Naging laman ng mga balita nitong Miyerkules ang paghuli ng Quezon City police sa award-winning journalist na si Howie Severino dahil hindi ito nakasuot ang kanyang face mask.
Paliwanag ni Howie, ibinaba lang niya ang suot na face mask dahil uminom siya ng tubig nang mauhaw, at tumigil sandali sa pagba-bike sa bahagi ng Mother Ignacia Ave. sa Quezon City.
Pinost ni Howie sa Facebook ang kanyang naging karanasan: “To set some things straight, because those who briefly detained me during my bike ride have been getting bashed unnecessarily. Ihad been biking early this morning with 2 bambike buddies, Chris Linag and Jilson Tiu, in QC for about an hour when we stopped at a bike shop on Mother Ignacia where we ran into Luis Liwanag, fames photojournalist and fellow cyclist who took the photos of the incident. We were all wearing masks. We bought drinks at the store next door, and drank them after pulling down our masks below the mouth (because we have not learned to drink yet with masks on). We were all outdoors where the risk of infection is much lower than indoors and maintained at least four feet distance from each other. I had just finished my drink and returned the bottle to the store before Icould pull my mask back up, when at least three vehicles of QC law enforcers arrived to tell me Iwas talking without my mask covering my mouth and had to be brought to Amoranto Stadium for a seminar. They allowed me to bring my bike and we loaded it into the vehicle that brought me to the stadium where hundreds of people rounded up were already milling around, interacting with law enforcers, or penned inside a basketball court, a super spreader event if Iever saw one.
“Iexplained to a group of QC employees there that as a recovered patient who had already tested negative three times for the corona virus and positive for antibodies since my discharge from the hospital, the risk of me infecting anyone is near zero. Nevertheless Istill wear a mask.
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“Iam kind of glad thad that since QC is an epiccenter of the disease in the Philippines, they are finally doing something even if it’s a bit draconian and misguided. Ieven offered to give a talk at the seminar. Instead they returned my bike and told me Icould go home.
“If anyone were to ask me, Iwould say that this punitive approach may even increase the risk of infection by unnecessarily creating mass gatherings of people who were stopped from earning a living of taking care of kids or doing other essentials things. Why not instead give on the spot lectures with visual aids and distribute masks to those without one?”
Tinapos ni Howie ang kanyang post sa sinabing, “Really, Iunderstand the need for masks, but to be arrested for this and brought to an infectious mass gathering in Amoranto Stadium is another misguided policy. I’m not worried about myself since I’ve developed antibodies as a recovered COVID-19 patient. But all those people taken from their jobs and put in the same place for the day are exposed to possible infection, defeating the purpose of this punitive approach to a public health problem.”
-Nitz Miralles
