Kasalo

Those who repatriated back to the Philippines got stranded in halfway houses and hotels for weeks because of delays in the processing of RT-PCR results and the government’s failure to anticipate the enormous volume of returning OFWs10,11 .

The government’s incoherent policies and the ensuing economic recession led some women, and more alarmingly, young girls, to sell their bodies to get them through everyday expenses. There have also been reported cases of students selling explicit photos and videos online and even engaging in prostitution to afford laptops and other learning tools12,13,14. A surge in signups among young Filipino women in the sugar dating platform, Sugarbook, was recorded at the height of the lockdown15 . OnlyFans, a popular site where people can earn money by selling nude content, saw the number of its users and content creators drastically increase during the pandemic16 .

The pandemic did not only cause distress to the students but the teachers as well. Teachers, who are mostly women and mothers too, were burdened with creating and delivering modules, transitioning to online classes, and orienting parents on how to teach their children at home17. The Department of Education’s mantra of “no student left

Infographic from Sugarbook behind” did not resonate well with the pandemic when the Department failed to recognize the need to increase the annual teaching allowance of teachers to compensate for the cost of internet connectivity and module printing. Teachers and school administrators have launched different donation drives to raise money for printers, inks, bond papers, and internet load. The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) demands to increase the Php3000 to Php5000 for teachers’ expenses for distance education had fallen to the deaf ears of DepEd18 .

The government thought that the shift to distant learning and online modules was a safer option for students and teachers alike. However, according to the US-based National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), cases of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC) in the Philippines rose by 264.6% or a total of 202,605 more reports during the lockdown compared to the number of cases reported in 201919 .

Sexual exploitation and abuse also happen to adults, especially to adult women. The United Nations (UN) even tagged violence against women as a “shadow pandemic.” The UP Population Institute estimated that by the end of 2020, “there will be an estimated 839,000 women who are married or who have been married at least once in their lives who would experience GBV during this pandemic.”20 To add fuel to the fire, another problem that the Duterte administration failed to address is the number of unplanned pregnancies. The Commission on Population and Development or POPCOM said that “the long-term lockdowns and disrupted family planning services due to the pandemic may lead to a rise in unplanned pregnancies and cause the population to swell at 111.1 million in 2021.”21

As if the pandemic is not disastrous enough for women and Filipinos in general, the Duterte administration proves to be a strong contender. This administration’s lack of priority and urgency in dealing with the health crisis is a disaster in itself. The Duterte administration also chose to intensify its crackdown on activists and critics during a pandemic, and it has directly affected women and mothers like Reina Mae Nasino and Amanda Echanis.

Reina Mae Nasino grieves for her child while surrounded by heavilyarmed police. Photo from Altermidya.

activists is not focused on capturing women, women are still in much more distress. Reina Mae Nasino was an activist and political prisoner who was accused of trumped-up charges22 . When she was imprisoned, she was also pregnant with her child, baby River. After giving birth, she was separated from her child, who soon died23. Baby River’s death was because the state deprived her of motherly care and attention. Reina Mae Nasino was only given three days by the court to grieve for her dead child in a move so cruel24 . During the procession to the cemetery, the police sped up the hearse, almost snatching baby River’s dead remains25 . The whole incident was a heartless and evil projection of macho-feudal domination and fascism. This scenario was repeated when Amanda Echanis, daughter of slain activist Randy Echanis, was also separated from her newborn baby26 .

The physical, socio-economic, and psychological detrimental effects of the pandemic on women are all established and backed up by research and sciencebased facts. All the government has to do is turn to credible sources and legitimate claims. The Duterte administration’s failure to recognize the merits of gender-sensitive policies and strategies in dealing with a health crisis resulted in a pandemic response that did not only sidelined women but also actively hurt them.

Our call is for the government to create avenues for women’s participation and representation in decision-making bodies. Our call is to reiterate that gender-blind policies can do the same harm as misogyny and sexism. Our call is for the IATF to turn to science and research-based steps in the creation of resolutions, guidelines and health protocols.

Politically motivated actions have no space in a health crisis.

1 Neumayer, E., and Plümper, T., 2007, ‘The Gendered Nature of Natural Disasters: The Impact of Catastrophic Events on the Gender Gap in Life Expectancy,’ Annals of the Association of American Geographers, vol. 97, no.3, pp. 551-566. https://doi.org/10.1111/ j.1467-8306.2007.00563.x 2 United Nations. Policy Brief: The impact of COVID-19 on Women. April 09, 2020. https://www.un.org/ sexualviolenceinconflict/wp-content/ uploads/2020/06/report/policy-brief-theimpact-of-covid-19-on-women/policybrief-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-womenen-1.pdf 3 Azer Parrocha. “Galvez named chief implementer of nat’l policy vs. Covid-19”. Philippine News Agency. March 26, 2020. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1097963 4 Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases. Resolution no. 15. Series of 2020. March 24, 2020.2. https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/ downloads/2020/05may/20200324-IATFRESO-15.pdf 5 Department of Labor and Employment. Labor Advisory no. 9, Series of 2020. March 4, 2020. https://www.dole. gov.ph/php_assets/uploads/2020/03/ Labor-Advisory-No.-09-20-Guidelineson-the-Implementation-of-FlexibleWork-Arrangements-as-RemedialMeasure-due-to-the-Ongoing-Outbreakof-Coronavirus-Disease-2019-COVID-19. pdf 6 Philippine Statistics Authority. Percent Distribution of Employed Persons by Sex, by Region and Major Industry Group. October 2019. https://psa.gov.ph/content/ employment-situation-october-2019 7 Philippine Statistics Authority. Employment Situation in October 2020. https://psa.gov.ph/content/employmentsituation-october-2020