Republic of the Philippines

PALAWAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Tiniguiban Heights, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan
Tel. No.: +6348-433-2379 • Fax No.: +6348-433-5303
Email: psu_ph@yahoo.com • Website: psu.palawan.edu.ph

GRADUATE SCHOOL

CONCEPT PROPOSAL
Date Submitted: Revision No.:

Note: This form is a guide for the graduate student to follow when submitting a concept proposal. This must be submitted
in three (3) copies to the Graduate School and must contain all the information herein required.

WORKING TITLE

TAGBANUA PEOPLE’S RESPONSE TO NATIONAL GOVERNMENT PREVENTIVE

MEASURES AMIDST COVID-19: IMPLICATIONS ON RESILIENCE

– Marjorie G. Dela Torre, MAEd-Social Sciences Major

INTRODUCTION

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered

coronavirus (World Health Organization, 2020). To mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on societies,
health systems and economies, countries have adopted non-pharmacological preventive practices such
as ‘spatial’ or ‘social’ distancing, the use of protective masks, and handwashing; these have been
widely implemented (Vieira, C.M. et. al. 2020). In the Philippines, the national government –
Department of Health (DOH), to be specific, released preventive measures to fight the virus like
practicing of frequent and proper handwashing, one (1) meter social distancing, wearing of face
shield, using alcohol, and staying at home/community lockdown. In this pandemic, no one is
exempted to get infected by the said virus but there are people who were the most vulnerable.
According to Summers, et. al. (2018) as cited by Tamara, et.al. (2020) every person on Earth has been
affected in some way by the coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) pandemic. However, there is a marked
inequity in the impact and threat of the disease for the 370 million Indigenous Peoples worldwide.
Indigenous Community is one of the vulnerable groups in the time of this pandemic, even without the
said pandemic, this group of people already experiencing lots of struggles when it comes to the
preventive measures to avoid certain disease.

Nuorgam, A. (2020), Chair of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues,
states that, we urge Member States and the international community to include the specific needs and
priorities of indigenous peoples in addressing the global outbreak of COVID 19. United Nations (UN)
and World Health Organization (WHO) provide specific guidelines on how to handle the Indigenous
community amid COVID-19. According to United Nations, Department of Economic and Social
Affairs Indigenous Peoples (2020), the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic poses a grave health threat
to Indigenous peoples around the world. Indigenous communities already experiencing poor access to
healthcare, significantly higher rates of communicable and non-communicable diseases, lack of
access to essential services, sanitation, and other key preventive measures, such as clean water, soap,
disinfectant, etc. In addition, during pandemics, Indigenous Peoples suffer higher infection rates, and
more severe symptoms and death than the general population because of the powerful forces of the
social and cultural determinants of health and lack of political power. Furthermore, indigenous
peoples are particularly vulnerable to pandemics, as they have shown little resistance to respiratory
illnesses in the past.10 Infectious diseases, like dengue fever and malaria have ravaged indigenous

PSU-GS.ConceptProposal
 Republic of the Philippines
PALAWAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Tiniguiban Heights, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan
Tel. No.: +6348-433-2379 • Fax No.: +6348-433-5303
Email: psu_ph@yahoo.com • Website: psu.palawan.edu.ph

GRADUATE SCHOOL

communities for decades. Many indigenous peoples have experienced reduced immunity due to
illnesses as benign as the common cold. In the Philippine setting (Degawan, M. 2020) states that,
Indigenous Peoples are facing particularly challenging times due to some basic facts including the
susceptibility of Indigenous communities to infectious diseases due to their lower immunity and, their
lack of, or limited access to information, among others.

Tagbanua is one of the indigenous groups in Palawan since the pre-colonial, they can be
mainly found in the municipalities of Aborlan, Quezon, Calamians Islands, Baras Coast, Busuanga
Island, Coron Island, in some parts of El Nido, and even in Puerto Princesa City. Despite the
implementation of the different preventive measures to contain the virus in the Province, the
provincial government of Palawan did not release specific protocols on how these indigenous people
including the Tagbanua people will response to the pandemic. In the Philippine context, there were no
provisions yet when it comes to the welfare of the Indigenous community. Now, more than ever,
governments worldwide should support indigenous peoples to implement their own plans to protect
their communities and participate in the elaboration of nationwide initiatives to ensure these do not
discriminate against them (Philippine News Agency, 2020). Again, Indigenous community is one of
the most vulnerable group in this time of pandemic, they should be included in the plans with regards
to the prevention of the said virus, the government should take the full responsibility and recognize
the indigenous people in policy-making. According to the Department of Economic and Social
Affairs of United Nations (2020), the government should be responsible in the following: prepare
public service announcements messages, such as on hygiene, physical distance, quarantine and
prevention, in cooperation with indigenous peoples, in indigenous languages; making specific efforts
to improve information technology, and other infrastructure, to ensure that all people, including
indigenous peoples have access to information; inclusion of culturally appropriate responses and
traditional indigenous health-care practitioners, training them in all the relevant measures and use of
equipment; and inclusion of indigenous peoples’ representatives, leaders and traditional authorities in
emergency and health entities in their communities, overseeing responses to the COVID19 pandemic.
Indigenous peoples should be included in both responses to the pandemic as well as to its
repercussions.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

