Philippine Collegian Tomo 97 Special COVID-19 Issue

PHILIPPINE

COLLEGIAN

The Official Weekly Student Publication of the University of the Philippines Diliman

Volume 97 • 48 pages Special COVID-19 Issue Monday, 8 June 2020

#SolusyongMedikalHindiMilitar

Shot to Pieces www.phkule.org

@phkule

phkule@gmail.com

EDITOR’S NOTE

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN The Official Weekly Student Publication of the University of the Philippines Diliman

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Beatrice P. Puente ASSOCIATE EDITOR Marvin Joseph E. Ang FEATURES EDITOR Richard C. Cornelio KULTURA EDITOR Sheila Ann T. Abarra GUEST EDITORS Sanny Boy D. Afable Chester D. Higuit Elizabeth D. Magpantay Dylan P. Reyes

DELUSIONS AND DIVERSIONS With great promise comes even greater power. The longevity of regimes, populists think, hinges on how well they make people believe their lies, all while they consolidate power into their own hands.

We need not look far to prove this point. Even as the country grapples with the COVID-19 crisis, President Rodrigo Duterte continues to make one flimsy pronouncement after another without thinking about the repercussions his words entail.

His weekly speeches, if they

In the face of his selfserving agenda, his self-praises and poorly crafted policies, the media should take the lead in keeping authorities in check, in speaking truth to power, in making the people’s voices heard.

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have any significance at all, are meant to appeal to people’s sensibilities, in hopes of winning their sympathy and, eventually, distracting them from important matters they need to know about.

This came as no surprise.

Months before COVID-19 cases rose exponentially, the president had just shrugged off the threat of what would later be declared a global pandemic.

Since the beginning, we have precisely known there is nothing to expect. That the president treats a public health concern as an opportunity to militarize the country is problematic enough, but more and more the public has still had to put up with officials who mislead, spread misinformation, and lay out diversions—to devastating consequences.

But while Duterte wants us to believe his horrifying lies, the independent press must wrest from him the control of the narrative. Journalists must speak truths that the government would rather set aside just to save face.

This is exactly where the Collegian situates itself in the middle of the crisis. We refuse to give space to any more of the president’s theatrics, as we strive to seek the voices that matter the most.

#SolusyongMedikalHindiMilitar

We tell the stories of health workers who stand on the frontlines of this public health emergency and how the government’s misguided priorities have left them suffering. Hospitals are now hobbling due to understaffing and lack of equipment, both of which ultimately stem from state neglect.

In this special issue, we also yield the stage to the narratives of the urban poor who were locked up for allegedly violating quarantine rules, even though they were only trying to provide for their families. Those who wanted to help them out were likewise apprehended, proving that human rights violations have become unrelenting to the oppressed, but not to the president’s cohorts.

Workers in both urban and rural areas bear the brunt of the crisis, as thousands have been laid off due to halted operations of many businesses. This year’s observance of Labor Day, as in the previous years, only served as a reminder that workers remain exploited nationwide, as the president’s promise to end contractualization is still far from reality.

Now that they are left to fend for themselves as they teeter on economic insecurity, the Collegian deems it important to shed light on their plight and echo their calls for systemic change in the workplace.

Lives are being laid waste and communities ripped apart, and still the president claims that he is unbothered by the rising cases

of COVID-19 infections. It is disconcerting how he even brags about, instead of rectifying, the government’s faults.

It all points to Duterte’s lack of political will, which has led to the compromised safety and untold deaths of hundreds of Filipinos. However hard Duterte tries to cover up his administration’s messes, he can no longer gloss over his weakness and ineptitude.

If anything, he must be remembered in history as the leader who dragged us down into a democratic mire. Rather than arresting the crisis headon, he has instead weaponized this emergency to quash dissent and blame the very people he has stripped of basic liberties for all that has so far gone more horribly wrong.

The pandemic may be far from over, but the people should not have to suffer this much any longer. Yet we can count on the president to prolong and exploit this crisis as an opportunity to wield greater power. In the face of his self-serving agenda, his self-praises and poorly crafted policies, the media should take the lead in keeping authorities in check, in speaking truth to power, in making the people’s voices heard.

There is no point in reporting, after all, if we echo mere lies and state propaganda. This is no time to play safe—this is no time to falter.

This time, no amount of disservice must go unnoticed.

Not a single lie must go unpunished. •

EDITORIAL CARTOON • RANIELLA MARTINEZ

COVER • KIM YUTUC

STAFF Samantha M. Del Castillo Lucky E. Dela Rosa Polynne E. Dira Isaac Joshua C. Ramos Karla Faith C. Santamaria Jose Martin V. Singh Kimberly Anne P. Yutuc PROBATIONARY STAFF Josephine Mary S. Abesamis Marian Louise L. Abio Leijh Hanne Y. Alianza Nicolas Czar B. Antonio James Tristian M. Atillo Jim Clay B. Bagano Levei Len D. Bigcas Mikhaela C. Calderon Daniel Sebastianne B. Daiz Carlos Harry A. De Taza Sofia Dominique P. Delos Reyes Kent Ivan P. Florino Lamar Moises A. Lioanag Eulan Andrei C. Mallari Raniella Grazell L. Martinez Patricia Louise A. Pobre Joel Andrei C. Ramirez Daisy Louise S. Segui Ma. Sophia Isabella S. Sibal Nikki Eryka T. Teng John Thomas R. Trinidad Esperanza Gabrielle Q. Villa AUXILIARY STAFF Amelyn J. Daga Ma. Trinidad B. Gabales Gina B. Villas CIRCULATION STAFF Gary J. Gabales Pablito Jaena Glenario Omamalin ••• UP Systemwide Alliance of Student Publications and Writers’ Organizations (Solidaridad) College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) ••• Sampaguita Residence Hall University of the Philippines Quirino Avenue, Diliman Quezon City

CONTENTS

What’s inside?

In a departure from our 12-page regular issues, the Collegian’s coverage of COVID-19 features around a hundred articles, photographs, and illustrations produced over the course of three months since the onset of the public health emergency in the country. Together they document, explore, and examine the fault lines laid bare by the pandemic and their consequences for health, politics, economy, and culture.

NEWS 04

UP Initiatives vs.

COVID-19 pandemic

06

Students, faculty lament UP policy on semestral adjustments

08

Krisis sa Gitna ng Krisis: Ang banta ng COVID-19 sa mga komunidad ng UP Diliman

09

Agency-hired personnel appeal for support as pandemic puts workers at risk

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Gov’t branches, agencies share blame over forced ABS-CBN shutdown – lawyers

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Metro Manila combats COVID-19 with scanty water supply Martial law-like quarantine heightens human rights abuses

Abuse in the time of lockdown Human rights violations during the COVID-19 pandemic Inmate’s death sparks stronger campaign to decongest jails during pandemic Mass testing sought as experts urge gov’t to boost lab capacity nationwide

OP-ED

FEATURES 14

15

The War Works Hard* The US-PH arms deal, the Anti-Terror Bill, and the bloody history of counterinsurgency

02

Editor’s Note Delusions and Diversions

36

Dahas ang Lunas

Out of the Shadows What happens to vendors when congested streets empty out?

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Serbisyo Publiko

38

Petsa de Peligro

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Mutual aid should be the new normal Editor’s Note on the arrest of 18 relief volunteers, including a Collegian writer

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Hungkag na Kapangyarihan

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Pamantayan ng Paninindigan

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On Life Support How Social Distancing Takes its Toll on the Filipino Urban Poor

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Behind the Curve

18

Signos Mga pahiwatig ng COVID-19 sa usaping kagutuman, karamdaman at krisis panlipunan

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Feast or Famine

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Diagnosis and Demagoguery What Duterte’s derangements mean for democracy and the free press

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28

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Braving death on the frontlines Health workers take the fall as gov’t botches pandemic response

ILLUSTRATION • CHESTER HIGUIT

A Hostile Home Metro Manila’s Poor and the Balik-Probinsya Program

KULTURA 30

Sakit ng Lipunan

31

Tanglaw ng Katotohanan

42

Lockdown Diaries

32

Tamang Diskarte

42

Bala ang Batas*

33

Work for Home

43

Dealing with Distance

33

Multo

44

Bukas na Liham para sa Gitnang-uri

34

Ama Namin

45

34

Pasalubong

Disciplining a Disease

47

35

Masamang Biro

Status Quotes

GRAPHICS

After the Closing Night A Portrait of the Artist Under Lockdown

01

Shot to Pieces

Culture Shock

46

Mula rito hanggang kalayaan*

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Perya

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Rage, rage against the dying of the light*

Monday, 8 June 2020

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NEWS

The Philippine Collegian Special COVID-19 Issue

UP Philippine General Hospital – UP Manila Aside from serving as a COVID-19 referral center, UP-PGH has also launched a project called “Bayanihan Na!” to boost their efforts in fighting the pandemic.

