MANILA, Philippines – President Arroyo was visibly peeved yesterday after finding no wastebasket in which to throw a piece of tissue she had used to wipe her hands during an anti-Influenza A(H1N1) campaign at a school in Manila.
After rolling up the tissue paper, the President searched her immediate surroundings for a wastebasket, found none, and started telling the officials around her about the need to have wastebaskets around, particularly beside the faucets.
The officials scrambled around and produced a cardboard box for the President’s trash.
Members of the President’s team explained later that the box was originally placed under the faucets but it had to be removed in order to avoid obstructing the movement of the President.
Apparently, Mrs. Arroyo wanted to see actual wastebaskets and not makeshift cardboard boxes.
The President personally led the anti-Influenza A(H1N1) virus campaign in schools with a visit to one of the public schools near Malacañang yesterday.
The Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Education (DepEd) have been busy with preparations for the opening of classes next week and because of the two confirmed cases of A(H1N1) virus cases in the country, steps have been taken to address this particular concern.
Based on the guidelines of the DepEd, the anti-Influenza A(H1N1) campaign would basically cover the etiquette on coughing and sneezing as well as the proper way of washing hands.
The latter preventive measure seemed simple enough and the President, during her visit to the Geronimo Santiago Elementary School in San Miguel, Manila, demonstrated this by leading the singing of the birthday song two times while washing her hands, as a guide for the length of time needed to have thoroughly clean hands.
Education Secretary Jesli Lapus also admitted that there was a need to improve or construct more toilets in the public schools and to ensure that there is a constant supply of water in these schools.
Lapus noted that the DepEd has included in its budget the construction of around 10,000 toilets this year.
He said the budget would also include the supply of hand soap and paper towels.
“This is an eye-opener. We call it essential protective health care. Even ordinary illnesses could originate from dirty hands,” Lapus said.