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II. STEPS TAKEN by the Philippine Government versus COVID-19

Since the official declaration of Chinese Health officials that there is the existence of a deadly and very contagious novel corona virus in their country on the 1^st week of January this year, nobody from the Philippine Health officials had seriously given attention on this development. Considering that Chinese tourists have come and go in the country by the millions. As of December 2019, Chinese tourists comprised 22.1% or 1.74 million of the total tourists arrival in the country (8.26 million in 2019), second only to the Korean tourists which comprised 23.7% or 1.98 million. Chinese workers, in the Chinese funded strategic industries and the Philippine Overseas Gaming Operation (POGOs) have also resided in the country by hundreds of thousands. Not a few of them came home to China during the Lunar New Year holidays. It is no brainer to think that they could constitute potential virus carriers.

Not even the deadly impact of Serious Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS in 2002-3 which also originated from central part of China and caused the death of 774 people out of 8,099 cases (9.6% mortality rate) and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome or MERS in 2012-13 with around 800 deaths out of more than 2,000 cases or 36% mortality rate, did serve as a wake-up call to the responsible agencies in the Philippine government to act and prepare the country for the impact of the novel corona virus.

The World Health Organization or WHO had taken almost three (3) weeks (January 30, 2020) to consider the novel corona virus or the COVID-19 as Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Why did it take this long for an international body with the United Nations network and whose primordial mandate is to have in depth study and initiate an ALERT if it observes danger of a contagious virus/disease so that in a globalized setting, countries can prepare and brace themselves in the earliest possible period to save lives. Unless lessons were not learned from the 2002 SARS and 2012 MERS then nobody could understand the long delayed action of WHO. The declaration of the latter of COVID-19 as pandemic on March 11, 2020 would be almost four(4) months since the epidemic had started in China. Lives could have been save.

The period between the middle of January and the middle of February 2020 was the most decisive period in the containment and management of the novel corona virus. This period, as the peaking of the curve of the virus impact in China and it was during this period that millions of Chinese tourists were travelling throughout the world because of the Lunar New Year holidays. Not a few of them became anonymous carriers of the virus. Countries like the US, Italy, Spain, Iran and the Philippines got their first transmissions and cases around this period.

The failure of China to contain through early locked down of movements from Wuhan and Hubei for instance, exported the virus unintentionally to other countries. Italy and Iran for instance got their first cases on the third week of January when Chinese tourists arrived in the abovementioned countries. US first COVID case came from Iran, from an American citizen who visited Iran.
In the case of the Philippines, the ban for travel (in and out) of China, Macau and Hongkong came in on February 2, a day after WHO declared Global Health Emergency, making it as an International Concern.

The steps taken by Congress were the investigation after the first cases on the first week of February when Patient Number 2 died and the tracing of 440 passengers who travelled with Patients number 1 & 2. Patient NO. 1 was able to recover and came home to China without being subjected to thorough examination in the manner of transmission. The next step from PRRD was this, travel ban imposed on travelers from China, Hongkong and Macau on February 2.

The step was after almost one month and long before the local transmission as confirmed on March 7, 2020. The DOH declared a Red Alert Sub-Level 1 and imposed a Public Health Emergency. Included in this imposition is the authorization of DOH to mobilize resources and procurement of needed Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and the needed medical materials to combat COVID-19. Measures to quarantine people was included in this emergency measure.

These requirements needed for effective management of COVID-19 had not been followed because on March 9, 2020, the country was shock to hear from DOH in a Senate hearing that the total number of testing kits available at that time was just 2,000 amidst its declaration of Public Emergency based on the development of COVID-19.

From that period, the steps taken by PRRD’s government was to control the peoples’ movements in Metro Manila through the imposition of Community Quarantine. Several days later the quarantine was extended to the whole of Luzon island calling it Enhanced Community Quarantine. This kind of moves was just consistent of the government which had not done its works seriously for more than two months. It has not done its job to set up more testing centers because setting these machineries is not just the buying of the materials needed to set them up but to train and equip people to operate and manage them which will take more time. At this period, it would take a week to get the confirmatory results from Australia for the RITM which was the only center in the country to preliminary took the tests.

Definitely these people’s control were not the result of concrete and scientific moves by the government to know and determine the mechanism and machineries we would need to face the enemy. Imposition of community quarantine should be a result of scientific moves rather than the other way around. Nobody could understand the statement of Cabinet Secretary and the Spokesperson of the Inter-Agency Task Force against COVID-19 when he always mentions that Science is in-charge in the steps they are making against COVID-19.