Through this, trained personnel can help people out by responding to their medical concerns over the phone. Donations and volunteers are also very much welcome to the hospital.

The PGH polyclinic in New Clark City, too, has been readied to accept persons under investigation who exhibit mild symptoms.

The facility is located near the quarantine facility in the Athlete’s Village.

UP National Institutes of Health – UP Manila

The UP-NIH also developed locally-produced ventilators to shore up the supply of the essential medical tool in fighting respiratory maladies caused by the virus.

To help expand the testing of individuals in the country, the NIMBB is assisting the Department of Health – Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in training laboratory technicians on virus detection, sample management, and data interpretation. After their training, these medical technicians will be sent to different parts of the country.

Palma Hall – UP Diliman Home to social sciences and liberal arts, Palma Hall opens its doors to serve as quarantine facility for about 50 suspected or probable COVID-19 cases.

Dubbed “Kanlungang Palma sa Panahon ng Pandemya,” this initiative has begun accommodating infected individuals within the the UPD community.

UP Population Institute The UP Population Institute, with the Demographic Research and Development Foundation, has launched “Beyond the Numbers: COVID-19 and the Philippine Population,” a series of researches on demographic studies to aid build the context of the effects of the virus on the lives of Filipinos.

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#SolusyongMedikalHindiMilitar

initiatives

vs. COVID-19 pandemic

In this time of crisis, the University of the Philippines did not fail its mandate to serve and give back to the people.

From providing studies and recommendations to aid the government in making policies, to launching donation drives, the university has been constantly stepping up to help the nation pass through this time of uncertainty. Here are some of the initiatives of the university during the pandemic.

UPD PsycServ – UP Diliman

Researchers at the UP National Institutes of Health (UP-NIH) developed a rapid, highaccuracy test kits that can detect the SARSCoV-2 or the virus causing COVID-19. The Food and Drug Administration approved this for commercial use, April 3.

National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology – UP Diliman

UP Taking care of one’s mental health is especially important during a crisis. To accommodate people’s concerns amid the pandemic, the UP Diliman Psychosocial Services offers free telepsychotherapy to anyone affected by COVID-19.

UP Resilience Institute Meet Yani, a chat bot developed by the UP Resilience Institute to respond to people’s questions related to the novel coronavirus.

Deriving its name from Bayanihan, Yani can quickly respond to your queries via Facebook Messenger. The researchers at UPRI also developed a website where people can access COVID-19 statistics in a clear and useful manner.

Department of Linguistics, CSSP – UP Diliman Understanding the pandemic fully could be quite difficult for many, primarily because of language barriers. To help bridge the gap, the Department of Linguistics launched #LanguageWarriorsPH, an initiative to translate materials related to COVID-19 into different languages, dialects, and sociolects around the Philippines. The continuing project has translated 927 materials into 70 languages, dialects, and sociolects as of May 8.

Padayon ND – UP Diliman Created by the Nutrition Section of the Department of Foods and Sciences from the College of Home Economics, Padayon ND opens it Facebook page for online consultations regarding food nutrition.

They also launched “Mensaheng Pangkalusugan,” a series of guides and tips to maintain good nutrition and proper diet during the quarantine.

UP Bike Share – UP Diliman The suspension of public transport has taken its toll on many health workers. To extend a helping hand, UP Bike Share has been lending bikes to help frontliners get to their workplaces. The Diliman-based organization has so far lent 92 bikes to four medical institutions, as of May 9, and is still accepting donations for bike helmets and locks.

NEWS

@phkule

UP College of Law

At the height of human rights violations during the quarantine period, the Law community steps in to serve. The UP College of Law launched #UPLawHelps, an initiative that provides free legal advice related to COVID-19 and other quarantine issues, which began operating on April 20.

CFA FabLab UP Diliman

The UP CFA Fabrication Laboratory created a Do-ItYourself face shield design that is available for everyone’s use. Additionally, they produced over 500 sets of face shields for frontliners, as of April 27, through the help of a group of people from the Acacia residence hall.

National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development – UP Diliman UP NISMED is among the first institutions to open its doors to serve frontliners.

Its building serves as a temporary dormitory for health workers in Quezon City, including the Lung Center of the Philippines, a COVID-19 referral center.

Community Animals Partners and Welfare Advocates – UP Diliman Without many warm bodies around the university due to the lockdown, the campus cats and dogs are left to fend for themselves. To keep these animals in good health, student organization CAPWA-UP started a donation drive for their UP Animal Grand Pakain Drive. They have distributed five batches of animal food to different campus buildings as of May 9.

PAGE DESIGN • KENT IVAN FLORINO

Department of Geography – UPD

Raising awareness on planning and public health is key to understanding the global health emergency we are facing. The UP Diliman Geography department compiled articles, studies, and other research materials on the spatial and geographic aspects of infectious diseases to help readers understand the pandemic.

College of Engineering – UPD

The scarcity of medical supplies and equipment needed against COVID-19 plagues the country.

The College of Engineering’s effort to print face shields seeks to resolve this using 3D printers. Volunteers from the college produce face shield frames, which are assembled for distribution to several hospitals in Luzon.

Fabrication Laboratory – UP Cebu

Using laser cutting technology, UP Cebu’s fabrication laboratory has produced thousands of face shields for frontline health workers in various hospitals in Cebu, among others. It is part of the Philippine Fablab Network, which has produced over 20,000 face shields for different hospitals and institutions nationwide as of April 2.

UP Red Cross Youth – UP Diliman The lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has exposed a number of healthcare workers in extreme danger. Heeding these calls, the UP Red Cross Youth launched an initiative called “Paglingap” to raise money and distribute PPEs to different hospitals in NCR and Calabarzon. As of May 11, they have donated 600 gowns, 200 boots, and 3,750 pairs of gloves among others.

School of Statistics – UP Diliman In dealing with the pandemic, science-based decision-making is vital for effective policies. The School of Statistics has been creating different statistics of COVID-19 on a city, provincial, regional, and national level to aid the goverment in creating appropriate policies. They have also launched “COVID-19 Tracker of Local Epidemics,” a dashboard to provide comparative analyses among local government units.

Chemists – UP Diliman Licensed chemists from UP Diliman have been producing alcohol sanitizers for the Philippine General Hospital and other institutions. As of April 16, they have produced more than 100 liters of sanitizer distributed to University Health Service, Solid Waste Management, dormitories, and other constituents of UP Diliman.

Dormers – UP Diliman Stranded dormers in UP Diliman also do their part in helping our health workers out by assembling face shields for them. They have assembled a total of 538 face shields as of May 1.

Monday, 8 June 2020

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NEWS

The Philippine Collegian Special COVID-19 Issue

Students, faculty lament UP policy on semestral adjustments DANIEL SEBASTIANNE DAIZ & JT TRINIDAD Rather than ending the semester completely, the UP Board of Regents (BOR) has instead decided to implement a policy that many groups believe lacks the compassion that students need in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. While students face the difficulties brought by the health emergency, they also still have to deal with their academic load until June, or else be given a deferred grade.

UP Diliman (UPD) students have the option to either fulfill their adjusted class requirements until June 16 or have their grades deferred, pending completion until May 31, 2021. Should they be unable to complete the requirements until 2021, they will be dropped from the course.

The imposed deadline on graduating students is quite inconsiderate, according to the UPD University Student Council (USC). The council forwarded a letter to Chancellor Fidel Nemenzo on April 29, appealing for a more lenient deadline—at least a month for completion, once quarantine restrictions have been officially lifted nationwide—especially for graduating students.

