AGWAT- HILOM 2

April 1, 2023 Opinion

The second volume of Agwat Hilom compiles a various works of poets, writers, cartoonists and
journalists to come up with a Covid Chronicle. My work has been included in the collection, detailing my Covid 19 journey which I serialized into a 14 – day journal. The entries hits home, as
you see yourself in the hopelessness of Covid 19 surge of infection if you were one of the afflicted or empathize with the situation if you have friends or family who have gone through the same ordeal as I.

The book cover is done by my good friend, Olie Olivete, who made the image for me, specifically for this journal. Agwat Hilom 2 is published by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts under the Committee on Literary Arts. I am grateful to be a part of the project and even more grateful to be alive to tell my story. Kudos to the NCCA for this project and may the Covid journals end for humanity soon.

The Purgatoryo of Covid starts:

This journal chronicles my journey with Covid 19 from the days in isolation, to my bittersweet homecoming to recover together with my daughter, Elie, whom I infected. The journal reveals the
immediate despair that befell when I knew I was infected, the hopelessness of the situation as well as the compassion which was showered on us the entire time. “On September 13, 2021, I went to submit myself for testing at the Baguio Convention Center Triage, after 7 days of selfisolation because of a sore throat and a runny nose, I was told the 7th day since the onset of symptoms was the best time to have a test, so I went to ensure I was fit to work and to appease my already
hypertensive brain.

The test which normally took 30 minutes for results spanned 2 hours and that was when I knew, when a nurse finally talked to me, I was told I could not leave, as I was positive in the antigen test, I
was ushered to have the more accurate RT – PCR test and will be confined to the facility so as not to possibly infect anyone else. At the time, panic over the Delta strain was high, with cases escalating, I was part of the surge. As I waited for hours for a clean room at the facility, my bags were being packed at home by Elie, who was left alone in the house being my lone close contact, signaling the start of my Covid journey.”