Quarantine in Shambles: The Philippine Response to COVID-19

The Philippines has been in a state of panic since the first threats of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China. With underdeveloped and undeveloped facilities to counter the effects of the virus, the country was unprepared to handle the situation that has captivated and terrified scientists and leaders. Handling the situation was a president citizens were prepared to impeach, all the more reason why the Filipinos were devastated.

On the 30th of January 2020, the Philippine Department of Health reported the first case of COVID-19 in the country, brought by a female Chinese national from Wuhan who arrived in the Philippines on the 21st of January. Two days following, the country announced the first death from the coronavirus outside China. Since then, more than 11,000 cases have been confirmed by the Department of Health with at least 700 deaths underway and more than 2,000 recoveries.

THE ECONOMY OR THE PEOPLE?

Due to the mysterious case of the virus spreading in Wuhan, tighter checks on inbound travelers from China were to be observed according to the Department of Health. However, Filipinos slammed the government for continuing to allow foreign nationals enter the country albeit the announcement from the Department of Health. By allowing hundreds of individuals to enter the weak country, the government puts their citizens at risk of acquiring the novel coronavirus -- a fate the Philippines is not prepared for.

Chinese nationals compose the majority of the tourist population in the country, mostly due to trade and industry. If the Chinese nationals were prohibited from entering the Philippines, trade to and from the latter would decrease, affecting the already losing economy of the archipelago. Based on the response of the government, it seems as though the citizens of the Philippines are only second compared to the economy. With the shutdown of a popular Filipino news company and the rise of a Chinese radio station in the country, the Filipinos are constantly losing means of survival in these trying times. The question still stands: who will make use of the economy if the people are under the threat of an uncontrollable virus?

In partial response to the rage from citizens, President Rodrigo Duterte declared the suspension of flights from Wuhan, barely lessening the chances of Filipinos acquiring the novel coronavirus although keeping travel from the rest of China available amid the coronavirus scare. As expected, however, the virus soon developed in the country with numbers exponentially increasing by the minute. For a country with a weak health and security system, the Philippines is sure to be one with the most deaths by the coronavirus, rendering the Filipino people unsafe at all times.

HOME IS WHERE THE SAFETY IS

The onset of the cases in the country were tragic; citizens all over the archipelago have been scrambling to find the means to return to their homes. In Metro Manila, students and workers from the province immediately went haywire to acquire tickets to their respective homes. It was bad enough to be in quarantine for a month, let alone away from your family.

Workers in the Philippines have long tried to seek better working conditions in developed countries due to the former having less pay and less than adequate working terms. Being an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) is a must to pay for a daughter’s school tuition, send money to a mother with cancer, and buy a new home for a family. The minimum wage in the Philippines is currently set at PHP 579 per day, a little over USD 11. In the United States, however, the minimum wage is USD 7.25 per hour. As a result, professionals in the science and technology fields travel to different countries to work for the more beneficial wages.

Due to the novel coronavirus, many OFWs were unable to seek sanctuary in their own country as the first installment of the “quarantine series” was declared by the Presidential Palace on March 15, exactly 11 days after the first case of local transmission in the country.

THE LATE QUARANTINE

Complacency in times of crisis was a quality the Filipinos exhibited even as the positive cases shot up in a matter of weeks. One week after the first case in the country, President Duterte assured the Filipino people that panic is not necessary as the government is able to handle the situation. Weeks later, the Philippine government has no plan; instead, multiple cases and deaths envelop the Philippines in a disastrous state.

The late response to the virus caused a rage on social media, with netizens voicing out their opinions, noting the coronavirus’s rapid virulence, and stating that any one of us could have the virus without our knowledge. With the virus spreading fast, overpopulated cities such as Quezon City and the capital Manila would surely be some of the easiest targets for a virus without a vaccine. The urban poor in such cities would be taking the highest toll during the pandemic, with their deaths possibly unnoticed by the Philippine government.

The late response to the virus proved to be the initial representation of the succeeding failed actions of the Philippine national government towards the pandemic, causing multiple issues to arise even after the implementation of the “enhanced community quarantine,” the second installment of the quarantine series, set to end on April 30.

15-DAY EXTENSIONS: ARE THEY ENOUGH?

Six days before the scheduled lifting of enhanced community quarantine, in his nightly address to the Filipino people, President Duterte extended the quarantine in high risk areas such as Metro Manila to May 15. Following this, netizens again voiced their opinions, saying that 15 days is not adequate to eradicate a virus in an overpopulated country. Even Duterte himself believes that the coronavirus outbreak will last longer than the supposed lifting of the quarantine, all the more exemplifying his lack of a plan.

According to research, vaccines are to be expected in at least 12 to 18 months. Meanwhile, President Duterte is ready to offer a PHP 50-million “bounty” to anyone who can discover a vaccine. Yet again, the internet went haywire because of the reward, presenting the cost of discovering a vaccine to be at least USD 1 billion, a value not remotely near the reward Duterte is offering. Will it take 15-day extensions to produce a billion-dollar vaccine? The answer: unlikely.

The question: can the Philippines handle the virus? As of now, the Philippine government is handling the situation without a definitive plan except using the military and police powers to enforce stay-at-home measures. President Duterte, infamously known for his “iron fist,” taunts Filipinos into staying in their homes; else, the order is to “shoot them dead.” With senators casually walking into hospitals and the poor scrambling to find resources to keep themselves alive, the former are safe and the latter are shot.