“Even the set date for the completion of requirements to be endorsed for graduation is too absolute for a situation that is very uncertain,” said UPD USC chairperson Sean Thakur. “The recent adjustments, if upheld, will definitely leave a lot of students behind, and will further cause confusion if a final plan is not released as soon as possible.”

Some departments and colleges around the UP system, for their part, have decided to give a “Pass” grade to all their students, which was eventually approved by the BOR on May 21.

In a previous statement, the All UP Academic Employees’ Union did not mince words in calling the move an encroachment of a faculty’s academic freedom.

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“The act of seeking ‘authority’ for final (pass) grading impinges on the individual faculty’s academic freedom over their own classes.

The whole process itself, which reaches up to the BOR, is an administrative nightmare that needs to be reconsidered,” the group said in an April 23 statement.

Burden Student formations worry that more students will be left behind, given the BOR’s decision to implement deferred grading system. In the case of Samantha*, a film student, her situation at home in Pasig City is not conducive for distance learning.

As much as she wants to be productive during the pandemic, she does not have the luxury to do so, as she also needs to cope with the threats and anxieties posed by COVID-19, all while thinking about finances and food under lockdown.

“Who knows how long para may mahawa sa mga kapitbahay namin? O sa mga kamag-anak namin kapag bumibili ng pagkain?

Yung health ng father ko ay nakakabahala rin kasi hindi namin mapa-check-up sa ospital,” Samantha said.

Hers is not an isolated case.

This is why, from the very start, the UPD USC has been resolved to urge the administration to pass all students and, at the same time, press the faculty to design bridging programs to be launched to provide necessary competencies, which students might have missed in the courses they enrolled this semester.

Even without having to attend a compulsory online class, students still need to rely on a steady internet connection and well-functioning gadgets to finish their class requirements. Not all students, however, have these to begin with.

“Sana imbis na academics at ang sem[ester ang] isipin

#SolusyongMedikalHindiMilitar

ng admin, isipin muna nila ang [mga] tao. Ang mga estudyante at mga prof[essor] ay tao.

Dapat maging makatao [rin] ang maging desisyon nila. We’re not living through normal times anymore,” Samantha said. The UP administration, however, has failed Samantha and other students who need compassion during these trying times.

Anxieties For freshmen students who have plans to shift out, meanwhile, the pressure is doubly high, as they could not afford to have their grades deferred in order to earn the required units for their desired course.

This issue prompted the freshmen student councils of Diliman, Los Baños, and Manila, together with the Rise for Education Alliance-UPD (R4EUPD), to write a letter addressed to President Concepcion, urging the university administration to relax the requirements for shifting and transferring, April 30.

“In the case that it would not be an earned unit due to deferred grades, freshmen students who would have trouble completing requirements due to the COVID-19 pandemic would be unable to shift,” the groups wrote.

The executive committee of the UPD USC forwarded the groups’ concern to the Committee on Academic Programs and Policies for deliberation. A number of colleges and departments have released their guidelines for transfer admission, following a directive from the Office of the University Registrar.

Since freshies only have their first semester grades as a basis for their general weighted average, the group also called for other ways to assess academic standing, such as via interviews or examinations.

“We considered students who would not have access to platforms for alternative assessments due to the pandemic, [and whose conditions] worsened due to economic concerns,” Bea Legaspi, UPD

NIKKI TENG & KENT IVAN FLORINO

University Freshie Council (UFC) chairperson, said in an online interview.

Even upperclassmen worry that the pandemic would derail their plans to shift out, as some departments and institutes have closed their doors to prospective shiftees and transferees.

“Sana i-treat [ng UP admin] ito as an urgent concern kasi sobrang daming students ang nag-aalala ngayon sa pag-shift nila,” said second year political science student Tisa Nacional.

“Sana maging considerate sila, in a way na hindi magkakaroon ng unfair advantage yung mga mas may privilege.” •

NEWS

@phkule

UNFAZED For the past years, student formations have been firm in the call to defend academic freedom in the face of blatant attacks from the state. Now, as academic institutions continue to implement policies that compromise students’ rights and welfare in the midst of a pandemic, students continue to air their grievances online, as they seek more humane policies that would be just for all.

LUCKY DELA ROSA

s

ADOPTED UP POLICY ON SEMESTRAL ADJUSTMENTS COLLATED BY

MARIAN ABIO, LEVEI BIGCAS, & HARRY DE TAZA

End of semester. The semester ended on April 30, but students may complete their requirements until June 16 if they do not want to receive a deferred grade. Online class meetings are discouraged but may be used for guidance, consultation and clarification purposes.

Grading scheme. Students will be given a deferred grade, pending the completion of their course requirements until May 31, 2021. No grade of 4.0, 5.0, or INC will be given but numeric grades still stand. Some departments were exempted from this policy, after having their appeals approved by the UP Board of Regents on May 21, allowing them to grant a “Pass” mark instead.

Enrolling in higher courses. Even if the student is still in the process of completing class requirements for a prerequisite course, the student may already enroll in a higher-level course.

Bridging programs. Departments and institutes must launch bridging programs to help the students adjust in higher courses given the missed learning opportunities from prerequisite course/s.

PAGE DESIGN • KENT IVAN FLORINO

Dropping. Deadline for dropping is lifted. Should the student be unable to complete course requirements until May 31, 2021, they will be considered dropped from the course due to COVID-19. They will then reenroll in the course.

Graduating students. Departments have the sole discretion as to how the defense of thesis and dissertation will proceed. Graduating students as of second semester who will complete their requirements by May 31, 2021 are still considered graduates as of second semester AY 2019-2020.

As of now, there is no announcement yet about this year’s commencement exercises.

Residency. The second semester does not count in the residency of students in the university. Meanwhile, rules on scholastic standing or delinquency–i.e., warning, probation, dismissal, and permanent disqualification– are suspended.

Graduate school. Units offering graduate courses shall determine how to proceed with their courses and parameters for assessment. The decision to push through with qualifying and comprehensive exams depends on the offering units.

Scholarships, Grants, and Financial Assistance.

The University will try to reach out to the Commission on Higher Education and other scholarship grantors regarding the period of grant, and the suspension of rules on academic standing of grantees. Policies on student financial assistance tied to scholastic standing are suspended.

Freshies, shiftees and transferees. The Office of Admissions announced the UPCAT results on May 30. All relevant materials will be coursed through each college.

Acceptance of shiftees, transferees and graduate students depends on the degree-granting unit, and grade requirement for shiftees and transferees will be based on their available GWA.

DATES AND DEADLINES 30 April 2020 Last day of classes for the Academic Year 2019-2020 01 May 2020 Re-opening of semester for students who prefer completing the adjusted course requirements within the Second Semester 2019-2020 22 May 2020 Last day for graduating students to clear delinquencies 16 June 2020 Closing of the Second Semester 24 June 2020 Deadline of grade submission Lifted Dropping of subjects Filing of Leave of Absence

SOURCES UP System Policy on the Second Semester AY 2019-2020 In the Time of COVID-19, FAQs for UP Diliman, FAQs for UPD OUR, Official Statement of the Office of the Student Regent on the 1351st BOR Meeting, UP Diliman Adjusted Academic Calendar, Second Semester AY 2019-2020 and Midyear Term 2020

Monday, 8 June 2020

07

BALITA

The Philippine Collegian Special COVID-19 Issue

Krisis sa gitna ng krisis

Ang banta ng COVID-19 sa mga komunidad ng UP Diliman KENT IVAN FLORINO Bagaman pinaiiral na ngayon ang general community quarantine sa Kalakhang Maynila, hindi malilimutan ng mag-aaral na si Jonnelson Jacob, 26, kung paano siya nahirapan sa gitna ng total lockdown sa Brgy. Krus na Ligas.

“Kailangan ko pang pumunta sa Maginhawa para makakuha ng pera pero maaga pa lang mahaba na yung pila sa bangko,” ani Jacob. “Minsan aabot sa isa’t kalahating oras ang paghihintay tapos isang araw lang pinapayagan yung ganitong transactions. Pa’no yung iba ko pang kasamahan sa boarding house na gagamit din ng quarantine pass?”

