Name: Atasha Nicole G.

Bahande Grade and Section: 11- Maxwell

Date: June 14, 2021 Score:_____________________

Philippines in the time of COVID-19

(Critique Paper)

The article, “The COVID-19 pandemic is also an urban planning issue – especially in
Manila,” by Ragene Andrea L. Palma on March 18, 2020, seeks to address how COVID-19 has
an impact on Manila for urban planning, design, and management. The COVID-19 pandemic has
underlined the importance of combining diverse concerns in urban planning, including
infrastructure, environment, economic activities, and places to bring communities together in our
cities, now more than ever.

Palma presented the issues regarding the impact of COVID-19 on the city of Manila. The
article stated that, as the pandemic started and imposing quarantine ahead of its implementation
has resulted in many citizens going to bus terminals out of necessity and fear of being stranded.
At the same time, Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) rushed to airports, resulting that the in and
out of the borders are not acting according to social distancing. Another point that the author
noted is the shutdown of public transport operations, which caused the citizens who belong to the
lower socioeconomic class could not afford transportation. In contrast, those citizens who can
afford private vehicles have become a luxury. Next, the development of gated towers and
subdivisions in the city can disconnect the layout of the surrounding street pattern resulting in
overpopulation and dangerous annexed stories. Furthermore, Palma stated that a team of
knowledge-based professionals had remedied the shortcomings that the government has
neglected to address in response to COVID-19. This team of professionals has provided an easy-
build sanitation tent, case monitoring platform, and self-assessment tool, proving that Filipino
Bayanihan still exists in this modern age.

The author discussed an important topic since COVID-19 is a pandemic that threatens all
of us. The presence of hotspots in a single barrio raises the risk to the whole metropolitan region.
This pandemic has underlined the need for a more progressive city and national administration.
Urban management is critical for efficient and effective service delivery, particularly ensuring
that all residents have equitable access to rapid and coordinated response efforts during crises
and disasters. The approach and the information given by this article are essential. They can be
helpful to the country to allow the local governments and private sectors to take action to achieve
sustainable development. However, in the beginning, the author started to state the rage that was
expressed by the Filipinos about the government's response about the community quarantine for
those citizens who are thriving in the city. This shows that the government lacks basic
knowledge of how people live because people work nearby since location is critical in urban
economics.

The global COVID-19 pandemic's effects are still being assessed, but this disaster will
leave a physical and social imprint on cities that will continue for years. As the COVID-19
pandemic keeps changing people's lives and ways of life worldwide, it is becoming evident that
changes encompassing both physical and institutional infrastructure are necessary. One of the
essential topics that must be discussed and be addressed is how COVID-19 will affect where
people reside. Most significantly for the cities that are the center of environmental changes are
vulnerable to the transmission of this contagious virus, coronavirus. Based on the article stated
by Palma, "Attributes of the physical space, particularly for a human scale, also have potential in
addressing the response to the coronavirus pandemic. Sadly, these are almost always not
acknowledged in Philippine planning and are therefore not utilized," Palma successfully
achieved her intended goal because, according to Kaden (2020), urban planners should also
assess what economic factors might hinder the city's growth. The population monitoring would
also help keep track of the population patterns to predict the amount of space required for future
buildings.

The majority of people live in cities, and global urbanization is continuing. Cities have
long been recognized as society's primary source of innovation and economic production while
simultaneously being a significant source of pollution. Public transportation in Metro Manila
came to a halt as the city was placed under Enhanced Community Quarantine. The operation of
jeepneys, tricycles, buses, and trains was forbidden. In order to get to the hospital, frontliners
even walk long distances or even rent bikes. Due to the implementation of social distancing,
public transportation could not be restored because it is a severe obstacle to small public
operators such as jeepneys and tricycles since they can only cater to a few passengers. Palma
well presented this factor that due to the shutdown of public transport operations, the people are
now stuck with no options. In contrast, people who own private vehicles are still permitted to
travel, making it a "pure privilege" rather than a right. Transportation has become a luxury that
even an ordinary Filipino cannot afford in this time and age. Weak urban transportation is
limiting city economic production since people's mobility options are limited in the Philippines.
For example, the expansion of urban transportation competes directly with the rise of private
vehicles on Manila's crowded road network.

The pandemic has uncovered the weaknesses in our physical and institutional
infrastructure, which should be addressed as soon as possible before the next pandemic occurs.
The article, “The COVID-19 pandemic is also an urban planning issue – especially in Manila,”
by Ragene Andrea L. Palma, is helpful to anyone and must read this article to be knowledgeable
about the use and importance of urban planning, especially that we experienced this global
pandemic. Having proper planning would help the city develop the land, infrastructure,
transportation, communications, distribution networks, and accessibility. Although the first
paragraph or the introduction of the article is not that clear at first because when reading the title,
it was about COVID-19 can also be an urban planning issue. In the first paragraph, it talked
about the jobs of the citizens. A new and more concise introduction is needed to grasp the
intention of the author entirely. It is recommended that the author should have explained the
meaning of urban planning and how it affects the city or the country if we have concrete urban
planning. With this, the readers will fully understand and will encourage them to read the entire
article. Nevertheless, the article was well-written with an important message. Let this be an eye-
opener to the local government, national government, private sectors, and the Filipinos. We have
been allowed to make our cities more resilient and robust by prioritizing public health,
transportation, and public space decisions.

References:
 Kaden EagleView. (2020, January 29). 5 Key Factors in Urban Planning. EagleView US.
https://www.eagleview.com/newsroom/2016/08/5-key-factors-in-urban-planning/