Mask

  This describes another take on being a bride during a pandemic: a bride worried if she will walk down the aisle, or into a jail cell, or be wheeled into a hospital bed
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  2020-07-24

  A working mayor, an exhausted president, out-of-touch rich folk: Haikus during the community quarantine

  These poems document the quarantine adjustment period: the first fifteen days. They are news reports, coping methods, and dreams. They reflect the terrifying and the mundane. I began this project on Twitter, aware that we were entering into what would be an important historical event, and assuming that this project would be what would keep me sane. Soon, cabin fever got to me and I lost my motivation, so I set them aside, hoping that they would eventually contribute to the growing body of pandemic literature. If I don't make it through this pandemic, please remember me through these poems.
• 
  2020-04-10

  Lockdown 101

  My story is simple. It is about lessons learned while doing Lockdown 101, a crash course in life, in death, and everything in between.
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  2020-07-17

  A Warm Meal Shared

  It's my story in how something mundane like cooking a meal and the community of sharing a meal is affected severely by COVID 19. Since I live alone at present, it is difficult, let alone near impossible to share a meal with anyone else and the disconnect I feel affects me and possibly some people who have to live alone and no one to communicate with. It's also a story of longing forward to see my fiancée again and trying to live life with a semblance of normalcy in an uncertain world.
• 
  2020-07-07

  Rhymin' COVID-19

  Observations and reactions to the virus' effects on everyday life
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  2020-07-17

  Food for the Family & for the Soul

  The Covid contagion found us without access to our usual weekend grocery trips. Luckily a Viber food community group we were invited to started posting restaurant suppliers in our area who were selling restaurant sizes cuts of meat, bakery wholesale suppliers started selling flour, sugar etc. Our pantry wasn’t going to go bare after all. With restaurant quality ingredients and more time to prepare food our family found special time to be in the kitchen. Not only was it therapeutic to prepare the meals, mealtime became even more meaningful. Dressing up the dinner table and exploring different dishes to cook felt like we were experiencing private dining everyday. We realized that this experience was even better than going out to dine in restaurants. This was the blessing of Covid-19. It brought us back to the sacredness of the home and the family table!
• 
  2020-07-15

  Mangá Tulang Lockdown ni Adíng Kiko, dps

  [Lockdown Poetry by Ading Kiko, dps]
• 
  2020-04-30

  A Silver Lining amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

  I always look for the good despite the bleakness of what is happening.
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  2020-04-29

  Of Autism and Surviving Quarantine

  It tells about How we as a family is dealing with the Pandemic and how Gab, my son with ASD is surviving and even thriving
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  2020-04-27

  What it's Like to Suspect Yourself of Having COVID-19 but Unable to Have a Confirmation Test: Notes from the Early days of Pandemic Announcement

  This account tells my own experiences of COVID-19 symptoms in the early days of pandemic announcement and my pursuit to get COVID-19 testing.
• 
  2020-07-10

  Payapa lang

  I took this picture of me - a selfie if you will - while enjoying an old Filipino music in my study room. I envisioned July as the month where lockdowns are lifted and everything is in control, but it was not the case as the government [continuously] reports spiking increases of active cases. Because of the news of increasing cases, government inaction and the recent battle of a media giant, I was having an anxiety and panic attacks. I realized that my hands were shaking, I have cold sweats and my body is trembling I [couldn't] breathe, I decided to play the song "Mabagal". All throughout I was enjoying the song, it gives me comfort, I decided to take a picture of my self enjoying the breeze behind the windows while the music play, this is the only time I felt peace in times of uncertainty. A picture of me at peace while there is fear of unknown and uncertainty behind me.
• 
  2020-07-11

