COVID TRENDS: CORRUPTION &

COVID-19 RESPONSE
THESIS STATEMENT
'The full story of the Philippine response to COVID-19 remains to
be told, but the incompetence, impunity, and the sufferance of integrity
will surely be a central part' Is there a link between a country’s level of
corruption and how it responds to the pandemic? Yes, there is, and the
causes and effects are evident.

PRO-ARGUMENT I
The COVID-19 pandemic gives rise to very significant risks of
corruption. Massive resources mobilized to respond to the health and
economic crises create opportunities for corruption, while many
corruption prevention and enforcement mechanisms are suspended due
to the emergency. This corruption risk is a rule of law problem in itself.
It also compromises the pandemic response, undermining much-needed
trust in public institutions, squandering supplies and resources, and
impeding their flow to those in need.
More than a year after the onset of the virus, regulations are as
senseless as they can get. A list will include the requirement of face
masks even in wide, open spaces, and face shields for joggers and
bikers; the imposition of a shield for back riders on motorcycles as a
consequence of the foisting of face shields (the only country in the
galaxy to do so) on everyone; the constricting of public transportation
without provisions for alternatives; the monthly last-minute
announcement on the quarantine status; among others. Lately, the
overturning by the President of task force resolutions, the determination
of quarantine status in Metro Manila by majority vote of politicians, and
the task force's opening of arcades and cinemas but not schools, add to
the catalog.
 Remember – we entered the pandemic with corruption in
PhilHealth, and the pastillas scheme in the Bureau of Immigration, and
the wholesale drug smuggling in the Bureau of Customs. Why should
the onset of a virus suddenly cleanse the government of filth?

PRO-ARGUMENT II
Corruption can be a particularly acute problem in the public health
sector, affecting both the quality and quantity of health care. In a 2019
study, Transparency International reported that “in many countries, deep
structural problems drive frontline healthcare workers to absent
themselves from work, solicit gifts and extort bribes from patients, steal
medicines, and abuse their positions of power in a variety of other ways,
usually without facing any consequences.
Against this backdrop, the coronavirus presents a “perfect storm”
for corruption. Massive resources are being rushed to address both the
health crisis and its economic side effects, while procurement oversight
and enforcement efforts are relaxed or diminished by the exigencies of
the crisis and social distancing.

PRO ARGUMENT III

The urgency of responding to the pandemic is cited by some as a
reason to ease regulatory oversight and relax procurement rules designed
to curb corruption. Ironically, as has been learned in past humanitarian
crises, such shortcuts will backfire as corruption undermines efforts to
respond to the emergency by wasting and diverting needed resources
and supplies.
As of today, the Philippines has borrowed and loaned, budgeted,
and allocated the grand total of one trillion pesos (P1,000,000,000,000)
in the name of corona. Assuming the cost of a two-dose vaccine is on the
high side of P5,000, multiplied by the total population of 120 million
Filipinos, it only comes up to 6 hundred billion pesos
(Php600,000,000,000). We should all be vaccinated for free. With so
many zeroes, where is the money?
 Yet even when the private sector takes the initiative to secure
vaccines, the government steps in to require that for each dose given to
their employees, another must be donated to the government. This is
purely an unjust taking. The justification is that these vaccines do not yet
have the full government approval. The response is to quickly and
carefully approve them especially if they have been approved elsewhere
or are being used in the inoculation programs of several other countries.

COUNTER-ARGUMENT & REFUTATION

The government already did something that has tremendously
stymied the spread of the virus and kept the crisis under control: the
ECQ. In that regard, it isn't a failure. It could have been implemented far
more effectively, with better crisis response, but that's the best we can do
given the fundamental flaws that beset our government and the endemic
corruption that made our health sector ill-prepared for a crisis this scale.
But I would assign blame to the DOH for its failure to act with due
diligence for failing to formally inform the public on the necessary
precautionary steps to protect themselves and others from the virus and
especially for when Sec. Duque quoted that "we don't need to wear face
masks and declare a lockdown".
As for the people, I hear reports every day of wet markets still
being jam-packed with people who are unwilling to uphold social
distancing. You know, the usual Filipino stubbornness, so much of the
blame can be pinned on them too.
In short, you can blame previous governments for their lack of
preparation by addressing the shortfall of facilities and equipment, the
current government for failing to close our borders to all nationalities
earlier and to educate the public on what precautions to take against
COVID through a "mass information campaign", and the people for
unnecessarily flouting the ECQ and social distancing.
Last February 11, more than half of Filipinos participated in the
ASEAN Studies Centre survey thumb down the Duterte government's
response to the COVID-19 crisis.
 Out of all Southeast Asians, Filipinos are most disapproving of
their government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a
study by the ASEAN Studies Centre, a research institute focused on the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The findings are part of the thinktank's survey report, "The State
of Southeast Asia: 2021," which involved responses of 1,032
respondents from all 10 ASEAN countries, through an online survey
conducted from November 18, 2020 to January 10, 2021.
The survey found that 17.9% of Filipinos "strongly disapprove" of
the Duterte government's pandemic response – the highest strong
disapproval rating among Southeast Asian countries.
Combined with the percentage of Filipino respondents who
"disapprove" of the government handling, 35.8%, a total of 53.7% of
Filipinos asked by the research group thumb down the Duterte
administration's response to the health crisis.

CONCLUSION
The pandemic has highlighted a number of serious vulnerabilities,
including those caused by corruption. In a global pandemic, corruption
impedes life-saving resources from reaching people in need. Moreover,
it undermines the trust in institutions that is so critical to an effective
collective response to such a crisis. As we rebuild toward societies that
can be more resilient in the face of the next global challenge, combating
corruption—particularly in the health sector— should be a top priority.

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MODULE 1 - LET’S CREATE

GRACIE MAE MANUEL
10 – EMERALD
MRS. ANITALINDA ARIAS