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Photos by Ricky Villabona

Ricky who lives in a high-rise has been taking photos of the city in lockdown: eerily beautiful shots of cityscapes without people, skies so clear you can see the fires of Mordor, or alien spaceships hovering. They look like science-fiction stories waiting to be told. Where did everyone go? Why did they leave? What terrors lurk in the silent spaces?

We talked about reports that rats have gone berserk from the lack of garbage, and are wandering about in the open. Good: a cat food buffet. The stray cats can practice hunting until the animal welfare volunteers can go out on feeding runs again. Go, kitties, you’re on the paleo diet now.

After the initial bitching my feline overlords have adjusted to rationing. With their canned food in low supply they eat more kibble now, which is good for them and for my wallet. No one has lost weight. Buffy, who was the champion rat slayer of our street until she moved in with us seven months ago, has gained five pounds. She is very sweet and gentle towards her new siblings, whose abandoned toys she loves playing with. She hides them all over the house, and then “hunts” them. When I made the mistake of keeping her toys, she took to hunting the pens on my desk. I was awakened late at night by a scuffle in the kitchen, where I found her attacking the bowl of condiment packets on top of the fridge. Having been a street cat for two years, she is not yet annoyed by human demands for affection, and will allow hugs on request. Why can’t you be more like your sister? I ask the spoiled ones, who yawn in my face then show me their butts.

Strange, but the prospect of being released from lockdown has inspired a cautious anticipation that feels almost like dread. There is no vaccine, no immunity; we are still learning about the virus, and it’s a tricky enemy. It could still turn out to be airborne.

The business sector is putting its faith in rapid antibody tests for employees so they can resume regular operations. But testing is just one way to minimize the risk of contagion. It can’t detect all carriers. Some of the rapid tests have less than 50 percent accuracy. They would be incurring great expense for a false sense of security. To minimize transmission, the very culture of the working environment has to change. Wearing masks, social distancing, constant handwashing, work from home arrangements have to continue.

According to the Inter-Agency Task Force on Covid-19, if infection rates do not increase, lockdown will end on 15 May, to be replaced by General Community Quarantine. Schools will remain closed. Sporting events, events in general, travel and tours, and gambling are still not allowed—except for Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations, which are apparently BPOs. Libraries, museums, cinemas, theatres, and bars stay shut. Publishing, movie and TV production, and advertising are allowed. “Selected workers” can go to work—I don’t know who selects them. Half the employees in finance companies and BPOs can go to work, while the other half work from home—I don’t know which half. Construction projects can resume. You can put down your scissors and get your hair cut professionally. Malls will reopen, but with limited airconditioning and no wifi, and only shops selling necessities (I hope these include books) can operate. Public transport will operate at a reduced capacity. The guidelines say only people between 21 and 59 can leave the house, enraging the people in their early 60s who still work. Everyone must carry IDs stating their ages and addresses everywhere they go.

The world will be noisier as it reopens, the air and streets dirtier. Traffic, ugh, will gradually return. I anticipate confusion. When lockdown ends, I’m staying home to see what happens. Remember on March 15, the first day of quarantine, when the borders of Metro Manila were shut and the checkpoints became a Petri dish of people who had to go to work? I hope that doesn’t happen.

I had to get used to lockdown. Now I have to get used to the idea of liberation.

Two weeks.