Dear parents and all others who can take some time to read this.

The anniversary of the first COVID-19 lockdown is upon us and I'm sure everyone has had an insanely difficult 2020. Though there are more affected by this than others, one group that has been suffering in silence are parents to young kids and caregivers to senior citizens.

Ages below 15 and above 60 are banned from more than 90% of places in the metro, the irony here is that most of the population affected by this ban are people who live in condos and other places that have no open space, playgrounds, fields for kids and seniors to spend some time outside in fresh air. It's been very difficult for those who do not have yayas or family to leave their kids with at home. How ridiculous is it that BARS, CASINOS, and other unessential, leisure-based establishments are allowed to operate BUT our government has MANDATED that OPEN SPACES, PARKS, PLAYGROUNDS, outdoor ZOOS NOT ALLOW kids and seniors access, even going so far as to barricading these fields, YET have WEEKEND MARKETS, BAZAARS for ages 16-59 to co-mingle, TAKE OFF THEIR MASKS and FACE SHIELDS to eat and consume alcoholic beverages. Focusing on stupid fines such as for not using a car seat for children below 4'11" even though these kids are NOT EVEN ALLOWED TO GO ANYWHERE. And suggesting that WE PARENTS bring a car seat for our child to use ride sharing services and public transportation. HOW ABSURD IS THE LOGIC OF OUR GOVERNMENT CLOSING THE WORLD TO OUR KIDS AND SENIORS WHILE ALLOWING OTHERS TO ENGAGE IN UNNECESSARY ACTIVITIES.

Our family is part of this silenced group. We are a family of three (mom, dad and a two year old) who live in a condo away from immediate family and have no househelp. Dad works the whole week and is the only one who goes out to purchase essentials. We take the virus very seriously and understand the risks of stepping outside. The first three months of lockdown my son and I did not even so much peek outside into the condo hallway. My son was just one year and a few months old when the lockdown was first implemented and it played a huge part in his social development only seeing me and his dad EVERY SINGLE day. He is now two years old and two months and only just starting to be comfortable walking in our CONDO HALLWAY just to go downstairs to the convenience store. He was deathly afraid of walking outside and interacting with people who were not mom and dad. The whole work week I am alone with my child at home, while dad is out at work. Since I am the primary caregiver of my toddler -- BY ASSOCIATION, I too am NOT ALLOWED in these public spaces.

This petition is to APPEAL to those in power to amend these ordinances to give our KIDS and SENIORS DESIGNATED OPEN SPACES, OUTDOOR PLACES. If there are establishments that DON'T ALLOW kids and seniors to enter, then there SHOULD BE places that are ONLY for KIDS and SENIORS to access. The next step will be allowing kids and seniors inside designated grocery stores, as mentioned earlier, not everyone has people to run errands for them. (Single parents, Seniors who live alone, the list goes on) 

For now, please help me in making this pandemic a little more bearable for us parents and these poor kids who want so badly to be in the outside world. Not all of us live in gated subdivisions or have open spaces in our condos to get a breath of fresh air.

Please help spread this so it reaches people who can do something about it.

Respectfully yours,

a stay-at-home-mom trying to survive this pandemic