COVID-19:

Facts, Impacts, and Experiences of Enhanced Community Quarantine

If you would’ve asked me two months ago what would be the worst thing that could
happen to humanity, the words “pandemic” or “bat” would have never crossed my mind. From
all the danger that has happened in 2019, we imagined, hoped, and prayed that the year after
would be fruitful and good to us, but we haven’t even reached the half of 2020 and millions have
already suffered.

The rapidly-developing coronavirus crisis is dominating global headlines and altering life
as we know it. It started off during the end of 2019 at Wuhan, a city in the Hubei province of
China, where they experienced an outbreak of a novel coronavirus that killed more than eighteen
hundred and infected over seventy thousand individuals within the first fifty days. During that
time, it was a mystery to everyone on what this disease is and where it came from. People would
call it a “viral pneumonia” because of its flu-like symptoms (fever, tiredness, and dry cough).
Before any country could even prepare, the disease has infected millions of people across the
globe like wildfire. The outbreak was declared a Public Health Emergency of International
Concern (PHEIC) on 30 January 2020 and on March 11, the World Health Organization had
declared COVID-19 a pandemic since it had inflicted more than 150,000 people including 6,000
deaths all over the world. Others speculate that the Covid-19 is a bomb-free World War III that
was virtually launched by China. However, regardless if it was planned or not, this pandemic has
profoundly shaken the basic fundamentals in our society and has surely placed international and
national government agencies to the test in handling major health crisis.

During the last weeks of December 2019 and practically the whole month of January
2020, there was no initiatives from the Philippine government aside from its reaction to the first
virus-infected cases which came out in the last part of January. In fact, there was no immediate
reaction by the Duterte government and its health agency when China had locked down the areas
where the Novel Coronavirus had originated like the City of Wuhan and the province of Hubei in
January 23, 2020. In the whole month of January 2020, the country did not do anything to brace
itself for the possible impact of the Novel Coronavirus in the country inspite of the fact that it
does not have the capacity even to identify and confirm if a person has been affected by the
virus. During this period, only the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) could have
preliminary testing capacity but the confirmation would be from Victoria Infectious Disease
Reference Laboratory in Melbourne, Australia.

On the 30th day of January, the Department of Health (DOH) confirmed the first case in
the Philippines when a 38-year-old female Chinese patient under investigation (PUI) tested
positive for Covid-19. However, this did not shatter Duterte’s confidence and even said, “there is
nothing really to be scared off” and encouraged others to travel and promote tourism. It was as if
the Covid-19 was not a threat to the country. You couldn’t feel the sense of urgency from the
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government. They were more concerned with silencing their critics, the war on drugs, and trying
to look good to China.

Our country was praised for having only a few number of confirmed cases but this was
only due to the fact that we lacked the testing capability. It was only on March that our
government banned foreigners from coronavirus-hit countries and upon having 142 confirmed
cases including 12 deaths, Duterte placed the entire Luzon in Enhanced Community Quarantine
(ECQ). The said declaration enforces home quarantine and curfew hours for all households and
allowing only minimum exemptions such as acquiring basic necessities. Consequently, non-
essential businesses and public transportations were temporarily closed, all type of mass
gatherings were prohibited, and schools from both public and private sectors in all levels were
suspended. Work was only limited to skeleton workforces where a minimum number of
employees is required to man the office to render service when full staffing is not possible.
Students and workers were encouraged to “work from home” in order to limit social movement.
Aside from a few government agencies, the only people that were allowed to work were medical
workers, policemen, grocery storekeepers, pharmacists, bank employees and food delivery crew
–these people are called “frontliners” for the unwavering service they offered amid a pandemic.

However, this preventive measure was not favorable to everyone specifically those who
belonged to the marginalized sector which continued to go out and work. Politicians and other
citizens were quick to criticize them for being disobedient. But what they do not understand is
that the people who go out and face their fears of this disease are those who cannot afford
to stay at home for a month, or at worst, can’t even survive a day without working. The
privileged would say “follow the rules, it is for your safety”, but the poor cannot because it
is for their survival. Those who were out of touched with the societal dilemma of our country
and viewed the ECQ as a vacation failed to recognize that not everyone has the luxury to stay at
home.

