COVID-19 Chronicles: 2 weeks of Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) in Manila

16 - 31 May 2020

From May 16 to May 31, Metro  Manila has been downgraded to Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine or MECQ.

Downgrading mostly meant the re-opening of more businesses although they're only allowed to operate at 50% capacity.  Work-from-home setups were encouraged.  Bikes and e-scooters were encouraged as an alternative means of transportation.   Tricycles were the only public transportation that were "allowed" depending on the city or municipal government's discretion.  

Two months in with this previous lockdowns and we still manage to maintain a cheerful disposition.  How are you doing amidst this pandemic?

First off, Happy birthday in heaven to my Mom.  She would've been 73.  I still miss her a lot.

Nothing much changed for us during this new MECQ.  In fact, we hardly felt any change because none of us were supposed to leave the house anyway.  What may be significant for us was the fact that more food delivery services were now available haha

Good news!  We received another financial help from the City Government worth P1000.  Thanks Mayor Isko!!

Long grocery lines at the supermarket probably because of the P1000 that we all received the day before.  Everyone needed to replenish their supplies.  :)

Another "Achievement Unlocked" moment for me when I tried my hand at cutting Dylan's hair.  The day before, I went to the nearby department store in search of Hair Scissors.  I was successful and Dylan was gracious enough to be my guinea pig :)  It took about about 30 minutes to cut his hair hahaha  But I think I did a passable job considering I was just cutting away hahaha

Another highlight during this MECQ was when our local barangay officials stopped by our compound to distribute the forms for the next tranche of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP).  The SAP is the government's attempt at distributing financial aid to those in need.  Eligible citizens received during the first tranche.  For the second tranche, an additional P8000 will be given.  As I understood it, if you didn't receive any during the first tranche, but were deemed eligible during the 2nd tranche, you will receive P8K + P8K, for a total of P16K.  

Naturally, we were excited about it and grateful that we were still given the chance to apply for it.  By this time for everyone, resources were already dwindling and for some, there were hardly any left.  We just hoped that it wouldn't take too long for the government to distribute the money :)  

I couldn't show you the actual SAP form because there were sensitive information there and it's too tedious to edit those out but here are the other requirements that we needed to submit.

On one of my supply runs, I attempted to walk towards Mercury Drug in Espana.  I had to go to that location because they had the medicine I needed.  I was steeling myself against the fatigue that I was sure to experience because that branch was such a long way from home, about 2 kilometers.  I was fortunate that I chanced upon a tricycle heading in the same direction and the driver was willing to wait for me to finish my errands at the branch so he could bring me back home.  I gave him more than what was required for the fare because I was just so grateful!

At the end of this period, what was foremost on people's minds was the fact that the Department of Education has set the opening of classes to August 24 and that enrollment will be open starting tomorrow.  We'll see what happens next...