COVID 19 and The Crisis in Communication in the Philippines

An Article Review

The nature of communication introduces us to the systematic process by which humans develop
and interpret meanings through interaction with symbols (Wood). Who would have believed that
throughout its history, whether it be visual, wired, wireless, IP Cloud, etc., we would be living in an age
of face masks and social distance? The process by which models of how people communicate evolve over
time. It's possible that what could have been linear before is now all over the place.
Written by Angelito P. Bautista Jr., general manager of Blue Chips Research and Consultancy
Co. and a Master's degree recipient in Communication Management from the Asian Institute of
Journalism and Communication at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, "COVID 19 and The
Crisis in Communication in the Philippines" is an opinion-editorial piece. Similar to Bautista's other
works, such as "Knowledge, attitude, and practice toward the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak
among selected employed people in the national capital region, Philippines" and "Teaching Media and
Information Literacy in Philippine Senior High Schools: Strategies Used and Challenges Faced by
Selected Teachers," the article presented here also focuses on the effects of the coronavirus disease in the
Philippines.
“The Philippines' COVID-19 Response: Securitizing the Pandemic and Disciplining the
Pasaway”, a study that agrees with Bautista's, shows that the public is still unsure of what is going on with
the health crisis (Hapal). The political language that framed the country's response as a war against the
virus, as discussed by Karl Hapal of the University of the Philippines Diliman's Department of
Community Development, has shaped the situation in which Filipinos communicate differently. In his
conclusion, he shares his thoughts on the use of fear and coercion in the fight against the health situation
that has reached pandemic levels. With this, he proposed taking the encoding component of the linear
communication model and manipulating it in a different way compared to pre-COVID communication
processes, which affect receivers as well as their method of decoding.
“This is proof of why communication is important in time of crisis,” Bautista writes as his article
challenges the government and its shortcomings in providing a commendable response system. He also
addresses the rise of digital crisis interaction, which, according to the World Health Organization (WHO),
shares the included increase of misinformation being amplified on digital platforms. The same study
delves into the fact that young people have a lower chance of contracting COVID-19 in the first place.
However, they’re still an important demographic in the context of this pandemic and have a stake in our
success in containing the virus with them spending the most time online, with daily interactions across an
average of five different social media sites (including Twitter, TikTok, WeChat, and Instagram) (WHO).
 There is a correlation between the effectiveness of communication regarding health risks and
hazards and the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable groups. An individual's personal history, cultural
norms, and level of exposure to danger should all factor into any virus preparedness strategy. Professor
Tricia Jones and her colleagues at the Klein College of Media and Communication have shown that the
outbreak is hastening the trend toward greater reliance on verbal communication among young people
that began with their heightened focus on media and technology (qtd. in Oputu).
Bautista explained that the manner in which the message is communicated is of greater
significance, despite the widespread belief that the medium constitutes the message (McLuhan). During
the course of the pandemic, many of the regular social conventions were suspended, altered, or
completely abandoned, which had a considerable impact on how humans interacted with one another. The
final point Bautista makes in the piece is that the government needs to improve since they are accountable
for the public's right to knowledge and the public's need for good communication.
 Works Cited

Bautista, Angelito P., Jr. “COVID 19 and the Crisis in Communication in the Philippines.” SHAPE-SEA,
SHAPESEA - Strengthening Human Rights and Peace Research and Education in
ASEAN/Southeast Asia, 6 Apr. 2020, http://shapesea.com/op-ed/covid-19/covid-19-and-the-
crisis-in-communication-in-the-philippines/.

Hapal, Karl. “The Philippines’ COVID-19 Response: Securitising the Pandemic and Disciplining the
Pasaway.” Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, vol. 40, no. 2, 2021, pp. 224–244,
doi:10.1177/1868103421994261.

McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. 1964.

Oputu, Edirin. “The Coronavirus Pandemic Has Made Communication More Important than Ever.”
Temple Now | News.temple.edu, 16 Sept. 2020,
https://news.temple.edu/news/2020-09-16/coronavirus-pandemic-has-made-communication-
more-important-ever.

“Social Media & COVID-19: A Global Study of Digital Crisis Interaction among Gen Z and
Millennials.” Who.int, https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/social-media-covid-
19-a-global-study-of-digital-crisis-interaction-among-gen-z-and-millennials. Accessed 29 Sept.
2022.

Wood, Julia. Communication Theories in Action: An Introduction. 3rd ed., Wadsworth Publishing, 2004.