Nagpatupad ng higit isang

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buwang total lockdown ang pamunuan ng barangay mula Abril 25 upang protektahan umano ang kaligtasan ng mga residente gayong wala pang naitatalang positibong kaso ng COVID-19 sa lugar.

“Problema din po namin na sa isang special quarantine pass, isa lang po yung binibigay na relief goods kaya yung apat na matitira sa mga naghahati, walang nakukuhang ayuda. Dehado yung mga hindi nabigyan kasi hindi naman po lingguhan yung pamimigay pati,” ani Jacob.

Upang tulungan ang mga estudyante sa barangay, namagitan ang ilang mga bise tsanselor ng UP para tuluyang matugunan ang isyu.

Ipinaabot din ng adminstrasyon ng pamantasan kay Kap. Maria Maurina Magalong ang mga apelang

#SolusyongMedikalHindiMilitar

dapat agarang maresolba, kabilang na ang alitan sa pagitan ng barangay at ng Concerned UP Alumni and Students of Krus Na Ligas (CUPAS-KNL), isang orginasasyong tumutulong sa mga estudyanteng naninirahan sa baranggay ngayong quarantine.

Alitan Nakatanggap ng kritisismo at pagbabanta ang mga kasapi ng CUPAS-KNL matapos ang isinagawa nilang tahimik na protesta, Abril 14.

Bagaman ipinaalam nila ang pagsasabit ng placards sa palengke, ikinagalit ito ng mga pinuno at ilang residente ng barangay.

“Nagulat na lang kami na may mga post sa Facebook ang mga opisyal na nag-boost sa harassment, threat at redtagging hindi lang sa’min, pati na rin sa mga taga-UP na currently nasa KNL,” ani Aian Perucho, convenor ng samahan.

Mismong ang kapitan ng barangay ang isa sa mga bumatikos sa CUPAS-KNL sa kanyang Facebook post noong Abril 16. Hindi raw dapat palabasin ng grupong gutom ang mga residente ng Krus Na Ligas dahil mayroon namang ipinamamahaging ayuda, ani kapitana. Nilinaw naman ng CUPAS-KNL na kinikilala nila ang mga hakbang ng barangay upang tulungan ang mga residente, ayon sa kanilang pahayag noong Abril 17.

“Sa ngayon hindi muna namin sila iniintindi dahil maraming nangyayari sa barangay …

Manahimik muna tayo’t hayaang

LUCKY DELA ROSA Despite their tight situation, some vendors in UP Diliman continue serving nearby communities, May 29, in order to survive during the pandemic. Although quarantine restrictions are starting to relax following the implementation of the general community quarantine in Metro Manila and other areas, many workers, especially those from the informal sector, might still find it hard to get back on their feet, as experts anticipate a deep economic crisis in the months to come.

mag-fade yung issue nang kusa dahil hindi namin makokontrol yung galit ng mga tao kung visible pa rin yung incident sa social media,” ani Magalong.

Pansamantalang naantala ang pagtulong ng samahan sa komunidad bunsod nito. Sa kabila ng alitan, sinimulan ng grupo ang kanilang community kitchen noong Mayo 16 upang mabigyan ng libreng pagkain ang mga estudyante at alumni na naninirahan sa barangay.

“Ipinaliwanag ko na kay kapitana ang kahalagahan ng agarang aksyon dahil marami na akong nakikita online na hinihikayat na saktan ang mga mag-aaral ng UP,” ani Prop.

Gonzalo Campoamor II, Vice Chancellor for Research and Development at miyembro ng UPD COVID-19 Task Force.

“Naniniwala akong walang lugar ang karahasan, pisikal man o berbal, sa panahon ng krisis.”

Kaligtasan Sa gitna ng pagdami ng kaso ng COVID-19 sa bansa, hindi pagbabanta ang kailangan ng mamamayan gaya ng nangyari sa Krus na Ligas.

Higit na kailangan ngayon ng bawat isa ang sapat na tulong at maagap na impormasyon mula sa mga kinauukulan.

Sa kaso ng Brgy. UP Campus, naging malaking hadlang ang paglihim ng ilang indibidwal sa kanilang kalagayan sa maagap na pagtugon ng mga opisyal. “Ang pinapanawagan natin, kung may earliest sign sana, is mag-report agad yung tao para we can coordinate properly at maiwasan

nang lumalala pa,” ayon sa Brgy. UP Campus sa isang panayam sa Collegian.

Dahil dito, nangangamba ang ilang residente gaya ni Miguel*. Namatay ang kanilang kapitbahay na Person Under Investigation noong Abril 5, na hindi ipinaalam sa University Health Service at Barangay Health Emergency Response Team ang kanyang tunay na kalagayan.

Upang tiyaking hindi na mauulit ang parehong pangyayari, pinabibilis na ng mga barangay health worker ang profiling ng mga taong maysakit at mga nakasama nito sa kanilang komunidad upang matukoy ang mga indibidwal na babantayan sa loob ng 14 na araw.

Ayuda Para sa mga residente ng Brgy. UP Campus at Krus na Ligas, pati na ng iba pang komunidad sa bansa, dapat ay paigtingin ng mga opisyal ang pagtukoy sa mga apektado ng sakit habang sinisigurong nakatatanggap ng sapat na ayuda ang bawat mamamayan.

Lalong higit, ang mga palisiyang ipinatutupad ng bawat barangay ay dapat ding sabayan ng pagkakaroon ng mass testing, ayon kina Jonnelson at Miguel, upang epektibong masugpo ang sakit.

“Mas mainam pa rin na magsagawa na ang gobyerno ng mass testing para matukoy kung meron bang naapektuhan yung namatay sa lugar. Mapapanatag lang ang tao kapag alam nila ang katotohanan,” ani Miguel. •

*hindi niya tunay na pangalan

NEWS

@phkule

Agency-hired personnel appeal for support as pandemic puts workers at risk SAM DEL CASTILLO While the pandemic has forced many employees to work from home, Joy*, 30, still shows up at her post as a security guard in UP Diliman (UPD). Although she fears contracting the virus, Joy has no other choice but to man the building she is assigned to, so she can continue supporting herself and her two children.

Joy and other security guards and janitors comprise the skeleton workforce of the university while full staffing is still impossible, even as quarantine restrictions begin to ease in many areas. Yet, though their work puts them at risk, Joy and some fellow agency-hired colleagues have not received any financial aid or hazard pay from either the university or their respective agencies since the lockdown began.

“Oo, sumasahod naman kami, pero sa totoo lang, hindi kami nakikitang frontliner din,” Joy lamented. “Buti pa mga empleyado ng UP na nasa bahay safe na safe, sumasahod, at binibigyan ng ayuda ng UP, kami kesyo agency wala kami makuhang tulong galing sa UP.” University employees, including those hired on contract of service, job order, and other similar schemes, are entitled

to a hazard pay, based on a memorandum released by Vice President for Administration Nestor Yunque, April 30, giving workers an emergency allowance worth P5,000. The Board of Regents approved the second tranche distribution of the said allowance on May 11.

But Joy said she has received nothing from UP. She thinks this is because she is agencyhired, meaning there exists no employer-employee relationship between her and the university.

Until now, Joy awaits whether she and her co-workers can avail of said benefit.

The All UP Workers Union (AUPWU) brought this up in an online meeting with UPD officials on May 22. Vice Chancellor for Community Affairs Jose Ernie Lope said that Vice Chancellor for Administration Virginia Yap is looking into the matter to extend help to agency-hired guards and janitors.

Neither did Joy’s agency apply for the Department of Labor and Employment’s cash aid program on their behalf, arguing that their work had not been halted by the pandemic anyway. Apart from the cash troubles she puts up with, Joy worries, too, about her family’s safety while she carries on with her job as if the pandemic had not changed the way people live and work.

WORKERS’ CLAMOR These photos were taken during the multisectoral mobilization, February 3, at Quezon Hall steps.

Until now, UP workers continue to implore the university administration to provide due benefits to all, while pushing for the eventual regularization of all employees.