  Mga Lagusan

  This pandemic made me miss everything about traveling, my friends and family around the world. I created "lagusan" hoping that when I look at my porch, window, or shelves everything will just be a frame away from the people I love most. Despite all these, I am hopeful. The photos shows that the thin screen that separates me from the people I love is the same screen that connects me to them. The photos I submitted are important to me since most of my family members are in abroad, we rely so much to internet for communication. The photos are actually a collage of 2 different places, the window becomes the "lagusan" or gateway to the other place. It speaks of hope, pag-asa at lagusan.
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  2020-07-12

  Graduating during the pandemic

  This personal journal tells what is it like for me, graduating during the pandemic. With ways of celebrating this milestone totally changing, and with my mother having to work at the health center on that day, this virtual graduation experience was really different.
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  2020-07-04

  Our long distance relationship made even more distant with the pandemic

  The pandemic has made long-distance relationships even more difficult to maintain -- for lack of a better word. I'm sure a lot of other people in long-distance relationships will be able to [relate to] me and my S.O.'s story. I want these people to know that they are not alone in their struggle of longing for their loved ones; and that even if things seem very bleak right now, sometimes, the only thing we can do to feel better is to hope.
• 
  2020-07-08

  Quarantine: Reminds me of my life in the convent

  It tells a story of how it is to live in the convent compare to the life I lived now with this pandemic.
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  2020-03-24

  Filipinos Coping With Covid - Series

  I am doing a series, Filipinos Coping With Covid, published in my blogs and some in Positively Filipino
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  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.
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  2020-06-01

  Passing time in Quarantine

  Sharing my experience during quarantine lockdown
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  2020-06-28

  Distansya [Distance]

  Namatay yung tito ko during the pandemic. Pinayagang mauwi yung bangkay dahil di naman ito covid related, pero request niya na i-cremate siya. Dinala siya sa bahay para makita ng lahat sa huling pagkakataon. Isa-isa kung lumapit at di maaring magkalapit. Ang pinaka masakit pa dito, di man lang kami magkayakapan para magluksa para sa namayapa naming kapamilya. Ang eksena, umiiyak kami ng magkahiwalay sa loob ng iisang bahay dahil ilan sa mga kamag-anak ay dating positive sa virus at kasalukuyang naka-quarantine.
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  2020-03-12

  Love in the Time of COVID- 19

  It's my poem about my family's experience under, and fear of, this pandemic -- specifically during my fifteenth wedding anniversary when we watched on TV news the Philippine president's official announcement of the imposition of the lockdown in Metro Manila.
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  2020-03-18

  Keeping the Kiddos Busy

  Someone suggested to me that I make a blog of ideas to keep kids entertained during lockdown. So I started this blog and promoted it among my friends and relatives. It did not get a wide following, but I got plenty of grateful comments from parents who needed ideas on how to keep their kids busy during lockdown. Every time I received those comments, I felt happy that I was able to help others even in a very small way.
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  2020-03-21

  Alone Together

  Social distancing, self-quarantine, community lock down have all taken a toll on people's mental health one way or another. I wrote this short piece to remind people to connect with each other in a more meaningful way, at least virtually for now, and reach out to those who may be feeling alone.
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  2020-05-16

  In Stillness: Voices from a Covid world

  "In stillness: Voices from a COVID world" is a short film by writer Paolo Mangahas, which features phone voice recordings of people sharing their thoughts on a locked-down world. This 7-minute video gives an honest glimpse into everyone's struggles, vulnerabilities, and hopes during these challenging times. Paolo currently works and lives in Singapore, where a "circuit breaker" – safety measures to break the chain of COVID-19 transmissions in the community – has been implemented since April 3 (it is expected to be lifted in a phased approach starting June 2). Like the rest of the world, Singapore residents have been asked to stay at home and to only go out for essential activities, which include outdoor exercise. Paolo shot this film entirely using his iPhone during his daily run.
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  2020-04-01

  How to Dress for an Online Memorial

  A pandemic death and the new mores of mourning and condoling, viewed from the everyday minutiae of clothing.
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  2020-06-30

  Epic Pandemic

  Mental resilience and strength of oneself