This study aims to determine the response of the Tagbanua people residing in Sitio Daan, Barangay
Apurawan, Aborlan, Palawan to the national government preventive measures amidst COVID-19.
Specifically, it seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What are the response of the Tagbanua people residing in Sitio Daan, Barangay Apurawan,
Aborlan, Palawan to the national government’s preventive measures amidst COVID-19 in
terms of:
a. social distancing;
b. proper handwashing;
c. using of disinfectants;
d. wearing of face shield; and
e. community lockdown?

PSU-GS.ConceptProposal
 Republic of the Philippines
PALAWAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Tiniguiban Heights, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan
Tel. No.: +6348-433-2379 • Fax No.: +6348-433-5303
Email: psu_ph@yahoo.com • Website: psu.palawan.edu.ph

GRADUATE SCHOOL

2. What is/are the factor/s that affect/s the response of the participants amidst COVID-19
preventive measures?
3. How does the Tagbanua people perceive the preventive measures of the national government
amidst COVID-19?

METHODOLOGY

Research Design
The researcher will use descriptive and a qualitative design to determine the response of Tagbanua
residing in Sitio Daan, Barangay Apurawan, Aborlan, Palawan to the national government preventive
measures amidst COVID-19.

Respondents of the Study

The respondents of this study are the Tagbanua people residing in Sitio Daan, Barangay Apurawan,
Aborlan, Palawan.

Data Collection
The data will be gathered through participant observation, focus group discussion, individual
interview, and questionnaire to obtain the rich and detailed data with regards to the response of the
participants to the national government’s preventive measures amidst the pandemic.

Ethical Issues
The researcher will secure the inform consent of the participants and the confidentiality of all the data
that will be collected to them.

REFERENCES

Vieira, C. M. (2020). COVID-19: The Forgotten Priorities of the Pandemic. Maturitas Journal, 136,
38-41. Retrieved from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378512220302346

Wade, L. (2020). An Unequal Blow: In Past Pandemics People on the Margins Suffered the Most.
AAAS, 368(6492), 700-703. Retrieved from: https://www.academia.edu/43084028/2020-
_An_unequal_Blow_In_past_pandemics_people_on_the_margins_suffered_the_most

Roy, D. et. al. (2020). Study of Knowledge, Attitude, Anxiety & Perceived Mental Healthcare Need
in Indian Population During COVID-19 Pandemic. Asian Journal of Psychiatry 51(102083), 2-6.
Retrieved from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876201820301945

Power, T. et. al (2020). COVID‐19 and Indigenous Peoples: An Imperative for Action.
Retrieved from: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jocn.15320

Green, D.O. (2020, April 24). Why We Need to Adopt an Intersectional Approach in a Global
Pandemic. Ryerson Today, Research News. Retrieved from: https://www.ryerson.ca/news-
events/news/2020/04/why-we-need-to-adopt-an-intersectional-approach-in-a-global-pandemic/
Philippine News Agency (2020). Indigenous people devastated by Covid-19: UN Expert. Retrieved

PSU-GS.ConceptProposal
 Republic of the Philippines
PALAWAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Tiniguiban Heights, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan
Tel. No.: +6348-433-2379 • Fax No.: +6348-433-5303
Email: psu_ph@yahoo.com • Website: psu.palawan.edu.ph

GRADUATE SCHOOL

from: https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1103291

World Health Organization, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2020). Indigenous Peoples
& the Covid-19 Pandemic: Considerations. Retrieved from:
https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-
content/uploads/sites/19/2020/04/COVID19_IP_considerations.pdf

Strengthening Preparedness for COVID-19 in Cities and other Urban Settings: Interim Guidance for
Local Authorities. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020 (WHO/2019-nCoV/ Urban
Preparedness/2020.1). License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO. Retrieved from:
https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:wYoGAooest4J:
https://apps.who.int/iris/rest/bitstreams/1275991/retrieve+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ph

PSU-GS.ConceptProposal