On the moon

One of my favorite songs had the line "We're dancing like we're on the moon," an expression used to convey high elation. It is a feeling of too much happiness that one would just dance to that good feeling. Honestly, I don't remember the last time I felt this way ever since the pandemic began. Apart from losing people because of the virus, there are also those dying because of other reasons and it sucks to die in the middle of all this when your close friends and family cannot even mourn your loss.

I personally feel like we are navigating on the moon as well. Remember those astronauts with the spacesuit and huge boots? They used to walk so slowly while on another celestial body because of the difference in gravity. The way we are taking the response now, it feels quite similar. For one, Cebu City is in limbo with its leader not present in the limelight. Mayor Edgardo Labella has filed once again for a leave citing reasons to "focus on his recovery". It has not been really clear to me what he is recovering from.

This has plummeted his image, especially among those who doubted him. The one enjoying the limelight now in the COVID response is his vice mayor who used to be mayor, Mike Rama. A photo of Labella driving through City Hall surfaced yesterday, but that was it. Was it even worth reporting? Why can't we be critical enough to let him speak the truth about the state of his health? While it is a personal matter, he is also a public official.

Not to belittle his skill as a leader but his appointees have also been doing their jobs well. Cebu City was lauded by Manila for its policies but the real story on the ground might be a different story. I have known a lot of friends who used to run a small business who had to stop their operations because continuing it with the rising number of cases and the quarantine restrictions made it all very difficult. I somehow feel like we are spacewalking with little clear direction.

On another note though, the cases are starting to decline but not as much as we want it to. It gets me thinking, does the mayor still need to come in and continue his service? Or should he continue taking his rest? He used to be a good friend of mine on some level, but somehow time and the circumstances changed everything.

Someday I wish the feeling of being on the moon, as in being elated, will be felt in Cebu City. We are giving so much pride nationwide, being a prime city in the Visayas but then politics just really gets in the way. We are heading to the end of the year and the leadership of the city is up for grabs. Let's all be wary.