I clearly remember the first time I went out during the ECQ when I volunteered to do
some errands on behalf of my parents, it was a week after the declaration. Because there weren’t
any public vehicles and since the market was just of walking distance from our house, I opted to
walk instead. The sight of empty streets and closed stores was completely new to me. There were
only a few number of people but their eyes showed despair and I couldn’t really blame them, I
also felt a strong sense of anxiety. When I went to the pharmacy, a group of military officers
suddenly entered and the other costumers were quick to move aside and sanitize their hands. It
was as if these officers were carriers of the disease. They were only there to buy alcohol and
medicine for their kids but, unfortunately, were sold out. When I went to the grocery store,
almost all the essential goods were out of stock and everyone was frantic about the shortage of
alcohol and sanitizers. When I was walking back home, I couldn’t help but cry from the
discrimination and lack of preparedness that I have witnessed. It lead me to think about the
incompetence of our government, how they could’ve mitigated the spread of this disease if they
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had acted sooner. I think it was at this time that I had a strong determination to speak up about
what was happening in this health crisis.

PEOPLE SUFFER FROM GOVERNMENT’S PANIC PLANING

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the best and the worst manners of how on one
hand autocratic and rightist governments have taken advantage of the situation to tighten and
suppress the democratic activities of their people, and, on the other hand, some governments
have seen the decisive role of their people in controlling the spread of the COVID-19.

When Duterte had announced the community quarantine 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 panic which lead to an abrupt and
indecisive decision making. Such as for instance the sudden halt of public transportations. A lot
of workers and students studying and working outside their province were stuck in the borders of
Metro Manila. News showed workers walked back to their provinces. They are mostly the
construction workers who were not able to catch up the last buses out because the quarantine
order was imposed immediately.

The quarantine includes the curbing of people’s freedom to earn a living. This step
severely affected the daily wage workers, as public and private establishments, businesses and
companies implemented “No Work, No Pay” protocol. A lot of families were not able to prepare
for the ECQ and were forced to use all their savings to stock up on food supply even when it
wasn’t enough. Farmers were also forced to giveaway or throw away their agricultural products
because they could not sell them in Metro Manila.

The spread of COVID-19 has given Philippines law enforcement broad discretion to
enforce public health measures. The Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in the whole
island of Luzon mobilized a big portion of the Armed Force of the Philippines and the Philippine
National Police (AFP/PNP) over and above the full mobilization of the LGUs with their local
peace and order units. The United Nations has raised concern over some countries' repressive
measures to implement lockdowns, citing the Philippines' "highly militarized response" to
contain the coronavirus spread and it has led to the arrest of over a hundred thousand people for
violating curfew ordinances. Amnesty International Philippines previously expressed concern
over several incidents of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment allegedly used
by barangay officials against curfew violators, during the first two weeks of the enhanced
community quarantine in Luzon. The organization said that these acts are in clear violation of
absolute prohibitions outlined under the Anti-Torture Act of 2009, as well as the Philippine
government’s international obligations under the UN Convention Against Torture. Over 152,000
quarantine violators have been reported nationwide over Luzon and other provinces in mid-

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March, according to recent police data. Of this number, at least 38,000 have been arrested. This
has made netizens infuriated by the lack of respect to the human rights.

The hasty actions of the government has also lead to thousands of violence against
women and children. The Commission on Human Rights said on April 5, "Women and children
who experience abuse are trapped inside their homes with their abusers, and have nowhere to go.
Most of these women are not able to seek help because they fear being overheard by their
abusive partners or are stopped from leaving home”. A total of over 3,600 cases of violence
against women and children have been reported to authorities since the government imposed an
enhanced community quarantine on the entire Luzon mid-March. he Philippine National Police
(PNP) has recorded 1,945 cases of violence against women and 1,745 cases of violence against
children.

Being placed in this isolated situation, one would assume that there would be a
systematic plan by the government, that families would be given basic needs for survival, and a
reassurance that everything is well taken cared off. However, the burden was placed on the local
government units (LGUs) to create a mechanism to assist the people while the national agencies
of the government were still trying to plan on how to aide hungry and distressed families. Each
of the LGUs had their own unique strategy in handling the pandemic in their area which made
me think at some point that after years of being in public office, it took a pandemic for their
careers to shine and the very same pandemic for it to fall.