NIKKI TENG

Workplace neglect With no buses or jeepneys allowed in the metro during the enhanced community quarantine, Joy had at first gone to work, on foot, all the way from her home in Commonwealth.

That lasted for just a week, and eventually she asked her director to have her stay at her post until public transportation became available.

That is not the only issue. Joy also had to buy her own face mask and bottle of alcohol using her own money, unless any donation arrives, to protect herself from the virus while on duty. “Simula nang mag-lockdown, wala kaming naramdaman na paghandle sa amin ng agency o UP,

pumapasok lang kami na parang normal,” Joy said.

To address such issues, the Alliance of Contractual Employees in UP (ACE UP) demanded transport allowance and provision of personal protective equipment (PPE), among others, in a letter sent to Chancellor Fidel Nemenzo, April 17. ACE UP secretary-general Stephanie Andaya said that they have received no response from the UPD administration, as of May 28.

“Alalahanin nating bagaman hindi mga direktang empleyado ng unibersidad ang mga … security at janitorial personnel, sila ang mga araw-araw nating maaasahan sa seguridad at kagalingan hindi lang ng ating mga gusali kundi pati ng ating komunidad,” the letter read.

The pandemic has demonstrated how essential the services of security guards and maintenance personnel are, but agency-hired workers remain deprived of not just their practical needs for work, but also job security and benefits.

Demand for regularization Joy, who has been working in UP for over a year now, describes her job during this crisis as nonstop. She works full-time every day and has received only two kilos of rice and relief goods from university volunteers.

Agency-hired workers like Joy are not given the same benefits accorded to regular

employees. Hazard pay and emergency allowance would be impossible as they are bound by their agency’s contract. The AUPWU sent a letter to UP President Danilo L. Concepcion, May 19, calling for the addition of a new provision to the worker’s contracts that would ensure a P500 daily hazard pay from their agencies.

While guaranteeing hazard pay would ease the burden of agencyhired personnel during the pandemic, securing their source of income would benefit them more substantially in the long run, specifically for those facing the near end of their contracts.

Nemenzo, for his part, told the union that he would do everything to keep job-order and contractual workers in Diliman.

Yunque, too, said that the System office is processing their contract renewal. But, for workers’ groups, what ultimately matters is employee regularization, which the COVID-19 crisis has shown to matter more importantly than some extra cash to tide workers over for now.

“Lalong pinatingkad ang aming ambag ngayong panahon sapagkat katuwang ninyo kami sa ating mga ospital, opisina at mga kolehiyo sa kabila ng pangambang magkasakit,” ACE UP wrote in a letter to Nemenzo. “Kaya huwag naman sana kaming iwanan na nangangambang mawalan ng trabaho sa panahong ito.” •

*not her real name

Monday, 8 June 2020

09

NEWS

The Philippine Collegian Special COVID-19 Issue

Martial law-like quarantine heightens human rights abuses SAM DEL CASTILLO, DANIEL DAIZ, & JOEY ABESAMIS Even in the face of a global health emergency, the government’s skewed priorities never miss the mark. While groups and individuals have taken it upon themselves to help lowincome families affected by the Luzon-wide lockdown, their efforts have only been met with harassment, arrests, and grave human rights violations at the hands of authorities.

The president himself enabled these attacks, with his inflammatory remarks now institutionalized as lockdown policies. During his press briefings, President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly said that anyone who would violate social distancing rules must face punishment.

Under a heavily militarized lockdown where abusive police

officers rule, however, anyone can be a criminal.

Ever since the enhanced community quarantine took effect on March 17, over 184,000 individuals have been arrested, per Philippine National Police (PNP) data, as of May 28.

But more individuals are being rounded up as days go by. On June 5, a total of eight people, including one passerby, were illegally arrested and detained after joining a peaceful protest condemning the AntiTerrorism Bill that could subject dissidents to warrantless arrest and detention. Prior to this, six jeepney drivers were also arrested on June 2 for rallying on the streets to call for the resumption of jeepney operations as quarantine restrictions slowly ease.

Among the worst cases of arrests happened on Labor Day, when nearly a hundred individuals from progressive groups were rounded up nationwide—most of whom were volunteers helping communities cope with the pandemic in the absence of much-delayed government aid.

In Quezon City, three UP Diliman student volunteers and 15 other civilians were detained after taking part in “Kusinang Kabataan,” a soup kitchen launched by the Citizens’ Urgent Response to End COVID-19 (CURE COVID). One of those arrested is Jim Bagano, a features writer of the Collegian. A total of 10 relief operation volunteers in Marikina and 42 activists in Iloilo, meanwhile, were also arrested.

Some of the arrested activists may have been released eventually, but neither legal remedies alone nor a second wave of the pandemic can stop the crackdown underway. For Karapatan secretary-general Cristina Palabay, these cases of legal persecution reflect the anti-poor orientation of the government.

“Instead of heeding the urgent demands of the marginalized, the Duterte government and its minions in the military and the police are instead exploiting quarantine measures to harass, vilify and rabidly arrest—even kill—activists, especially those conducting relief operations in communities hard-hit by the crisis,” said Palabay.

Criminalizing the poor Marginalized sectors like the urban poor remain highly vulnerable to these attacks.

Unwarranted arrests were reported over the past months due to the alleged violation of the imposed curfew in different areas.

Among the first reported cases was that of a 69-year-old street dweller whom the police arrested on March 16, having found asleep on the streets beyond curfew hours in Malate, Manila. Meanwhile, in Sta. Cruz, Laguna, youth violators were crammed inside a dog cage for staying outdoors after curfew.

10

#SolusyongMedikalHindiMilitar

Other areas that implemented a round-the-clock curfew could be open to legal challenges, if found to be arbitrary or disproportionate, according to the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL).

The local police followed through with civilian arrests on other dubious grounds. Sitio San Roque residents, on April 1, were charged with allegedly spreading false information and obstructing roads, both of which violate the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act or Republic Act (RA) 11469. Through the financial help of concerned citizens, the 21 individuals were released on bail five days later.

“The San Roque 21 were hungry Filipinos driven to desperation by the lack of government assistance, and yet they were met by an iron fist,” the residents’ lawyer Kristina Conti from the NUPL said. “Theirs is a no-win situation. Their choice was either to die from hunger or to die from COVID-19, whichever way, to die undignified.”

Human rights advocates have since called out similar abuses committed by the government, emphasizing that no one can go above the law, even amid a crisis—contrary to some officials’ claims.

“Even during emergencies and calamities, there are and there should be rights, though they can be regulated under extreme circumstances,” according to the NUPL in a statement. “But even if so limited or regulated, they cannot be totally eradicated like a nasty plague or dissolved into scary invisible droplets especially through great leaps of logic.”

The UP College of Law released a position paper striking a similar note. While the law grants emergency powers to the president and penalizes certain conduct during the pandemic, such powers cannot strip away people’s basic rights and civil liberties, according to constitutional law professors from UP. Abuse of power Despite contrary legal opinions, the police seem intent

to forgo their mandate—to serve and protect the public.

Their actions, even before the lockdown, serve to appease the president they revere so highly.

Perhaps one of the most controversial cases recorded under lockdown was the killing of retired corporal Winston Ragos in Quezon City, April 21. Witnesses and kin denied that Ragos possessed arms; rather, he was suffering from a post-traumatic shock disorder as a former soldier in the besieged city of Marawi.

Other arguably extrajudicial killings, though by unknown perpetrators, have been recorded. Unknown assailants gunned down Bayan Muna leader Jory Porquia, April 30. His murder urged several activists in Iloilo to stage a protest that led to their arrests on Labor Day. With rampant human rights violations, the NUPL reminded the authorities, in a press statement, that the lockdown and pandemic are not “passes” to undermine human rights with impunity. The group also questioned the threat of a martial law-like lockdown as legally untenable, but should not be taken lightly because men in uniform are already infringing on people’s rights.

So far, none of the existing conditions can constitutionally justify a declaration of martial law, such as lawless violence, invasion, or rebellion.

“This is a military response to supposed aggression by a large mass of people that is avoidable in the first place. Isn’t this a public health and social services problem foremost before a law and order issue?” Conti wrote in a Facebook post.

