More on mozzies, & other irritants

Last week I detailed in this space what had struck me as an apparent rise in mosquito infestation in our neck of the urban woods — which was seconded and thus confirmed by a good number of friends living in various parts of Metro Manila. In fact, friends in the Visayas also reported on the “mini-plague” prob.

That same day, exactly a week ago, I noticed a headline crawl on TV, on ANC channel, saying something like the DOH denying that there was any new strain of mozzies, nor even any extraordinary spike in their presence.

Seems to be another case of government so quick to deny something that’s staring citizens in the face — and attacking our exposed limbs and lives, too.

Well, our Valle Verde 1 administration finally got around to coordinatng with Brgy. Ugong officials in having misting and fogging operations done on two consecutive Fridays. And somehow my oldest son was asked to join the Clean & Green committee to tackle environmental concerns, including that of too many stray cats.

In any case, later last week, Graphic magazine editor-in-chief Joel Pablo Salud reported that his friend Marou Pahati Sarne was freaking on the “mosquito invasion” occurring in Manila, particularly in Gagalangin, Tondo.

“Defogging is not helping kasi naglilipat-lipat lang ng barangay. Ingat sa dengue, mga taga Maynila. We have already called the attention of the City Government. Just waiting for the action.”

Marou’s own report: “Sobrang dami ng lamok. As in pulutong daw talaga. Parang ’yung mga locusts na nagsisisuguran sa mga streets kapag gabi na.”

 Poet-writer ang angas journalist Alma Anonas-Carpio followed up on the “stinging swarms of skeeters (that’s mosquitoes, to those who don’t use the slang) in Tondo, Manila and Pasig City. Yes, we have those swarms in the swamplands of Makati, too. Kaya nga Makati, eh, because it is the itchy and scratchy show in my city.”

I told Alma a.k.a. Jerri that the infestation isn’t confined to those areas she had cited. She has since corrected her report to include Quezon City, San Juan, Mandaluyong, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Alabang and other parts of Muntinlupa — the specific places from where friends had reported a similar outbreak of The Attack of the Mozzies. Or Skeeters. Or amok lamok.

I reported back:

“Today we finally had defumigation here in VV1. Generally just the street sewers. But I hijacked the guy with the equipment and told him with the smoky air of authority to do our backyard and perimeter, or all over my beloved flora. Gave him P150 for the extra two to three minutes it took. Not sure yet if the operation will turn out positive, since I’ve heard it said that it just disturbs and brings out the stingers. But I think it had some effect, probably killed a number, or at least the larvae all over. There were still some flyers where we dine in the lanai that first night, despite the standing zapper and citronelle candle and regular spraying of Baygon.”

In brief, I repeat that there has been a mosquito infestation — the likes of which I have not experienced in two decades of residency in Pasig. Oh, I’ve been told that it’s because of the drying up of the creeks around our area, forcing the egg-layers to spread out inside our village in search of water puddles in drains, gutters, under fallen leaves and possibly in planters.

Okay. Whatever the cause (and I never seriously insisted that it was a biological attack initiated by bullyboy China), the fact remains that I have not ever been this kind of a mosquito magnet in my entire life (which has been long, in the tooth and elsewhere).

And I still maintain that it seems to be a new breed of lamok, tiny and thin and sharp-needled, of quick sharp bites that cause red swelling and itchiness. What’s been attacking us for the past month is obviously not the dengue mosquito that recently felled my wine buddy and premier artist Marcel Antonio — else I’d be chewing tawa-tawa and papaya and camote leaves in bed by now. Neither does it seem to be the chikungunya that recently victimized my foodie amiga Nancy Reyes-Lumen. And we can only hope that they do not cause encephalitis either, especially since I’m already swell-headed on occasion.

The fact remains: many of us have been getting desperate to find ways to defend ourselves against this extraordinary infestation.

Citronella doesn’t seem to work, other than for aromatherapy. Baygon kills if the spray hits the targets directly, but it can’t protect an area much. The MosRepel bracelets I bought emitted fragrance, but also proved inutile.