HEALTH WORKERS’ PLEA

One of the primary issues the sparked at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic is the lack of
support given to our health workers. The health workforce plays a central role in the diagnosis
and treatment of patients with COVID-19. Hospital chiefs across various institutions appealed to
the government for coronavirus-dedicated hospitals and Personal Protective Equipment.
Healthcare workers – doctors, nurses, and medical technicians – use hundreds of PPE a day.
Some of the gear like caps, goggles, and gowns, can be changed after a shift, but gloves need to
be changed after each patient handled and masks should also be changed as needed. Doctor
Norberto Francisco, chief of Clinical Trials and Research at The Lung Center, said that their
hospital can use from 200 to 500 PPE in one day. This protects them from the possible
transmission of the virus. However, the world is experiencing a shortage of personal protective
equipment (PPE) caused by rising demand, panic buying, hoarding, and misuse, according to a
World Health Organization (WHO) statement on March 3. As health workers risk their lives
every day, there might come a day when they’ll no longer have the strength to do their duties.
The latest number from DOH showed that there are 2,669 health workers positive for the disease
in which 32 have died. Overall, that represents 14% of confirmed cases. Shortage in health
personnel is bound to hamper any country’s response to the current pandemic.

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 Moreover, there is also a call to increase the payment given to health workers as they
have always been overlooked by the government. The Alliance of Healthcare Workers (AHW)
said reports that nurses in the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) have resigned out of
fear from the COVID-19 pandemic because health authorities fail to address their concerns along
with the still-rising number of COVID-19-infected healthcare workers. “Aside from those
resigning, many from our fellow health workers felt frustrated and demoralized. We have
witnessed the incompetence and neglect of DOH and Duterte administration in dealing with the
pandemic which has worsened the already deplorable health care workers’ conditions and public
health care situation,” AHW president Robert Mendoza said in a statement. On top of this call
for a better health care response and compensation, health workers across the country face
discrimination from our fellow citizens.

Failure to take care of our health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic will lead to
long-term consequences in the Philippine healthcare system. It will only worsen the preexisting
workforce shortages from geographic maldistribution, migration of health workers, and
underemployment. The delivery of essential health services at all levels may be paralyzed, which
is especially crucial as the country tries to recover from the socioeconomic consequences of the
pandemic.

During this global health crisis, we must not forget that health workers are people with
their own families and loved ones. They are individuals who have been reminded of their
sworn duty to serve when everybody else had been ordered to stay home. Entire hospitals can
be built in a matter of weeks, but training a health worker takes years of commitment and
sacrifice. If we truly believe that health workers are heroes, applause will never be enough.
Let us act, and not just watch them die at the frontlines.

DEMAND FOR MASS TESTING

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has
emphasized the crucial importance of testing. While social distancing is another strategy, it is
less effective than testing which limits the expansion of the disease. Speed is of the essence, and
three things are crucial: tracking down cases with symptoms; identifying their household cluster
and tracing people they’ve contacted; and quarantining them until they are no longer infectious.
“You can’t fight a virus if you don’t know where it is,” said the WHO director general, Tedros
Adhanom Ghebreyesus. However, DOH on March 20 felt that there was “no need for mass
testing yet,” a reminder of how they lightly handle this situation.

What infuriated the public was the fact that public officials and their families were
receiving special treatment and getting tested for Covid-19 even when they had no coronavirus
symptoms or have not been exposed to those infected. These officials would even get tested
inside their homes and receive their test results within 24 hours and had their tests down multiple
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times, while doctors, medical staff, and other citizens who had themselves tested because they
showed symptoms had to wait days for their results. In at least one case, a doctor – 34-year-old
cardiologist Israel Bactol – died from the disease before his test result came out.

Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, was among the legislators who tested positive for
COVID-19. He subsequently drew flak for violating quarantine protocols to visit his pregnant
wife in the hospital, putting all the medical staff at risk. The incident has warranted no probe nor
sanction from the authorities. President Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Christopher “Bong” Go
were also tested on March 12. According to Go, this was because “some cabinet members we
engage with regularly have been exposed to individuals who tested positive for Covid-19”.

This provoked the Filipino community in demanding fair treatment through Mass Testing
and condemning the acts of VIP Testing. The hashtags #FreeMassTestingNowPH and
#NoToVIPTesting are being advocated up to this day. However, supporters of the
Administration say that it is impossible to conduct mass testing, claiming it is “unrealistic.” They
immediately assume that when we say “mass” testing it is then equal to having every single
Filipino citizen tested when this is not what it actually means. Only slow-witted people will
actually think that it means “all”. Mass Testing is being advocated to urge the government to
conduct more testing than what is already being done because we cannot deny how our
country is falling short with the limited testing prepared by the DOH. It also further
illustrate who should be tested: frontline health workers, Persons Under Investigation (PUIs),
Persons Under Monitoring (PUM), and persons in areas with confirmed Covid-19 cases.

Obviously, the government’s approach in combating COVID-19 has been very reactive
and more in population control rather than giving stress to go testing in order to locate and
isolate the virus from spreading further. In fact the seemingly small number of COVID cases
including the number of deaths was due to unavailability of testing and validating the cases.
Some would call this situation as underreporting of cases because it did not really reflect the
actual health condition of the people.

In order to silence the loud voices from this advocacy, the government said that they will
be conducting mass testing last April 14 which will cover severe to critical cases and the
vulnerable population. However, we were only lied to as Health Secretary Francisco Duque III
admitted that no mass testing has ever been conducted in the country from the time an outbreak
of the coronavirus disease occurred.

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. That is why Mass Testing is
essential.

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 EDUCATION AMID THE PERILS OF COVID-19

As new modes of everyday interaction are made possible through online platforms,
education likewise shifted online. Academic institutions from both public and private prompted
to continue the last months of the second semester through online classes. It is perceived as a
remedy in order not to paralyze the flow of learning. However, this left a huge gap among
students and teachers, leaving those who have no access to internet connection left behind.

The intention is purposeful and with a conducive environment and proper guidelines,
online classes would be effective. However, with our current state and our countries weak
internet connectivity and lack of resources, online modes of learning will just further resurface
the digital divide evident in our educational sphere. Only those who have the resources to buy
gadgets and to get an internet connection in their homes are the ones who are privileged to
continue their learning despite the physical distance and yet even having the resources, online
classes still threatens our aim towards quality education.

During the first week of ECQ, I was doing well, I was able to accomplish some of my
requirements, I was even able to read books, and my mental state had not yet hampered me. But
after digesting everything that was happening to us, it became harder to focus making
homework. The anxiety that I had felt every time I watched the news or scrolled through social
media was already getting into me.

It was not because I was lazy or weak, it was because in this battle against Covid-19, we
are not only facing a possible transmission of the disease, we are also fighting the anxiety from
the idea of the pandemic, the terror of limited social interaction, the recklessness and
incompetence of public officials, we distress of shortage of basic necessities, and the fear of an
uncertain future. To still continue classes is like adding more fuel to the fire, our minds could
only handle so little.

That’s why when Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) shortened its semester and
conducted mass promotion, I had strong hopes that if one of the biggest private universities
understood the educational loopholes amid Covid-19, the maybe my university would also do the
same considering that our school had more underprivileged students.

In addition, my refusal against online classes was ignited as I see students across the
country suffer. I have classmates who would send me their homework through messages because
they had no laptops to type on Microsoft Word, I receive complains from students of different
colleges reporting their inconsiderate teachers –I could not just hide behind my phone and see
these people suffer. That is why I tried my best to lobby these concerns, we conducted surveys,
sent out letters to the administration, and voiced our concerns in social media. But not everyone
agreed with this idea.
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 In South Korea, two students tested positive for COVID-19 as 66 schools reopened. In
the Philippines, a 20 year-old student from Capiz died of a motorcycle accident on her way
home, while another 20-year-old student from Masbate climbed a mountain; both were searching
for a signal just to submit their academic requirements. In Japan, the students clamor that the
quality of classes dropped, making them feel meaningless through online education.