As the government continues to impose a heavy-handed approach to the problem, it is incumbent upon the public to hold public officials accountable for their actions.

“Nothing is more corrosive to a democracy than a citizenry that is fearful of asserting a right or protesting a wrong, for democracy’s strength,” the NUPL wrote in a statement, April 4. “Our rights are only as meaningful as our willingness to assert them.” •

GRAPHICS • SOFIA DOMINIQUE DELOS REYES

NEWS

@phkule

Abuse in the time of lockdown

Human rights violations during the COVID-19 pandemic DANIEL SEBASTIANNE DAIZ & KENT IVAN FLORINO

While the government intended the enhanced community quarantine to contain the 2019 Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country, inadequacies of government response have only left those in the peripheries starving. Instead of addressing these concerns, a militarized lockdown leading to crumbling liberties have been served to the Filipinos.

16 MARCH 2020 The Manila Police District (MPD) nabbed a 69-year-old street dweller for sleeping on the streets despite the city’s curfew due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She was released three days later.

17 MARCH 2020 Suspected elements of the 47th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army killed cultural worker Marlon Maldos, whose remains were found along the highway in Cortes, Bohol. Maldos, a member of the Bol-anong Artista nga may Diwang Dagohoy, sustained five gunshot wounds.

25 MARCH 2020 Elements of Station 3 of the MPD were seen cursing and hitting members of the Muslim community with a stick for allegedly violating quarantine measures. The policemen only received a warning from NCRPO Chief Debold Sinas.

31 MARCH 2020 Nora Apique, a 66-year-old peasant leader from Surigao del Sur, was shot dead by motorriding assailants. Apique, who leads the Kapunungan sa mga Mag-uuma sa Surigao del Sur, has been previously redtagged by both the military and paramilitary forces.

01 APRIL 2020 Residents of Sitio San Roque were violently dispersed by the Quezon City Police District (QCPD). Twenty-one of them were subsequently arrested for obstructing roads and spreading false information when they staged a mobilization calling for the immediate release of food packs for them.

05 APRIL 2020 Three people arrested for violating curfew hours in Pandacaqui, Mexico, Pampanga were forced to do lewd and sexual acts as punishment for their violation. The barangay captain also broadcasted the acts in a Facebook live video.

06 APRIL 2020 Police troops destroyed the barricade set up and violently dispersed the residents of Brgy.

Didipio, Kasibu, Nueva Viscaya to clear the path for a fuel tanker working for the mining conglomerate Oceanagold. The company’s permits expired on June 29, 2019, but has continued operating since.

Coca-Cola workers were harassed by the military for supposedly being members of the New Peoples’ Army (NPA). The military also forced the workers to surrender for, allegedly, being rebels.

Police attempted to dismantle the community kitchen set in Sitio San Roque. After arriving, the police have since started to tear down the residents’ placards demanding aid for the residents as the lockdown stretches on.

18 APRIL 2020 John Farochilin, a farmers’ group leader in Miag-ao, Iloilo, was killed by elements of the 61st Infantry Battalion. Eleven civilians, some of whom were minors, were also arrested by the said military force due to their alleged membership with the NPA. 19 APRIL 2020 Volunteers of the Tulong Anakpawis, Sagip Kanayunan relief operations were arrested by Norzagaray police due to their alleged violation of

GRAPHICS • MIKHAELA CALDERON

the government’s quarantine guidelines, and possession of progressive newspapers, which police officers considered seditious. The group has been released on bail, April 23.

21 APRIL 2020 A Quezon City cop shot dead Winson Ragos, a former member of the army, who has been suffering from a bout of mental illness.

30 APRIL 2020 Jose Reynold Porquia, a Bayan Muna coordinator in Iloilo City was shot dead by unknown assailants in his coffee shop. Just a week earlier, Porquia and members of Bayan Muna experienced harassment by Iloilo police for their relief operations.

Dumaguete radio broadcaster Rex Cornelio was shot by a ridingin-tandem while on his way home after this radio program. Cornelio is known for being a critic of the Negros Oriental governor and other local politicians. His death is the 16th media killing under Duterte’s term, and the 186th since 1986.

10 MAY 2020 Six farmers were arrested by elements of the Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT) and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Calaca, Laguna. All six have been arrested on alleged illegal possession of firearms by virtue of a search warrant.

01 MAY 2020 Nearly a hundred volunteers and civilians were arrested after a string of illegal arrest conducted by police forces around the country on Labor Day. Most of the individuals, however, were only volunteering for relief operations for those affected by the lockdown due to the virus.

12 MAY 2020 A 25-year-old teacher in Dagupan City, Pangasinan faces raps of sedition and cyberlibel after airing his frustrations on the government’s inadequate response over the COVID-19 pandemic. The teacher took his ire on Twitter, saying that he would give anyone a P50 million reward for killing the president.

05 MAY 2020 The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) orders ABSCBN to close after Congress failed to act on its franchise which expired a day earlier. The media network currently has a pending petition, asking the Supreme Court to void the NTC’s order.

26 MAY 2020 Peasant leader Allan Aguinaldo, 42, was shot dead in Catarman, Northern Samar by elements of the 43rd Infantry Battalion.

A leader of the Northern Samar Small Farmers Association, Aguinaldo was a staunch advocate for genuine land reform.

PAGE DESIGN • LEIJH HANNE ALIANZA

28 MAY 2020 Kadamay national secretary general Carlito Badion was killed in Ormoc City, Leyte. Prior to his death, he received series of harassment and threats from unknown numbers.

02 JUNE 2020 Six jeepney drivers in Caloocan City took their calls to the streets as they press the government to allow the resumption of jeepney operations in Metro Manila and other areas under the general community quarantine. Jeepney drivers, for their part, have devised techniques to maintain physical distancing, but the government has continued to bar them from operating. Although they had raised enough money to post bail, only four of the detained drivers were released as of 4 p.m., June 8. PISTON and other progressive groups are still processing the clearance of the remaining two.

05 JUNE 2020 Eight individuals, including one passerby, were arrested in Cebu City after joining a peaceful protest condemning the approval of the Anti-Terrorism Bill at the House of Representatives, June 3. The release order for the eight was issued three days later, with no bail amount required. They also have 10 days to respond to the charges filed against them. •

Monday, 8 June 2020

11

NEWS

The Philippine Collegian Special COVID-19 Issue

Gov’t branches, agencies share blame over forced ABS-CBN shutdown—lawyers BEATRICE PUENTE The president’s countless tirades against media giant ABS-CBN over the past years must have provoked Congress to refuse to act on multiple bills seeking the company’s franchise renewal, a lawyer said, May 6.

National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) secretarygeneral Ephraim Cortez, an attorney, said there was a clear omission of duty on the part of the House of Representatives, specifically the committee on legislative franchises, for not acting right away on the bills filed for the renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise. Instead, they chose to comply with what President Rodrigo Duterte had always wanted—to close the network.

In his previous speeches, the president had explicitly said that, if it had been up to him, he would not have renewed the company’s legislative franchise, urging its owners to just sell the company.

Spokesperson Harry Roque later said that the Palace is distancing itself from the issue, as only Congress has the discretion to grant a franchise.

“Di pwedeng maghugaskamay yung executive and legislative dyan. We have to consider the political milieu sa Pilipinas—the fact na majority sa Congress ay hawak ng administration, pati sa committee level, kailangan nating tingnan,” Cortez said.

Solicitor General Jose Calida must likewise be held accountable, the Free Legal Assistance Group, an organization of human rights lawyers, said in a statement, because he pressured the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to confer zero provisional authority on

12

the network. The Department of Justice, for its part, could have clarified some matters pertinent to the issue.

More than 10 bills pushing for the franchise renewal of ABSCBN have been pending before the House over the past months.

But solons had only assured the network would not fold, citing the NTC’s commitment to grant provisional authority. Committee head Rep. Franz Alvarez said on May 5 that the NTC could be cited for contempt if it would not provide a special permit to the network.

These pronouncements, however, appeared to have no weight after the NTC issued a cease-and-desist order against the network, May 5. ABS-CBN ceased its operations later that day, after its primetime newscast.

Rule of law?

