"Let’s not even talk about local officials turning into petty tyrants."
"Let’s not even talk about local officials turning into petty tyrants."
Punish everyone for government's rank failure to adequately address the COVID-19 pandemic.
That's the long and short of President Rodrigo Duterte's latest rambling and incoherent after-midnight press conference where he threatened to impose even more draconian measures reminiscent of martial law in the 1970s to deal with what he perceives as violations of already stringent and stifling rules under the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon and other areas.
It's bad enough that the near-total nationwide lockdown, which started March 15 and has been extended to April 30, was imposed without adequate preparations on the part of the government to respond to a mainly public health emergency with commensurate medical interventions. Instead, it relied mainly on the police and local governments to enforce quarantine measures such as curfew and social distancing.
It was only later on that the government moved to set up more isolation facilities for suspected and probable virus carriers. This should have been done as early as February.
One takeaway from recent developments is that we have a health care system that's woefully inadequate, understaffed and under-budgeted. Our Department of Health and public hospitals are simply overburdened in coping with the exponential rise in COVID-19 cases despite the best efforts of medical frontliners—doctors, nurses, medical technicians and utility personnel—to cope with the crisis. The lack of adequate test kits, personal protective equipment and even transportation for health workers shows how the government has been ill-prepared to deal with a grave public health crisis.
President Duterte's threat to call on the military and the police to prepare for martial law-era restrictions, including, presumably, the prospect of indiscriminate arrest and indefinite detention of those violating lockdown rules, such as curfew and social distancing, will only open the floodgates to more human rights violations that we have experienced under this administration's war on illegal drugs.
I believe that the longer the national government keeps the ECQ, the longer it demonstrates its failure to address a grave public health concern. The extension of the lockdown and threatened resort to more draconian measures are unnecessary given their adverse impact on an already battered economy.
The Enhanced Community Quarantine or total lockdown in the whole of Luzon that's supposed to end on April 30 should be lifted. Our people, particularly the poor, have already suffered enough from the loss of jobs and livelihood opportunities.
Temporary lockdowns may be necessary in certain areas where there's a big number of suspected and probable carriers, but a big burden in communities where authorities do not even know the actual extent of COVID-19 incidence.
Let's not even talk about local officials turning into petty tyrants implementing policies that do not really address the public health crisis such as inflicting cruel punishment for violations of curfew and social distancing regulations, and severely limiting the access of non-residents to buy food and other daily necessities to only one day in barangays with public markets. What happens to residents of barangays without public markets? Where will they buy food?
The Luzon-wide lockdown, with the attendant prohibition of all modes of public transportation, near-total closure of all business firms except those establishments engaged in essential services such as food outlets, pharmacies and banks, has made the economy grind to a halt.
We fully support the moves to urge the national government to lift the Luzon-wide lockdown by April 30 and gradually return to normalcy even as measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak are strengthened.
While at this, we agree with the recommendation of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry for government to consider public transportation as an essential industry and therefore exempt from undue delay in checkpoints.
The PCCI is correct: Restrictions in the movement of goods have become problematic for the supply chain, despite the exemptions listed during the ECQ.
If the government decides to partially lift the quarantine in Luzon, PCCI recommends that public transportation be allowed to operate, while still observing social distancing.
“Tight control over the movement of goods has caused delays and cancellations in deliveries and affected the supply of essential commodities in some areas of the country…For companies that were allowed to continue their operations amid the ECQ, restrictions on public transportation have disrupted the mobility of workers and posed additional costs to employers,” the PCCI said.
We agree completely.
ernhil@yahoo.com
