Vaccination and Election

Narrow-sightedness makes us fight each other. 

 By Nonjoiner

I heard Prof Pek (so called because he's so good at teaching Pekwa) talk at length about national issues to the Ocho Boys at the trike terminal in Project 8, QC. Always in our history, he said, we've been a nation so easy to divide. We can't seem to have the maturity to take sides on an issue while respecting the opposing side. We often take things personally. Everything against our belief we take as a personal affront. So we take the opposers on and fight them. Worse is when people do this and look innocent, saying they're just "discussing," not really fighting.

Photo by José Martín Ramírez Carrasco on Unsplash.

It's our culture of small-brain, Lilliputian alliances or "kampi-kampihan." If you think differently from how I think, you're not an ally. Hindi ka kakampi. So you're an enemy. Worse, you're a traitor to our relationship. "I thought you were my friend! You're a traitor!" It's a mindset almost everyone nurtures through life, both the schooled and unschooled, the professional and the non-pro.

Vaccination

A simple matter as vaccination can easily divide us and reveal our immature perspectives. Why do I say simple? If you want the vaccine, fine. If not, good. It should be as simple as that. But most people will go beyond simply deciding what's good for them. They want others to decide as they do. If not, then they're idiots. They'd start bullying those with a different decision. 

What's more frustrating is how some Christians join in the bullying and alienate the brethren who decide differently from them, accusing them of lacking faith and whatnot. If you attend church even at the height of the pandemic, you're a martyr. If not, you're a coward. Some spread rumor mongering about how the Covid vaccine is the mark of the Beast. Mind you, the mark is either on the forehead or right hand, not on the shoulder. And it's quite clear it's a number, 666. 

And more importantly, the second Beast, the False Prophet, is going to introduce the Anti-Christ and require his mark on people. Without the intro to the man of perdition, no marking can start.

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Tampered DNA

They say the vaccine introduces foreign particles or chemicals that can wreck our DNA. Well, the anti-tetanus vaccine has aluminum phosphate and formaldehyde. Some anti-flu vaccines have thimerosal as a preservative, among other chemicals. This is what an expert site said about thimerosal:

Vaccine manufacturers add the preservative thimerosal to multidose vaccine vials. Thimerosal helps prevent and kill dangerous bacteria and fungi in the vial.

Thimerosal contains mercury, which can be toxic in large doses. There isn’t enough evidence to show the small amount contained in the flu vaccine is dangerous.

[From Healthline] 

Anyway, what bad effects Covid 19 (particularly long Covid) and the Covid vaccines may have are still to be seen. It's really a risk choosing any of the two options (being vaxed or unvaxed) but experts say the benefits from vaccines definitely outweigh the deadly effects of a full-blown Covid infection. Both being vaxed and unvaxed is a risk. Both shouldn't keep saying that taking the other option is too risky and stupid. They are both risky, and we need each other's help to get through all this, instead of scaring, condemning, ostracizing, bashing and bullying each other.

Bias Against the Unvaxed 

Now, there's a rule prohibiting the unvaxed from going out of the house, especially taking public rides. I understand why government is doing this, but I don't agree. Government has to control the rapid spread of infection especially on the unvaxed, because they're most vulnerable. Everyone is, actually, including the vaccinated (we can all be carriers without knowing it), but the unvaxed are more in danger of Covid's cytokine storm and more likely to spread the virus in full strength. Vaccines are found to weaken the effects of Covid when transmitted to another person.

However, the unvaxed should NOT be barred from free travel as long as they wear face masks and shields as everybody else should. I know how important herd immunity is, but we cannot do it at the expense of people's rights. The vaccinated will fear being with the unvaccinated only if the former have no plan of observing proper protocols. They think being vaccinated means they're completely safe from Covid and can throw all protocols out the window.

I think this is precisely why a big number of the vaccinated caught the Omicron variant in December 2021 and January this year. They thought a full dose of the vaccine had ended their susceptibility to Covid and carelessly joined the tight crowds of shoppers (especially in Divisoria). Some either didn't wear masks or wore them carelessly. Fortunately, a lot of the unvaxed decided to take it easy, I guess.

Boosters will have the same effect--increase the number of Covid cases instead of decrease it--if those who get their booster shot think they've become invincible to Covid and become careless and mindless. Boosters add to our chances of getting only mild effects of the virus but not make us totally safe from it. Sabi nga ni Prof Pekwa ng Ocho Boys, "Hindi yan agimat o anting-anting."

Elections

The worst thing we do is idolize our election bets, even willing to lose long-time friendships or die for candidates we support. The saddest is seeing the church divided over these candidates, and I mean divided. I even see Christians and church leaders mudslinging politicians on FB. After decades of independence we're still hooked to the dirty politics that came with the mock democracy the Americans gave us. We were programmed to focus on personalities not issues. Campaigning was all about getting your bet popular, not addressing issues that really mattered. 

Moreover, we still cannot take sides on an issue without being divided. We want to prove our rightness and others wrong. When we see others expressing their choice we challenge or mock if it's not the same as ours. We simply cannot mind our own business, mind our own FB posts. We're still so immature.

Political Maturity

In this coming 2022 elections, more than seeing my bet win as president, I want to see Filipinos (and the church) finally mature in politics, or any issue for that matter. If I see how they've finally learned to respect others' opinions and choices, then it will be a great victory to me, regardless who wins the elections.

MGA TAUHAN: 

Ako (si Jaden Mero, and me-akda ng Kwentong Otcho), si Prof Pekwa, Pareng Babes, Mr. Bean, Badong, Sabas, Roy and Gerry (mag-utol), Sir Tony (teacher), Totoy Golem, Dagul, Derek, Gerald d Dyaryo-Bote, Victor the taho vendor, Sikyong Pedro, si Lewy (o Lowie), si Boy at si Bisoy. O nga pala, si Boy at Bisoy ay mga bagong members ng Otcho Boys---although si Boy ay matagal na sa Otcho. Yun nga lang, matagal ding nawala dahil umuwi sa Butuan. Pero bumalik na siya. Si Bisoy (Bisayang Baboy ang tukso sa kanya kasi mataba siya) ay nangungupahan naman sa likod-bahay nila Boy.