These reactive and defensive moves of PRRD’s government would impact very much as the people would suffer from the quarantine restrictions and the food chain of the affected areas. This is simply hitting anyone (shotgun method) in sight. While it is true that the virus cannot be seen but it can definitely be controlled by identifying and isolating those tested positive and those showing signs of the symptoms and denying the virus to inflict others who will become their carriers. Fighting this unseen enemy is like waging a war where the first thing that generals will do is to study and identify their enemies. These moves can be done with excellent intelligence machinery. Locating where the enemies are staying can be easy when the generals know the characteristics of their enemies. Fifty percent of winning the war is already achieved when you know your enemy and where they are staying. In this manner, you save a lot of your limited resources and you minimize the collateral damage. Without this, one can still fight the enemy but blindly and so, you use a shotgun or carpet bombing where with one bullet/bombs you might hit your target but also those who are not supposed to be your enemy. The still effective option is what is called the surgical bombing – or selected bombing on those areas identified by the intelligence machinery. In this kind of war, time is of essence. It can help you what appropriate action and machines you are supposed to mobilize. One cannot surely win a war by always being defensive and reactive. And definitely this kind of war is not only the war fought by the generals. It should mobilize the whole nation or whole of nation approach. This kind of war is so complicated and strategic to leave it to the generals or even the retired ones.

a. Learning from others

In fighting a war against COVID-19, the experience of Vietnam in the early stage of their war against COVID-19 is worth studying and learning. It used the symbols that Vietnamese people can easily identified with and will surely support. Through the leadership of Premier Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Vietnam has launched its peoples’ war against COVID-19 in the Tet New Year (end of January) ala a Tet offensive model during their war against the most powerful nation in the world – the US. At the time, this declaration of war, the outbreak of the coronavirus was still confined to China. In the meeting of Vietnam’s ruling Party, Premier Phuc insisted that it would not be long before the coronavirus reached the country. The country’s leadership has agreed that fighting the epidemic caused by coronavirus means fighting the enemy and they have to prepare for the war now. The Vietnamese government is aware that in order to win the war, it needs a lot of government funding and a stout Public health system. Both are lacking in the government’s arsenal. So, they have to wage the war maximizing the minimum resources in their arsenal. Based on their intelligence gathering, they select the area to start the war – Ho Chi Minh City – 8 millions population with less than 900 intensive care beds. With such massive limitation, it institutes rigorous quarantine policies, carried out tracing of all people who came in contact with the virus.

The twin measures of limited quarantine and selective and rigorous contact tracing have helped a lot in limiting the COVID-19 cases in the country. They strictly implement a measure where anyone arriving in Vietnam from high risk areas would be quarantined for 14 days. All schools have been closed as early as the beginning of January 2020. That government has also implemented widespread system of public surveillance which was helped along by a well-supplied and generally respected Vietnamese military. This close surveillance largely keeps anyone from slipping through the net or evading regulations. It is nipping in the bud of the virus.

Premier Phuc has applied the kind of war against coronavirus in this message “Every business, every citizen, every residential area must be a fortress to prevent the epidemic”. This hits a nerve with many Vietnamese, who are proud of their ability to stand together in a crisis and endure hardships. Vietnam has called upon its people and mobilize them through focusing in preventing, isolating and defeating the COVID-19. As of this writing, Vietnamese peoples’ struggle against COVID-19 is still unfolding but we can learn from this early stage and the later stages especially that they are preparing for the second wave of attack by the virus.

The Vietnamese experience tells us many things about fighting and winning battles to be victorious in war. Right timing, stern discipline and focusing are points of essence here because otherwise you might be fighting two or several fronts at the same time.

b. People suffer as government falters

The Philippine government has started its significant moves/steps after almost two months when confirmed COVID-19 cases had been exposed. This delayed has impacted very much in terms of preparation. It should be remembered that more than a month since the first COVID-19 case, DOH had to shamelessly admit that it had only a total of 2,000 test kits and that the final confirmatory step would still be coming from Melbourne, Australia.

In the first part of March 2020, the government had made moves that looked like panicking after the so-called local transmission. It had immediately raised the Red Alert Code-Level 1 and imposed a public health emergency. Several days after, the government had imposed another Red Alert this time it was Code Level 2 and imposed a partial locked down in Metro Manila – area with more than 12 million population. A week after, the area of quarantine was expanded to the whole of Luzon – the biggest island of the country and has more than 60 million of population. Both the Metro Manila and Luzon have been contributing ¾ of the country’s economy. The implementation of the Enhanced Community Quarantine would take effect immediately.

Understandably, the peoples in the abovementioned areas panicked. They rushed to the market and bought anything they could lay their hands on and the limit was the availability of money they had with them. Peoples who were staying outside the quarantined area had rushed to the airports, ports and bus stations to catch the last trip out.

There was immediate but massive deployment of military and police forces because they eventually would play a leading role during the locked down period. It makes one to think of its oddness that while the coronavirus epidemic is a public health emergency more than a security threat PRRD would depend on his military to enforce the rules and guidelines.

Again, it makes one to ponder that when a government intends to restrict (partially or totally) the mobility and supply chains of millions of people, obviously it needs careful and meticulous planning to ensure effective enforcement and appropriate implementation. People need full preparation so that they can plan accordingly and equip themselves especially since their daily subsistence could be imperiled for several weeks or for months. They should not be made to suffer because of the government’s inefficiency neglect and slow response.
When PRRD had announced the locked down and enforce it immediately without bothering to inform and relatively prepare at least the local government units especially in the affected areas, it manifested an obvious sign of something else. If it is not panic then what is?

