Spring officially began on March 21^st . In our tropical country, it is also the start of the long, hot summer season.

If anything, this China coronavirus-induced crisis spectacularly revealed the unworkability and shortcomings of a federal form of government for the Philippines. When push came to shove, the instincts of even the most ardent federalism supporters almost immediately were for the National Government to take control of the situation.

IT’S THE WORST EPIDEMIC of our times, a health emergency that has now left more than 420,000 infected, 18,800 dead and paralyzed the global economy. The scale has been clear for weeks. All the more baffling, therefore, to watch poor decisions being repeated, over and over again.

“Answer me quickly, Lord; my spirit fails. Do not hide Your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit. Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You.” Psalm 143:7-8

As I started to write this weekly column, my third in “quarantine,” a Paul Williams song titled, “What Would They Say,” came to mind. For those who may not remember that 44-year-old song, or were not yet alive at the time, I share with you below some of its lyrics. I recall the song was used in the 1976 TV movie The Boy in a Plastic Bubble, which got four Emmy nominations.

School closures have been one of the most massive forms of mitigation that states and societies have undertaken to flatten the coronavirus curve. As a major form of social distancing, it entails the complete shutdown of school and university campuses from students and workers and a shift to online learning as well as online operations, which became an emerging practice in few places.

The Independent Electricity Market Operator Philippines (IEMOP) sent a media advisory about electricity supply-demand in weeks two and three of this month and the numbers are not good. There was a huge decline in average demand of 2.03 gigawatt (GW) from March 15, the start of Metro Manila quarantine or lockdown from the rest of Luzon. Consequently, prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) also declined.

THERE is a reason why the public is clamoring for more information during this pandemic. Nobody wants to be left out, especially if everyone is affected. Information, regardless if it’s during a crisis or in a normal situation, is a public right. It is also the business of the public to access and share reliable and credible information, especially during this era of fake news.

Besieged by the COVID-19 pandemic and pushed into adversity, the current circumstance has stimulated a surge in patriotic and emphatic response from the private sector and civil society groups.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a pandemic and people around the globe are understandably very worried, if not in a state of panic. In the Philippines, in an effort to quell the upward surge in infections similar to what is happening in other countries, President Rodrigo R. Duterte initially ordered a “community quarantine” of the National Capital Region (NCR) effective March 15 until April 1. However, on March 16, the President put the entire island of Luzon on “enhanced community quarantine” (ECQ-Luzon), strictly imposing a home quarantine, among others, starting on March 17 until April 12.

The coronavirus disease 2019/COVID-19 pandemic is just one more crisis, among the many, that the world has experienced in the 20^th century and in the present millennium. Each crisis has been a test of leadership, underscoring the need for a great leader, someone who can rally the citizenry, inspire them and keep up their spirits in the face of discouraging odds. Someone on whose wisdom they can depend on, whose words they can believe, and in whom they can entrust their lives.

IN THE OSCAR’s best movie of 2019, Parasite, the poorer family, driven back to their now flooded home and herded into a relief center, is wondering what to do next. Their scheme to latch on to the household of their wealthy employers is unraveling. The son asks his father what they are to do next. The father replies, “the best plan is not to have a plan.” This reaction to catastrophe after all the scheming and planning the family did to displace the entrenched household help of the wealthy seems to be the only way to handle uncertainty. Well, the ending of this movie argues against the patriarch’s approach. (Okay, this is not a movie review. But for the record, it’s a must-see movie on the social classes of South Korea.)