Despite these opinions from legal experts, the NTC stands by its earlier decision to halt the ABS-CBN’s broadcasting services. The network filed on May 7 a petition for certiorari and prohibition before the Supreme Court to seek an injunction and temporary restraining order that could counter the NTC’s order.

The NTC, in a response submitted to the high court, wanted the petition junked.

Administration supporters were quick to throw around the Latin principle “dura lex, sed lex”— meaning “the law may be harsh, but it is the law”—to justify the NTC’s move. Even Calida called this a “triumph of the rule of law.”

But, for Cortez, the principle should not be taken too simplistically, as the whole context of the issue should decide whether the law really prevailed.

“Sa ganitong mga pagkakataon, protection of constitutional right to

#SolusyongMedikalHindiMilitar

Nanindigan ang mga mag-aaral ng Kolehiyo ng Pangmadlang Komunikasyon na hindi dapat ipasara ang ABS-CBN dahil nangangahulugan ito ng pagyurak sa kalayaan sa pamamahayag at demokrasya ng bansa, Pebrero 26. Walang lugar ang pagpapatahimik lalo na sa panahon ng ligalig, pagkat nakasalalay sa midyang malaya ang pagpapalaya sa bayang pilit sinasadlak sa dusa.

expression and to free press ang dapat maging overriding consideration,” Cortez said, citing that violating these constitutional rights warrants a legal case.

The existence of pending bills should have been enough to justify the grant of provisional authority, since it meant the process of renewing the network’s franchise was underway. What the NTC did, the people’s lawyer said, was nothing but a grave abuse of discretion.

“It is a concerted effort, on the part of both the executive and legislative department, to stop the operations of ABS-CBN and in the process, to curtail the right to free expression,” Cortez said. “We must see to it that justice prevails, hindi itong ‘dura lex, sed lex’ lang ang kinokonsidera.”

In an attempt to resolve the issue, the lower chamber’s leadership decided to expedite proceedings on a measure that will give the network a franchise until October 31. But not even a week has passed, the House backtracked, saying that it will now proceed to immediate consideration of a 25-year franchise. Although Congress adjourned its session on June 5, the House committees on legislative franchises, and good governance will continue

the hearing for the network’s franchise renewal.

Meanwhile, the Senate adopted Resolution 395 on May 11 asking the NTC to reverse its order so that the ABS-CBN can continue its broadcasting services.

This document, however, only expresses the stand of the body—it cannot compel the NTC to take action.

Twelve voted in favor, while nine senators abstained.

Fighting back While government agencies are busy pinning blames on one another, various media rights groups stand united in the call to defend press freedom.

“If the nation will allow an unjust ABS-CBN shutdown to stand, we should all expect increased media harassment, more widespread and more malevolent disinformation, worse obscenities committed against journalism in the name of ‘the law’,” the Consortium on Democracy and Disinformation, which is composed mostly of media practitioners, said in a statement.

Even before the ABS-CBN shutdown, international media groups had noted the worsening media situation in the country over the years. Based on the World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders in April,

the Philippines slipped two ranks down to the 136th spot because, even in the midst of a pandemic, state-backed troll armies remain on the rise, undermining the reporting of truth.

In an online statement, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) called the NTC order an underhanded assault on the press.

“It sends a clear message: what Duterte wants, Duterte gets. And it is clear, with this brazen move to shut down ABSCBN, that he intends to silence the critical media and intimidate everyone else into submission,” the NUJP said.

The last time the network signed off for an indefinite period was during the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos’s martial rule, striking a resemblance with the country’s current worsening political situation. But, while this reminds the people of a dark past, the NUJP said, the free press continued to resist then, as it should now.

“Just as the independent press survived and triumphed with the people over the Marcos dictatorship, we are certain that we shall do so again, that this regime that has run roughshod over our laws and disregarded our basic rights and liberties will not succeed,” the NUJP said. •

PATRICIA POBRE & NIKKI TENG

NEWS

@phkule

Metro Manila combats COVID-19 with scanty water supply DANIEL SEBASTIANNE DAIZ & PATRICIA POBRE Health experts have repeatedly reminded the public to wash their hands to minimize chances of contracting the new coronavirus.

But, in communities where water interruption happens every so often, this advice is not as simple as it sounds.

For Gem Bella, 20, a resident of Brgy. Damayan, Quezon City, they have no other choice but to use rubbing alcohol in disinfecting their hands, as water service interruptions in their area persist amid the pandemic.

“We got a couple [of] extra drums to store water, kasi di kami sigurado kung magkakaroon ng mas malalang water interruption,” Bella said. “Other than that, [we use] rubbing alcohol, saka iwasan lang ng isa’t isa sa bahay kung kaya.”

Similar to Bella’s case, Carmen*, a resident of Brgy.

Greater Fairview in Quezon City, also needs to deal with frequent water interruptions while worrying about the rising cases of COVID-19 in their area.

“May mga araw na merong [suplay ng tubig] hanggang gabi bago matulog; minsan pagpatak ng alas singko ng hapon, mawawala na lang o kaya may kulay na yung tubig sa gripo,” Carmen said.

Proper handwashing, in addition to well-planned social distancing measures, is still the easiest and one of the best ways to prevent any further spread of the virus, according to the Department of Health. But the challenges for Bella and Carmen are not isolated.

In 2019, around 10 million Filipinos still do not have access to adequate water supply, according to the World Health

Organization. Coupled with the unstable supply of other disinfectants, this spells disaster for cities battling the spread of the pandemic.

As in Bella’s case, this has proven to be even more difficult since their household shelters nine people, two of whom are immunocompromised.

Their preexisting health conditions put them at a higher risk of infection.

Despite promises made

by Manila Water to provide adequate water supply during the quarantine period for its service area, the East Zone, water interruptions still occur. Maynilad, meanwhile, is yet to suspend its daily water interruption, citing that water levels in their reservoir remain low.

The intermittent water supply only shows how basic social services, like water, have worsened because of how the system works—to the point that it now poses a serious health risk, according to the Water for the People Network (WPN), a nongovernment organization that advocates the nationalization of water services around the country.

Since water supply in Metro Manila is now exclusively operated by these two private companies until 2022, government regulators could only do so much in increasing supply to dams and reservoirs as distribution is controlled by Maynilad and Manila Water.

As of May 14, the National Water Resources Board had increased the raw water allocation for Metro Manila and nearby provinces to 48 cubic meters per second (CMS).

PAGE DESIGN AND PHOTOS • DYLAN REYES

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the inefficiency of water companies has become more pronounced.

Residents often resort to buying from water refilling stations.

“Bumili rin kami ng purified water, pero dagdag gastos din kasi ang bilis maubos,” Bella noted, adding that the option to buy water pumps and tanks remain inaccessible for many as it may cost more than P10,000.

Although both Maynilad and Manila Water have offered a water bill due extension, Bella said this would barely scratch the surface, since consumers would still have to pay high billing cost come the lifting of the quarantine period.

The WPN points to privatization as the root cause of declining service quality and high water rates since 1997, during the time of former president Fidel Ramos.

“It has led to expensive and poor supply and sanitation services while boosting the private concessionaires’ profits.

Consumers, especially lowincome families, have been disadvantaged, and this becomes glaring all the more in the time of COVID-19,” the WPN said in their position paper.

For Reggie Vallejos, spokesperson of the WPN, this water crisis in the middle of a pandemic should renew the call to cancel the onerous water concession agreements with Maynilad and Manila Water, given their failure to provide reliable water supply for Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

Though the government said the concession agreements would expire in 2022, President Rodrigo Duterte, however, hinted in a December 2019 speech that he may be inclined to award new water contracts to Villar’s

water utility firm Primewater Infrastructure Corporation. As of 2019, Primewater controls at least 31 local water utilities around the country.

“Palaging sinasabi na may kakulangan sa tubig kaya [may water shortage],” Vallejos said. “Renationalization ng water services ang [dapat mangyari upang] magkaroon ng pagkakataon na ang mga mamamayan ang mamahala sa mga ganitong serbisyo.”

