“I believe that whatever comes at a particular time is a blessing from God.”—A. R. Rahman

AT the time when the Filipinos were being besieged by the COVID-19 pandemic and the economy was in a tailspin, God gave Iloilo City Miss Universe Philippine 2020 Rabiya Occeña Sundall Mateo.

A nebula of exultation and exuberance suddenly blasted in the horizon for the Ilonggos peppered since March 2020 by the mysterious virus that has infected 53,875,361 people around the world and killed 1,310,688 (as of November 14) in 191 countries, including the Philippines.

Fellow Ilonggos forgot their worries for a while to celebrate Mateo’s fascinating ascension to the constellation of glory and stardom.

Mateo is a perfect gift and blessing to all Ilonggos in this period of distress and desolation, when some families lost livelihood and employment; when the pandemic snatched away from their loved ones and stymied their enthusiasm to hit the road of recovery at least in 2021 as the world wallows in uncertainty for the vaccine.

As manifested by their wild reaction when they welcomed the Queen during her first homecoming Friday since being crowned as Miss Universe Philippines 2020 in Baguio City on October 25, the Ilonggos, led by Iloilo City Mayor Geronimo “Jerry” Treñas, look up to the lovely Mateo, 23, a perfect combination of beauty, grace, intelligence and humility, as a symbol of pride and inspiration.

For one fleeting moment during Mateo’s arrival, the Ilonggos were incredibly united and triumphant like champions in the Trojan War.

When she hopefully brings home the Miss Universe crown next year (let’s cross our fingers), all the pain, sadness and tribulation experienced by the Ilonggos, as well as all the Filipinos, these past months brought by the pandemic and economic doldrums will quickly evaporate.

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IN my last “live” radio interview in the Philippines about the Trump versus Biden matchup on Saturday evening (U.S. time), I explained that as the Americans moved on with their lives after the chaotic U.S. Presidential Election 2020, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 10,690,665 cases of the novel coronavirus, an increase of 181,801 cases from its previous count.

The number of deaths had risen by 1,364 to 243,580.

The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19 as of 4 p.m. on Nov. 13, compared with its previous report released a day earlier. The number could increase as of this writing.

After the election fever, I have been monitoring the changing data and statistics as the Americans battle and try to resist the spike of the deadly virus.

This developed as the head of Democratic U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s coronavirus advisory board announced on November 13 there was no plan to shut the United States down and that the new administration’s approach will be targeted at specific areas.

U.S. News quoted Dr. Vivek Murthy, a former U.S. surgeon general tapped to lead the board, saying that “doctors have learned a lot about how the virus spreads and what steps to reduce risk are effective.”

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“We’re not in a place where we’re saying shut the whole country down. We got to be more targeted,” Murthy said in an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

Another member of Biden’s COVID team, Dr. Michael Osterholm, suggested in a Yahoo Finance interview recently that the country could cover individual companies’ and local governments’ losses for a four-to six-week lockdown to drive numbers down.

Osterholm clarified in an interview with ABC on November 12 that he did not discuss a lockdown with anyone on the advisory board and he did not think there was a national consensus for it saying “nobody’s going to support it.”

Neither Murthy nor Dr. Celine Gounder, another Biden adviser, who appeared on CNN on Friday, embraced the idea of a national lockdown.

“Right now the way we should be thinking about this is more like a series of restrictions that we dial up or down depending on how bad spread is taking place in a specific region,” Murthy said.

The author, who is now based in New York City, was a former editor of two dailies in Iloilo, Philippines