When a child dies on Christmas

On Jan. 2, 2025, I started the year leading a discipleship group at our favorite Starbucks branch. After feeding ourselves with all the holiday delights, it only seemed right that we nourished our souls with fellowship, lessons and Bible verses.

Instead of a warm-up question, one member asked where things were regarding dengue and the vaccine that they had heard about.

I casually replied that the cases piled up in 2024 but the DOH downplayed an “outbreak” and a new count will surely begin in 2025. As for the dengue vaccine, it continues to languish in the bureaucratic dungeons of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for 18 months, where it underwent a review from a panel of experts and inexplicably has reportedly been passed on to another group for even more review.

My friend shook his head in dismay and shared that last Christmas, the 11-year-old nephew of his boss landed in the hospital on Christmas Day with dengue and died on Dec. 26 after attempts to resuscitate the boy failed. Not only was the death so swift and tragic but also shocking, because as the ER team attempted to resuscitate the boy, blood oozed from his nose, etc.

While all of that was going on, the Department of Health was busy counting down the number of individuals who lost fingers or sustained burns as a result of illegally lighting up firecrackers. Reporting stats and limp wristed appeals not to use firecrackers will never match the work and legacy of the incomparable secretary/senator Juan Flavier.

Juan Flavier was authentic in his many campaigns against firecrackers, anti-smoking, etc. He eventually became senator because he first did the work, was down to earth, authentic and well-liked. Those who aspire to follow in his footsteps have their work cut out for them.

Aside from the anti-firecracker campaign that was too little-too late, what I found strange was the efforts that the DOH put into monitoring and reporting the number of vehicular accidents. That belongs to the MMDA and the PNP, not the DOH. If the DOH was trying to send out the message against drunk driving, well sorry, they failed. The “kamotes” went drinking and driving anyway.

Such campaigns should start at the beginning of