Jerri has recommended the the DOST Mosquito OL Trap, but Mercury Drug stores appear to have ran out of them or sent back the remaining stock to the suppliers because buyers dwindled in number. We’ve tried the DIY with a cut-up plastic bottle, warm water, yeast and sugar. But all it’s trapped are a couple of cockroaches. Friends who have also experimented with this DIY have reported similar frustration.

The racquet-shaped zapper one can swing around could train one to become a junior Nadal with bulging biceps. Katol and kulambo I’ve never liked using. And I can’t net in the entire lanai.

Again, Jerri says she adds half a teaspoon of citronella oil in the final laundry rinse before spin-drying or sampay. And that it “will work well to keep the bugs off you as you sleep and as you go about your day.”

Joyce Garcia Kropp of Alabang initially recommended that expensive yellow LED bulb that’s supposed to repel mozzies, but upon further use, said that it proved ineffective — at least against this current strain. “What does work,” she added, “and kinder to one’s health, is having a LOT of strong electric fans aimed towards the lower half of an area. Noisy, but effective.”

Science doyenne Karen Berthelsen Cardenas posts another homemade anti-mosquito recipe in her K’s Weather site, from Elsie Chua Dormiendo:

“We have been making our own mosquito spray the past 6 months. You will literally see them drop dead. This is the combination, if you want to try it: put a whole clove garlic (skin out) in a container with 70 percent alcohol (1 liter) and let it stay there for about 3-5 days. Then add baby oil (about 250ml or more; eucalyptus scent would be nice but any will do). Shake well, That’s it! Put in a recycled spray bottle and spray it on them, you will see them fall on the ground talaga. ’Yun lang medyo amoy garlic ang house nyo but my kids are getting used to it.”

Another friend of Karen’s writes: “I also need to find the lotion made with cloves — anyone have that? — it is about 1 kg. whole cloves also in alcohol for about 5 days turning it every day and then you add 250 ml. baby oil — it also works as a lotion, you only have to be careful as it will stain your clothes if you spill some — but it smells good.”

Okay, I’ll try both. Where does one get eucalyptus scent? Unless I pluck off some leaves from a couple of trees I’ve seen nearby, and soak those in water.

There’s one other suggestion I’ll be trying, if only because the result looks so pretty. June “Beng” Dalisay sent a picture of lime halves studded with cloves. She had read that these repel mozzies.

Fact of the matter remains: the DOH shouldn’t be too quick to dismiss private citizens’ reports on mosquito infestation. Why not check it out first? Already, there are many other irritants that plague public perception of government service.

The DOTC has long been on the dock for ineptness and/or analysis paralysis. MRT commuters are complaining of long queues and infrequent trains due to some glitch or other, on a frequent basis. NAIA Terminal 1 remains among the very worst airports in the world. The business of conduction stickers is still with us, after all these decades. And now even new or renewed drivers’ licenses are getting hard to come by.

To top it all off, Sec. Jun Abaya just announced a new design for license plates that EVERYONE will have to use, replacing even those that may happen to be a few weeks old. He can’t even do away with conduction stickers, and he’s selling another money-making scheme!? What gall!

Sen. Serge Osmeña has been candid in also decrying the level of managerial service of Energy Sec. Petilla, why, even that of the very Commander in Chief. Now, I’m finding it more and more difficult to fend off all the PNoy haters or somehow deflect their charges when they happen to be friends. And what Sen. Serge said doesn’t help any. But we know him to be a straight-talker.

A good thing PNoy has apologized for the delay in government response to Haiyan’s devastation. Maybe my President would also do well to take Sen. Serge’s remarks with more than just the usual grain of salt, and actually call in these department secretaries whose performances are being questioned. And ask Sen. Petilla again why the brownouts in Mindanao, and Sec. Abaya why the apparent ineptitude of his department. And Sec. Ona if it’s really false or overblown, the outcry over mozzie infestation.

Maybe their foursome can discuss matters al fresco, and in shorts, somewhere in the Palace gardens. And see if they don’t wind up slapping at their exposed skin. Why, it might just result in having one or two of these irritants getting slapped away from his domain of government service.