As we face abnormal situations, it should become a challenge to the administration to

create new mechanisms and develop new strategies for the welfare of everyone.

JUST STAY HOME OR JUST STAY QUIET?

If you would notice, most of what I’ve included in this paper are the undesirable
outcome of the government’s planning, their incompetence, and negligence of duty to the
Filipino community. It is hard to see anything good that has happened in the past few months.
The only good thing that one would notice is how people from all around the world have started
to speak up about injustice and oppression. People are now seeing the inequality that we are
experiencing and have become more vocal.

In the Philippines, we turn to bayanihan, a centuries-long tradition of helping hand-in-

hand whenever we are struck by a calamity. Collectively, our energies became much focused on
social media — a platform where we can exercise both free speech and social distancing. For
one, free speech has proven itself a useful tool in garnering donations. It allowed participation in
fund drives; the biggest one arguably being the one supported by The Office of The Vice
President, which has amassed more than PHP 50 million. This allowed for the purchase of
hundreds of thousands of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) sets, as well as thousands of
packed food meals for frontliners. Much of our stranded kababayans were also given help thanks
to frequent shares on Facebook Groups, which enabled local communities to reach out to them.
Tweaks and changes on the Enhanced Community Quarantine have also been put to place thanks
to frequent trends in social media, especially the hashtag, #MassTesting. Local Government
Units were also able to exchange successful campaigns such as mobile palengkes, lifting store
window hours, alternate grocery schedules, and many more through the clamour of their
constituents.

Freedom of expression is the overarching right on which freedom of the press is

anchored. However, in this time of the coronavirus, journalists are being called on to fight a
bigger battle as we face the twin perils of Duterte’s authoritarian rule and the pandemic. Netizens
with critical posts against the government were also hunted down by the administration. Among
those included the arrest of a film writer for her satirical message on Cebu and the coronavirus,
and the labor department’s threat to have a Filipino worker in Taiwan deported for her anti-
Duterte posts on Facebook are sending chills to the public.
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 As Antonio Carpio, retired Supreme Court senior associate justice and an authority on
constitutional law, wrote in his Inquirer column: “It is in times of grave crisis like the ongoing
pandemic that our freedom of expression is in danger of being sacrificed in the altar of public
order. It is timely to remind ourselves that we must defend our freedom of expression staunchly
as we are defending our lives against COVID-19.”

At present, our government continues to showcase their incompetence as they finally

modified the community quarantines in our country in order to recover our economy even when
we have not yet flattened the curve nor found a vaccine. This has caused more fear among
citizens. Seeing our present situation, it will take more than just social distancing to shield us
from this invisible enemy and unless our government owns up to their shortcomings, we will
continue to despair. But as citizens, we should not allow this to happen. Let us maximize our
capabilities and continue to balance our government and hold them accountable.

At this rate, if we don’t condemn them for their lack of action, it will not be the disease
that will kill us, it would be our own government.

References:
1 http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article52772#outil_sommaire
2 https://time.com/5791661/who-coronavirus-pandemic-declaration/
3 http://www.ndrrmc.gov.ph/attachments/article/4031/update_re_situational_report_no3_coronavirus_disease_2019_iss
ued_17_march_2020_12nn.pdf
4 https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/250842-timeline-novel-coronavirus-epidemic
5 https://cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/2020/5/14/health-workers-opinion.html
6 http://www.csc.gov.ph/phocadownload/MC2020/MC%20No.%2010,%20s.%202020.pdf
7 https://thediplomat.com/2020/05/the-philippines-pandemic-response-a-tragedy-of-errors/
8 https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1278855/duque-admits-no-covid-19-mass-testing-ever-conducted-since-outbreak
9 https://www.covid19.gov.ph/bayanihan-accomplishments-tracker/
10 https://cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/2020/6/1/academic-freeze-opinion.html
11 https://www.rappler.com/thought-leaders/259453-duterte-crushes-free-expression-coronavirus-pandemic
12 https://ph.asiatatler.com/life/opinion-freedom-of-speech-in-time-of-covid-19