Is Oscar sick? Has he been stricken by the pandemic? These are supposed to be the days when the excitement over the Oscar awards for the movie industry are to be decided and awarded, but the anxiety and excitement over it does not seem to dominate the industry lately. Oh yes, I heard that the awarding will be held, but possibly not with the grandeur, or even the attendance it used to gather. Among the last I hear was that it may be held at the Union Station.
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This is supposed to be the 93rd awarding rites for the grand prize not only for movie stars, but also for the movies produced, their directors and producers, and others involved in putting out the movies that grab the awards. If the ceremonies will be held, I doubt if it will gather as large an audience as they used to. Anyway, there will be TV coverage that will make up for the in-person viewing. And COVID will not fly from the TV screen to watchers!
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And for sure there will be no hugging and kissing from both winners and losers. The fear of COVID is now so overwhelming that I am sire not even the most talented of actors can feign fearlessness of contamination, and who can blame them? What I am also wondering about is how can the general public express or give their own views about the movies being nominated when the audiences will have to observe physical distancing – if they do get inside the area where the program will be held. What I think will surely happen later is that several movies may be produced with the pandemic as their theme!
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What’s the matter with the police system in the United States? After the atrocious death of black man George Floyd from, not the hands, but the knees of a policeman, other cop-killings have also been recorded in the country. The cop in the death of George Floyd has already been tried and sentenced, but soon other cops will be facing similar charges. By the way, aren’t you impressed by the American justice system? In just about two months after the crimes were committed, the trial had been held, and the accused sentenced. Why can we not do it in our country? Why do court cases here take months, even years, and sometimes forgotten?
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Meanwhile, the world is watching and waiting to know the fate of the crew of the U.S. submarine that apparently hasn’t surfaced and not heard from long past the time it was supposed to surface. The news reported that their oxygen supply was to last only until last Saturday, and as of that day, they haven’t been heard from. I heard, though, that there was an attempt to deliver that precious gas to them, but, so far, I, at least, have not heard if the mission was successful.
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At last, other countries, among them the United States, have expressed concern over the free and unabated incursions of Chinese fishing vessels in the Western Philippines seas! I understand there are not only two or three small fishing boats, but hundreds of them now harvesting the nautical yield of our seas, and what has our government been doing about it? The tons of fish they harvest from our country’s waters could feed millions as well as bring income to our own impoverished citizens. I do not know exactly what moves our government can take to stop it, but surely our officials know, but have been silent about it?
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Poor Myanmar! Until now the military that seized control of the government weeks ago, is still lording it over the civilians, and so far, some have been executed for not toeing the military line. And journalists from outside the country are no longer allowed to enter and interview people or seek the news from officials! Come to think of it, they call what is taking place there as “Martial Law”, but it is a far cry from what we, too, had experienced.
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Will their people ever get the guts to express “People Power”, as our people did when the repressions could no longer be tolerated? The difference between Martial Law Pinoy Version and the Myanmar Version is that ours was led by a dictator who still pretended to be exercising civilian rule. But our people gathered the guts to stand up to the tyranical rule, and managed to drive the dictator away, to seek refuge in Hawaii where he finally died. But ironically, his remains were brought back to the Philippines later and interred grandiously in the “Libingan ng mga Bayani”, or Burial Place for Heroes!*
