By Atty. Howie Calleja
Over the past two weeks, we’ve seen some version of Enhanced Community Quarantine being implemented around Metro Manila and the surrounding areas. While the usual ECQ measures have been implemented – the closing of restaurants (save for dine-in and take-out), shift to “WFH”, and preventing all unnecessary travel – the quarantine fatigue has set in for everyone, it seems, including those tasked with controlling the movements in and around “NCR+”. Checkpoints have been far and few in between and the Filipino people, those who have directly felt the impact of the virus, are now losing trust in the efficacy of lockdown as a valid health-based response.
With the new announcement that MECQ will be implemented until the end of April, there has certainly been a mixed response. There are some who believe that ECQ needs to be extended, given that the past two weeks have reached as high as 15,000 new cases a day. Others are relieved to be getting back to some level of freedom considering that ECQ has done little, if not absolutely nothing, to reduce the numbers. While the economic costs get worse and worse, we believe we are doing this to help save more Filipinos. This sacrifice should be worth it, if the numbers are going down. Instead, we’ve lost the luxury to be optimistic with our leaders’ response.
It is essential that we review the numbers: On March 1 the number of active cases reached 31,000. By March 31, it was 130,000. It is now being reported that 1 in 5 Filipinos have been, or are, testing positive for COVID-19. Last, but certainly not least, 15,000 Filipinos have lost their battle against the virus since the start of the pandemic.
The rising number of cases and deaths only get worse when we see the response by the administration: plans to aid the Filipino people through the lockdown came in the form of P1,000 pesos per qualified beneficiary. Only P2.5 billion has been allocated for vaccine purchases in the 2021 budget, with proposals for loans and revenue-generating plans for the additional budget yet to come to fruition. At this time, around 0.8% of the population has been vaccinated. Compared to neighboring countries like Indonesia (at almost 4%), Hong Kong (at almost 8%), Singapore (at almost 18%), this is a catastrophe. So why are we repeating the same mistakes, with worse results, by relying on the military-based response of a lockdown?
The shift to MECQ cannot possibly be seen a sign of improved results considering that, in March of last year, the lockdown was initiated by a total of 5 deaths over the course of a week. This year, with more than 200 losing their lives a day, we must stay vigilant and refuse to accept this as our new normal. Limiting movements and shutting down businesses seems to be the main measure being taken for the past year. Even as members of the public health sector continue to be advocates for closing the gap in health inequities, these recommendations are largely ignored, if not shut down publicly.
With each passing month, our frontliners have advocated for specific and evidence-based approaches to the pandemic. Calls for increased hospital capacity have been ignored, despite evidence that families have lost loved ones to the virus in emergency rooms, and even on the streets outside hospitals, waiting for beds to open up. Plans for field hospitals and bringing in additional healthcare personnel are not moving at a pace that is reflective of the urgency of the situation. Inefficiencies in vaccine distribution have not been improved, and those that are qualified for the vaccination have been subjected to overcrowding. Even this year’s budget reflects a P40 billion cut to the DOH budget, while AFP and PNP’s pension fund increased. Instead, mobility restriction is preferred over necessary changes to the existing systems and assistance to aid the widening health disparities.
It has been presumed, time and time again, that harsh controls on physical movement will reduce our numbers. Attempts to explain away the surge in ECQ as the result of a time lag in announcing cases is weakening. Worst of all, placing the blame on “undisciplined” Filipinos can be, at best, deflecting attention and, at worse, a complete projection onto the public of their own individual failures. Our leaders can’t even follow simple guidelines: mañanitas, trips to visit the dolphins, and, most recently, an LGU Official close to the administration jetting off to Singapore in the midst of the worse numbers to date? These actions do not exude leadership in a crisis.
What we need now is clear, concise, and evidence-based messaging and a response from our leaders. Working with the health sector to meet the demands of our frontliners, subsidized testing is essential to get a true grip on the situation, and efforts to continuously inform the general public of the transmission of the virus. To sum, isn’t it telling that every month or so #NasaanAngPangulo trends on social media platforms?
Even then, we now no longer have the luxury of relying on the vaccine. With only some 20,000 people being vaccinated per day, while countries around the world role out much more effective inoculation programs, we are still dealing with fear mongering – little to no efforts have been seen to assure the public of the efficacy of the vaccines and dispel the myths, contributing to the growing concerns. Certainly this will only continue to impede vaccination efforts.
It is clear, then, that we cannot fully rely on our leaders. Thus, we should also do our part. It is now time that the Filipinos to assert their right to health – without which our right to work, education, and even liberty cannot be truly enjoyed. Indeed, the right to health is an enabler for most, if not all, of our constitutional rights. The situation is only getting worse, we must then look to what we can do to help us cope with the worst effects of the pandemic. Research is critical to prevent the transmission, assist in contact tracing, and combat the circulating myths of vaccine effects. It is now time for the Filipino to stand together and collectively reject any and all official response that infringes on our right to health. That is, if we truly want this to be our last lockdown and move away from a militant new normal.
