Lockdown cuts off gov’t aid for vendor suffering from diabetes

MANILA, Philippines — When Danilo Zabala felt the symptoms of diabetes in 2013, he started to self-medicate, taking the medicine his mother used to take.

“He thought he would be able to save money if he just took the metformin prescribed by a doctor for his mother who died of the same illness in May 2013 at age 62,” said Rhodora, Zabala’s wife.

She added that when her 46-year-old husband finally went for a checkup five years later at the People’s Center for Hemodialysis Care Inc. in Quezon City, he was told to take linagliptin once a day.

Aside from linagliptin (P60 each), Zabala also needs to take calcitriol (P31), atorvastatin (P29), carvedilol (P15), amlodipine (P9) and sodium bicarbonate (P1) once a day; and ferrous sulfate (P23) and calcium carbonate (P5) three times a day, spending a total of P229 a day.

The couple who have three teenagers and live in Caloocan City used to own a computer shop which went bankrupt in 2017. Before the Luzon-wide lockdown, they were selling street food in order to survive.

“I am appealing to the kindness of your readers because the community quarantine declared by the government due to COVID-19 has prevented us from going back to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and Department of Special Welfare and Development to ask for help,” Rhodora said.

She can be reached at 0932-8634582. Donations may be deposited in the couple’s joint BDO account (Rhodora Zabala/Danilo Zabala with account no. 001271722923).