Prof, writer, contemplative nun turns 100

Philippine Daily Iinquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo   On Saturday, March 28, Sister Teresa Joseph Patrick of Jesus and Mary, known in academe as JD Constantino or Jo, now a contemplative Carmelite nun, turns 100. Because of the Luzon-wide lockdown to prevent the worsening of the COVID-19 pandemic, the mass and celebration at the Monastery of St. Therese on Gilmore Avenue in Quezon City has been canceled. Surely, many of Sister Teresa’s...

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'We are all soldiers'

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo Brutal, majestic, exploding like “Rex tremendae majestatis” from Mozart’s Requiem is the soundtrack I choose for the ongoing crisis engulfing the world, brought on by the coronavirus or COVID-19 that is spreading and roaring into our lives. Or what about Orff’s “Carmina Burana” with its thundering chorus and ominous opening lyrics?If I had to choose lines from the psalms, it would be: “Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.” (Psalm...

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When hospitals burst at the seams

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo   No one is telling us what to do if and when hospitals have become full and can no longer take in COVID-19-stricken patients, not to mention having shortage of health personnel. Where to take the patients? What to do with them, how to care for them at home or elsewhere? What treatments to apply? What medicines to take, if any? That is not even the worst-case scenario. I dread conjuring up the worst. Tell us, please. Tell us what we can do, what the government will do. We are having...

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Microbe-turned-Goliath

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo   A handout illustration image courtesy of the National Institutes of Health taken with a scanning electron microscope shows SARS-CoV-2 (round blue objects) emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab. SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19.Image Credit: AFP Speculations are rife on the true origin of the deadly coronavirus or COVID-19 that has claimed the lives...

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