David, Josh Michael G.

David
BSLM 1A
GE - Purposive Communication

Enhanced Community Quarantine: Practical or A Joke?

Right now in the Philippines, with the current pandemic known as Covid-19, or
Coronavirus, everyone is asked by the governments to stay locked indoors for the foreseeable
future, and with limited markets and stores open, only a select few from the household may
leave outside for restocking, as to limit chances of spreading the virus around. This is called the
Enhanced Community Quarantine, and it has been a debate among the Filipino people whether
or not it is really helping with quelling the pandemic’s rising number of cases. In my case, it
should be effective, but with the way the government is acting, and how they are dealing with
said issue, it is not going smoothly as it should.

The first thing to point out here is the mindset of most of these government officials, how
well they are tackling the situation head-on: They’re not. Or maybe they are, but the main thing
that a community needs to know is the constant reassurance of their safety during these times,
while having the proof to back it up. It is comforting to know that some mayors in areas such as
Iloilo, Pasig, Laguna, and Cavite have taken it upon themselves to remedy the situation in their
own ways, as well as the VP providing much needed support for our frontliners. But the other
mayors, as well as most senators, are just flat out missing, doing the bare minimum, or even
properly follow their own regulations that they put out. Delivering relief goods “worth P2 500”
when they have been computed to be around P250 at minimum,12 and a Senator who claims to
be a “problem solver”3 when in fact, he seemed to have been quite a problem starter these past
few days.4 Without any clear and concrete plans, and the President recently requesting for

1
https://www.rappler.com/nation/255043-quezon-city-government-provides-weeks-worth-food-families-cor
onavirus-luzon-lockdown
2
https://twitter.com/mrfrankbaraan/status/1242062876506050561
3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsxEJR1H9OA
4
https://www.msn.com/en-ph/news/national/timeline-koko-pimentel-repeatedly-broke-quarantine-despite-s
ymptoms-covid-19-test/ar-BB11JnQq?li=BBr8zL6
‘emergency powers’ and going ghost almost immediately after attaining it, the whole Filipino
community is left in the dark and in disarray, worried about the coming days.5

There also seems to be some sort of ‘prioritization on hierarchies’, if you will, wherein the
frontliners and health workers, market vendors and food delivery people are risking their lives
out there, but are not being properly accommodated, as well as the poor without homes are
being treated unfairly and being taken into custody, while those in power get to have their
privileges. The government officials are also the first in line in getting checked for the virus, and
we’re left with ourselves waiting to get checked until we may develop symptoms. It has been
proven that there have been cases of Coronavirus in people without even showing any
symptoms, and it has confirmed to be the case in several countries6; That's a scary thought for a
country such as ours, that has not been mass tested, in that the 1300+ confirmed cases may
just be a fraction of what it actually is, and that we may have the virus within ourselves and
infect our loved ones inside our own quarantine areas, without us even knowing. It is not
reassuring to have 1000+ cases compared to other countries, it is actually a show of
incompetence on the higher-ups who only think about themselves, and just throws all of this
Enhanced Community Quarantine on its head.

Just a quick note that all of this is just speculation on my end, based on what I’ve seen
and read with regards to this worldwide pandemic, and should be taken with a grain of salt. With
that being said, this whole paper is just an overview of the government’s incompetence shining
throughout the whole country. Just goes to show that this Community Quarantine they imposed,
isn’t looking so enhanced after all.

5
https://www.interaksyon.com/politics-issues/2020/03/25/164999/dutertes-latest-covid-19-national-addres
s-caught-filipinos-off-guard-heres-why/
6
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/people-with-mild-or-no-symptoms-could-be-spreading-covid-1
9/