𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗢𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝗔𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗻 𝗙𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠. 𝗖𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗹𝘂
In 2020, the dreaded SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) Corona Virus 2019 swept the entire globe that resulted to the death of 14.9 million human beings. In the Philippines, a total of 66,864 deaths were recorded in the two-year span of this virus.
Well, Covid-19 is already a thing of the past as the entire world was able to recover from it. Vaccines like Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Novavax, Sinovac, etc. were the answer and saviors.
Now, we are facing another pandemic of sorts… pandemic because it involves the entire globe once more. A pandemic of epic proportions if not solved immediately — the War between Israel and the United States versus Iran.
What started as a confined war is now slowly getting out of hand. After the US and Israel bombed Iran’s military and government sites, the country that was once called Persia launched missiles towards Israel as retaliatory attack and likewise launched suicide drones and missiles against US allies Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait to lure them into the Mideast war.
Oil Tankers were bombed and sunk by Iranian forces at the Strait of Hormuz, effectively blocking the only passage for middle eastern crude oil to the rest of the world. Ali Hosseini Khamenei, the Iranian Supreme Leader already killed — his successor and son Mojtaba Khamenei is reportedly in critical condition, US and Israeli casualties are on a steady rise not to mention the death of civilians who have become the military conflict’s collateral damage.
As a result of this war, crude oil jumped to record high… in the Philippines, diesel prices are now being sold at a staggering price of more than P100 while unleaded is at around P98. Kerosene is pegged at more than P140 per liter and these prices are expected to jump further as the war in the Middle East rages on.
Oil price hike means rise in prices of all commodities as the means of transporting goods need fuel—the fuel that comes from the Middle East.
During the Covid 19 pandemic, basic commodities tripled in prices and in some occasion, these basic supplies were scarcely available resulting to panic buying (for those who have the money to panic-buy) and mendicancy for those who have to wait for government and private individual’s assistance.
In this crisis that the global community is now facing, the Covid 19 scare can be regarded as a tiny setback compared to this crisis we are now facing—this is fiercer and scarier as this war spares no one. At least, with the Covid virus, you can save yourself and your family by simply staying home and just wait for any assistance from anyone and a vaccine too to save every human being… but with the war that rages now, anyone can be annihilated wherever place they stay as missiles and bombs can hit any place.
Little by little, Filipinos are now feeling the brunt of the war. It started with the overwhelming spike in fuel prices, and prices of commodities will surely follow and the rise in prices will likewise be mind-boggling too and will surely hit every Filipino hard.
The leadership of this country, and all local government units, must study and implement measures to cushion the impact of the impending super-crisis in our country and temporarily do away with politicking and grandstanding.
I just hope that this war would end as soon as possible to avoid a possible World War III or a nuclear war scenario. If that happens, humanity will suffer and experience the worst catastrophe since the extinction of Dinosaurs 65-million years ago.
