HOTSPOT
I won’t be able to forget 2024. I would gladly say goodbye to it, but would always remember it for many reasons.
On a personal level, this is the year we marked an important family milestone: the birth in February of my sister’s first granddaughter Stella Avery. We were as happy as when CJ, the first grandson, was born six years before. I cried when I called my niece to congratulate her.
Those were happy tears, but also sad tears because Mama is no longer around to see, hold, and take care of her first great-granddaughter. I immediately thought that it would have made Mama extra-happy to have a girl as her second “apo-sa-tuhod.”
The arrival of CJ (and then Avery) made my sister into a “lola,” and we her two brothers, technically “lolos” since 2017.
Also in the first quarter of 2024, I was personally introduced to the idea and practice of “maintenance” medicines, after the health center doctor told me that I needed them.
By April, a young doctor who I “met” during the pandemic started to take care of me, made a diagnoses, and prescribed new medicines. I had to buy myself a pill box to keep track.
By October, my current doctor ordered a diagnostic procedure, and the results determined that I should undergo a subsequent procedure in the soonest possible time.
I was able to undergo the recommended procedure by the following month, thanks to help from friends and family, public funding, PWD benefits, and also PhilHealth.
Both were done in a public hospital, under the auspices of awesome public sector doctors and nurses. I am grateful to them.
I cannot deny that I got scared, but I thought it was better to take the doctor’s advice and prescriptions seriously, as well as those of my aunt who is a life-long nurse. It is something that runs in the family and I felt it was better to be pro-active about it. It may get worse if I left matters unattended. Our Tita Liwanag, one of Mama’s siblings, always checks on me.
Many have seen or endured long lines at the Philippine Heart Center and East Avenue Medical Center that start at three or four in the morning. There must be better, more efficient, and more humane ways to avail of our right to healthcare.
The national debates on PhilHealth, in particular, and medical assistance, in general are personal to many of us. We deserve a future where no one would have to beg, go around soliciting medical assistance, go bankrupt, or suffer and die unnecessarily, and where health services is free because healthcare is a right. The debates must be informed by the situation on-ground and the health needs of our people.
The year 2024 is also a great, memorable year for Philippine politics, with both houses of Congress investigating Vice President Sara Duterte over her alleged misuse of confidential funds, and former President Rodrigo Duterte regarding the bloody drug war. We have a new, more competent Education secretary. The Marcos administration has said it will not stop the International Criminal Court’s investigation and would cooperate with Interpol in the event it implements an ICC arrest warrant.
The controversial POGOs have been shuttered, and the Bamban mayor has been removed from office and now faces charges in court and before the Commission on Elections. Accused human and sex trafficker Apollo Quiboloy has been arrested and detained, after weeks of trying to evade arresting officers.
Mary Jane Veloso has been repatriated from Indonesia and awaits a well-deserved pardon or clemency.
Atom Araullo won a landmark legal victory against red-taggers Lorraine Badoy Partosa and Jeffrey Celiz.
Pope Francis raised Kalookan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, a fearless voice of justice, to the dignity of a cardinal, the first Filipino non-metropolitan and suffragan bishop to be so honored.
In response to a clamor for new leaders, Makabayan offers a nearly-complete senatorial slate composed of 11 grassroots leaders and veteran progressive lawmakers. ACT Teachers and Gabriela are running for re-election, and Bayan Muna aims for a political comeback.
The year 2024 is also the most brilliant in our Olympic history, thanks to Carlos Yulo’s two golds, Aira Villegas’ silver, and Nesthy Petecio’s bronze.
No doubt, we faced many challenges too, with rising prices, inflation and cost of living, and with government scandals that humiliate us and deprive us of what we rightfully deserve.
The small and big victories, personal and political, should give us hope in 2025. Let’s do everything to make things better for ourselves but especially for the kids like CJ and Avery.