Transition
Maria Eliza R. Navarro, MD, FPCP, FPSN
We are more than halfway through the year and much has happened since we celebrated the PSN’s 50th year. Even as we may still be jubilant over that event, so many things have transpired that gave us pause. The country went through a national election already rife with emotion from the moment candidacies were announced years before. It has marshalled the populace into factions so fervent in their personal beliefs that discourse often bubbled into arguments. These exchanges tended to overshadow the critical issues needed to be addressed. Needless to say, it left the nation fractured and spent.
More than two years into the pandemic, we are in a fragile respite and seem to be getting slowly accustomed to living with this virus as part of how we exist and how we practice our profession. Then as of this writing, I am reading that we now have an average daily positivity rate of 12-17% based on data from July 24-31; this has been steadily increasing for the last 12 weeks. The numbers seem inconsequential but when you see an increasing number of people on public transport, on the streets, in malls who are not wearing masks, gathering en masse in enclosed areas and behaving like everything was back to normal, it can be a bit difficult to feel confident about how we are going about this.
As if it is not enough that the world continues its battle against the unseen virus, it has to grapple with a war on a front that is too far from our shores yet affecting our daily lives. Oil price hikes, rising prices of basic consumer goods, ballooning debt and inflation rates add to the existing threat of a super power encroaching on our seas and sovereignty. The rainy season upon us reminds us of the delicate nature of our geography as we prepare for the onslaught of typhoons, and the price we have to pay for disturbing the eco climate and what nature has designed long before we walked this earth.
All of these are a damper. Yet as I try to finish this piece, I struggle to feel hope. I have to. We all go through change, we all need to adjust. We do not always get what we want, but we often get what we deserve. But I believe that we also get a chance. To be better, to do better. We have to be humble enough to recognize failure but stay on the course and see things through. We get disappointed with the results but we have to take the next step. We have to remove our blinders and be reminded that you are not here for yourself; how wondrous would it be if people realize how breathtaking selflessness can be.
I am worried, yes. Fearful, who wouldn’t be? But I am still hopeful, and I need to remain so. I am enthused to be working with my team, and in working with and for PSN. Here’s to change, and here’s to more chances.