To fight the COVID-19, the government banned the main transportations so how could people move to prepare themselves and brace for the impact of the pandemic. As of this writing, workers have been walking back to their homes outside Metro Manila. They are mostly the construction workers who were not able to catch up the last buses out because the quarantine order was imposed immediately. For weeks now, they are still walking back to the places of their origin – reminding one to recall of the historical Death March of the guerilla together with captured American soldiers during the Second World War.

The quarantine includes the curbing of people’s freedom to earn a living. This step severely affected the daily wage workers, the “No Work, No Pay” will mean no food for their families. The aid package promise to them is still being finalized by different government agencies and many of them have not received them yet.

Both situations portray a defeated people. Definitely, not a good start to vigorously combat the unseen enemy for the construction workers and their kind.

Meanwhile, people would receive food rationing. But considering the inefficiency of public services in this kind of crisis, how many days will the people have to wait for the most needed food? Currently, the food aid distribution has been done by the local government units (LGUs) from the municipal/city to barangay levels. The burden was placed on the local government to feed the people while the national agencies of the government are still trying to plan the manner and mechanism to distribute the aid package. Considering that many of the leaders of these LGUs have been practicing patronage politics, they only give the food package to their voters or their followers.

Furthermore, PRRD has been vocal that more than 50% of the village heads/chairperson are involved in drugs of which he (PRRD) used this reason to postpone the barangay elections several times.

If this is the situation with the LGUs, how can the people depend their next meals on this kind of people?

And as if to put more salt to injury, food and basic items needed by the people in both Metro Manila and Luzon were included in the ban as various local government agencies would have different understanding about the quarantine imposition. Medical items including personal protective equipment, ventilators and test kits are blocked and stocked in the Manila port because the Custom officials have to process their documents yet. Foods like rice and vegetables needed by people in Metro Manila (almost 100% dependent on its food supplies from outside the National Capital Region) have been blocked in different border controls. Trucks carrying them could successfully pass on several border controls only to be stopped in another border control. This control continues to happen even after several announcements and warnings from the government through the IATF and the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the National Police have been issued.

The mob rule types of control forced the farmers to giveaway or throw away their agricultural products because they could not sell them in Metro Manila. Obviously, one sees in this situation that PRRD’s government is writing the rules as it goes along. The fact that the outbreak has started last December 2019 and it (PRRD) has more than three(3) months more than enough time to prepare the protocols needed by LGUs and the civil society to function and still effectively fight the COVID-19 even while on quarantine, almost nothing happened. Anyway, competent government would have planned forward or a little bit in advance.

c. A Glimmer of hope or a Fading light?

The signing of PRRD of R.A. 11469 has given hope to those who are expecting that the earlier government action of PANIC can be corrected. In fact, the name of the law says a lot. Bayanihan – To heal as ONE will immediately makes one to expect something proactive and strategic. But initial implementation steps show that, people (as the word bayanihan – bayan) are still left out in the fight against the virus. Largely, they (people) are just recipients of the aid package. The mobilization aspect is for the people to stay at home and their movements should be limited. Social distancing is more on the surface and its coming from the outside command rather than peoples’ action because they are convinced that these actions are their contribution to fight the unseen enemy. But then again, the people are told again and again that moves like social distancing are to save their lives because there is still no vaccine manufactured to eliminate the virus. But how can they be strong and energize to fight the virus if they do not have something to eat. How can they enthusiastically fight the unseen enemy with empty stomach?

Quarantine and social distancing can be the peoples’ part in the battle but the government has their part too. It has to provide enough medical hardware and personal protective equipment to equip and secure the part of the people who serve in the other front of combating the virus. The works of medical frontliners are to ensure that the testing of the virus affected people to isolate and treat them (common medicines) so as not to infect others. The relationship between the people and the medical frontliners should be nourished otherwise fake news can be more effective in contaminating this relationship than the COVID-19. The worst situation is that people look at the medical frontliners as part of the virus as carriers and should be turned away and should be eliminated altogether. This kind of situation makes one think that since the people cannot see the virus then it is easy to fight the visible objects like the medical frontliners. This is an obvious result of the serious problem of understanding the virus, a gap that should not be there if the government has fulfilled its very basic function of educating its taxpayers about the virus that we all should fight.

Fighting the COVID-19 as ONE is indeed can only be done in a Bayanihan manner. People should be actively participating in this fight even if they are in the state of quarantine and practicing social distancing. They can be called upon to contribute their human and financial resources to fill in the gaps of medical, technical, financial and psychological needs. They can definitely do these things even if they are home-based. But then the government can build and strengthen this Bayanihan spirit through education and concrete actions. Basic needs of the people should be assured without sacrificing their basic human rights. Coercion should never be part of an option. Unity is basic requirement for Bayanihan to go one step higher. Bayanihan should never be used to divide people based on their beliefs, political affiliations, race and gender. The government should lead these efforts because during these decisive stages of fighting the virus – peoples’ unity and participation is already part of healing to combat divisiveness and discrimination. Healing starts with being aware of our wounds or virus which at present affects us all.

Raymund De Silva
Mindanao, Philippines
April 5, 2020

(Second of the 5 Series)

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