Philippines in the Midst of the Pandemic

Every person’s habitual way of living was disrupted by a new strain of coronavirus. The
virus was first discovered in an outbreak in Wuhan, China, in December 19, 2020. The virus is
highly transmissible and if a person gets infected with COVID-19 they usually experience fever,
tiredness, and dry cough. Most people infected with the virus can recover on their own, the case
only becomes alarming when a person infected gets trouble breathing. The Philippines has
224,000 estimated COVID-19 cases, with 2042 daily confirmed cases. Despite being an
archipelago that is surrounded by water, the Philippines ranked first in South-East Asia, ranked
9th in Asia and ranked 22nd in the world with most COVID-19 cases.

The first three identified COVID-19 cases in the Philippines was not from the country
and they are not even Filipino. The first case occurred on January 30, 2020. The diagnosed
patient was a 38-year-old Chinese woman that came from Hong Kong on January 1, she was
confined at San Lazaro Hospital in Metro Manila. On February 1, a 44-year-old Chinese male
who was the companion of the first infected person in the Philippines became the second case of
the country. On February 5, the 60-year-old Chinese woman who came from Hong Kong became
the third case of the Philippines. The country refused to implement a travel ban going to the
Philippines despite receiving the first three cases from outside the country.

January 30, 2020, the RITM (Research Institute of Tropical Medicine) succeeded in
gaining the capacity to conduct confirmatory tests for COVID-19 in response to the unfolding of
suspected COVID-19 cases. On February 1, the Philippines became the first country besides
China to have a record of confirmed death from the disease. On March 7, the first local
transmission of the virus was confirmed after getting zero cases over a month. After that, the
virus incessantly spread in the country.

On March 15, the government implemented lockdowns known as community quarantines

throughout the country to prevent further growth of COVID-19 cases. Luzon, being the top
contributors of the country’s confirmed cases was held under Enhance Community Quarantine,
wherein, people are restricted to go outside except for necessity reasons, essential works, and
health circumstances. As the country continues to undergo through lockdowns, the country’s
economy downgrades little by little. With low income occurring in the country, the Philippines’
debt rose to 8.6 trillion pesos to suffice the country’s expenses to suppress the pandemic’s effect
and other factors like giving financial support for the Filipino families and food being distributed
by the government and other private organizations or companies throughout the country.
Although the country is in the midst of battling the global pandemic, infrastructure and military
expenses remain the top destination of the loaned money.

The implementation of the strict quarantine measures in the country began to loosen up
on June 1, which is the alleged reason for the sudden rise of the confirmed COVID-19 cases in
the Philippines. With more people returning to their past work and endeavors, they find it hard to
continue since public transportation in the country lessens because of the strict preventive
measures made by the government. The jeepneys’ natural capacity is being divided for social
distancing, tricycles are prohibited despite having the possibility of being a contactless, and the
implementation of motorcycle barrier despite husband and wives living in the same roof. The
official start of classes is postponed for the preparation of fully the online-based education, but
failed since many are struggling to keep up with online-based education because of the factors
like shortage of funds for to access Wi-Fi or data connection and poor internet performance of
the country.

Regardless of making people all over the world suffer, especially the marginalized, the
COVID-19 pandemic gave us the benefit of having a break and time for ourselves. The pandemic
gave us time to think, rediscover ourselves and acknowledging our dark side and deep secrets; it
even grants us to discover the dark secrets and lies of others. For instance, the PhilHealth
controversy where those who are leading the company are allegedly involved in corruption. The
fact that most of the authority in the public health-based company are retired military makes it
suspicious. The pandemic showed us how the majority of the authority fails to lead the country,
conducting selfish-acts and being unable to help those who needed it the most. After the
pandemic, our growth will show because people matured, gained knowledge and ready to make
things right. It is not going to be the same as the past, those who are granted with power that does
not deserve it will be replaced and the future will be led by corruption-immune leaders because
they themselves recognize the feeling of an unjust execution of authority and power.