KS Chapter 19
Jonymay still has sauce from the Ligo Sardines on her cheek after hurriedly finishing her dinner and heading straight to the front of the 14-inch Sony Trinitron. Jonymay, along with her siblings and their spouses sitting their kids on their laps—is watching Pinoy Thriller on channel 13, headed by Aling Precious who always wins the game of pitikan¹ because she is always the first one to guess the products in the commercials. The family is happy with this ritual in front of the TV every night; some are sitting on a chair, some sitting on the red floor made shiny by buffing and Johnson"s Floor Wax. At times the siblings will shout if they are surprised by a scary scene in the show, which leads to Mhemalyn closing her eyes and Lucibelle"s crying—which often leads to her throwing up her dinner. They were in the middle of cleaning up vomit again that night when the programming got cut off and replaced by the Malacañang emergency broadcast. JB quickly changes the channel to watch LA Law and look at the time at the RPN channel; some of the siblings voice their disagreement. But in all the stations, only the President"s face could be seen, speaking of bad news: The Philippines is closing it"s airports to the countries affected with the sickness, and wishes for the families with relatives abroad to pray for them. The announcement did not last longer than five minutes, but the shows on the TV did not return. Some of the stations signed off while others go to emergency news coverage. Pinoy Thriller is no longer on, but the family of Aling Precious is still terrified.
The disorder in Pelaez is clear the next day. Many are buying rice and canned goods from the groceries, and the line to the water refill is long. The explosive karaoke of Mang Boy is now blaring the noisy news of DZRH. The church is open and some people are kneeling and solemnly praying despite it not being a Sunday. In the priest"s sermon, he mentions the end of the world. The people are busy in checking up on one another, but life in the streets is fast-paced. n.o.body loiters or stops to rest and chat. Pelaez is covered in a blanket of fear, not unlike the other parts of the globe. And like the other parts of the globe, the feared news finally arrives. That night, a 42 year old man in Palawan is reported to have died in an hospital because of hypovolemic shock–the heart gave up from lack of blood due to internal bleeding. The man wasn"t all that feverish before he died, but he was positive to the dreaded virus.
In the following days, scattered in the sidewalks are vendors selling fabric face masks. Some schools cancel their cla.s.s, some companies gave their employees time off work, and some stores never opened again. No one wants to eat out anymore in fear of catching the virus, nor does anyone take a stroll or watch movies. Government agencies reduced the operating hours of the LRT². The economy slowly crashes. It might as well have been Holy Week with all of the television and radio programs calling out for the repentance of man³. The people talk about nothing but the worries and fears to the mysterious plague. In only a couple of days, dread enveloped the whole world. And then the sickness spread to the province.
Translation Notes:
1 – A children’s game where if you lose a bet, the winner gets to “pitik,” or flick the loser’s ears, nose, or forehead.
2 – Talking about the Manila Light Rail Transit System, one of the major train systems in the Philippines.
3 – Holy Week in the Philippines is a significant matter. There are usually no cla.s.ses from Palm Sunday to Black Sat.u.r.day, and the regular television programming is replaced by specials, reruns, or Catholic related shows.