As their family rides out the COVID-19 pandemic and

the lockdown, Bella said that consumers must never stop calling the government out on its inefficiencies. “[There are] concrete solutions na pwedeng gawin ng indibidwal tulad ng pagtulong sa pag-igib or sharing yung nakolekta nyo na tubig,” Bella said. “Kasama [rin] dito [yung] continued clamor for officials to take actual steps na makakatulong sa [taumbayan].” •

*not her real name

Monday, 8 June 2020

13

FEATURES

The Philippine Collegian Special COVID-19 Issue

WARWORKS HARD*

THE

RICHARD CALAYEG CORNELIO

The US-PH arms deal, the Anti-Terror Bill, and the bloody history of counterinsurgency From railroading a bill expanding the definition of terrorism to signing on a hefty arms deal with the US, the administration is hell-bent not only on silencing dissidents, but more so on killing them.

A guy walks into a bar, hours before his trip to Laos, and rattles on about colonial history. At the turn of the 20th century, he says, Americans hollowed out the southern Philippines. Once, they opened fire on 600 Moro villagers cooped up in the crater of a dormant cinder cone, Bud Dajo.

They toted mountain guns and rifle grenades. They butchered women and children with bayonets. It was but one massacre in what would have been the longest military conflict in American history if not for the Afghanistan war.

“I do not have any master, except the Filipino people, nobody but nobody,” the guy said, then, under his breath, muttered “Don’t fuck with me.”

There is no punchline— except that, actually, the guy walked not into a bar but a press conference, before his departure for the ASEAN Summit in 2016.

But President Rodrigo Duterte might as well have been drunk, then, mouthing off for a good five minutes against imperialism. This was back when he went out of his way to hush up any reverence for the United States and feign moral authority on human rights.

Duterte’s allegiances and his savagery, four years into his presidency, are no longer a

14

secret, if they ever once were.

He has emboldened the police and military to go on a killing spree. He has welcomed military aid from the US, with the latter brokering, on April 30, a USD2 billion arms sale that includes helicopters, machine guns, missiles, and warheads. They are an arsenal for foreign-funded, state-initiated terrorism.

Slaughter makes up the warp and woof of all regimes, whether foreign or homegrown. The first on the chopping block are always the critics and dissidents, branded as instigators and terrorists. Who they are is, by law, up to the state to decide and, in the country, may begin to encompass an even more sweeping selection, from civil society to national liberation forces, owing to Senate Bill 1083, or the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, that two House committees approved, on May 30, much to public outcry. Only the president’s veto can block another version of the bill, known as House Bill 6875, from lapsing into law at this point, unless more lawmakers backpedal from their initial yes vote.

But a crisis as grievous as a pandemic—when officials delegate all authority and emergency powers to a man aquiver with bloodlust—all the more provides an excuse for said autocrat to bastardize instruments of law and harness weapons of war. Little hope for civil liberties and security has ever aligned with such regressions— an arms deal and an anti-terror bill—in a democracy sacrificed at the altar of raw power.

Fireworks and missiles, punctures and blisters The war waged on

#SolusyongMedikalHindiMilitar

the

president’s perceived enemies, legitimized by the anti-terror bill, rides roughshod over constitutionally enshrined rights while giving license to police and military overkill.

The bill’s precursor, the Human Security Act of 2007, purported to “protect life, liberty, and property” and set out to define terrorism, rather vaguely, as any crime “sowing and creating a condition of widespread and extraordinary fear and panic among the populace.” Its definition in the new bill is no more helpful or clearer, written such that even the most harmless expression of dissent could provide “probable cause.”

“It will terrorize targeted critics, dissenters and social advocates more than the real terrorists with unbridled state power and prejudice through subjective definitions, arbitrary arrests, and extended detentions,” National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) president Edre Olalia said in a statement.

Terrorists deserve no sympathy. But a government with a track record of over 30,000 deaths on its watch is no judge of who terrorists are from the rest that it is tasked to defend. It cannot, as the bill proposes, wiretap suspected enemies of the state up to 90 days, arrest them without a warrant, or detain them with no charges filed. It cannot, on mere suspicion, criminalize the work of artists, humanitarian workers, or advocates. But, in reality, the administration and its predecessors have done all this before, and more, and all it takes is another document to dot the i’s and cross the t’s to sanction their crimes.

All it takes, too, is endorsing

the law enforcers’ brand of brutality, as though anyone could count enough on the security and invincibility their higher bosses confer on them.

The anti-terror bill, for one, exempts the police or military from any liability and damages for undue detention or wrongful accusation.

Signing the anti-terror bill into law, absolving authorities of culpability and lending them blanket powers, carries a political price. Those on its losing end, however, need no reminding of this. A long history of counterinsurgency may have been expunged from collective memory, but still there are those who know its traumas, its stakes and sense of justice, and the structural impunity they are running up against.

An industry of artificial limbs The enormity of activists’ lives lost over the decades outweighs and belies any supposed benevolence of the powersthat-be writing and wielding the law. They also have at their disposal ammunition bankrolled by taxpayers and foreign allies to step up counterinsurgency efforts and their body count.

Since 2016, for example, the US Department of State and Department of Defense had signed off on nearly USD555 million worth of military contributions to the Philippines—excluding unreported donated artillery— as of 2019, according to the Philippine Embassy in Washington in previous reports.

Much of it remains off the books and might have as well wound up lining the pockets of vigilantes or paramilitaries.

ILLUSTRATION • MIKHAELA CALDERON

The gains from the two countries’ recent transaction will be “headed to Duterte’s state forces who are becoming only more ruthless under COVID-19,” said Drew ElizardeMiller, spokesperson of the International Coalition of Human Rights in the PhilippinesUnited States, in a statement.

“Duterte’s COVID-19 response is de facto martial law—and the new US arms deals will only fortify the president’s arsenal.”

Duterte is no special beneficiary.

Nor is this murderous legacy borne of a new episode in the country’s history. Over a century ago, American soldiers called suicide warriors in the south “juramentados,” a pejorative for what they thought was the latter’s irrational oath-bound struggle for freedom. The same story plays out today. The socalled terrorists on Duterte’s hit list could have easily been described as “juramentados,” and, in a way, they are—redtagged and redbaited, depicted as savages out to run amok.

In 2016, the president invoked the memory of Filipino revolutionaries and perverted it through his self-seeking lens to denounce the very aggression he now displays on such a comparable degree of barbarism. In the same breath, he declared the country a vassal state no more. The words ring hollow, of course, but it pays well to recall that feudal lords met their fate, justly and inevitably, on the scale of their own violence. •

* Apologies to Dunya Mikhail.

Subhead titles were culled from her poem

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Out of the

MARIAN ABIO

Shadows

Sheltering in place is a luxury for vendors, for whom the coronavirus has started to mean a huge loss of income.

What happens to vendors when congested streets empty out?

The streets of North Fairview, swarmed before with commuters and vehicles battling the morning traffic jam, was unusually bare amid the lockdown except for an open market still bustling with vendors and buyers like any usual day.

“Wala naman po kaming magagawa kundi magbenta dahil kailangan [naming] kumita,” Mico* said. He went to his usual post in between a phone repair stall and a vegetable stand.

The eldest in a family of eleven, he would walk 50 meters to the market to sell fruits, slippers, and face masks.

Now that most private establishments are closed in line with the island-wide lockdown, the population relies on informal workers who continue to serve amid the pandemic without a cushion to fall back on, even as they fall prey to health and security risks.

The government has hardly provided safety nets for the millions of Filipinos reliant on this shadow economy for a living. The capital-intensive competition in the market has also only widened their distance from centers of opportunities and resources and, with coronavirus fears stranding them from their jobs, left them adrift.

Overlooked Despite the announcement that violators of the quarantine policy will be arrested, vendors have no choice but to continue selling to make ends meet.

Around 14.5 million informal and dislocated workers in Luzon like Mico are affected by the lockdown, according to thinktank IBON Foundation.

“Kailangan po talaga namin [magbenta] para may panggastos,” Mico said.

“At kailangan din ng mga tao. Kung sarado lahat, wala silang mapagkukuhanan [ng pangangailangan].”

In Fairview, most market vendors would have to travel more than 23 kilometers to

Divisoria, a two-hour commute.

They would receive items from their suppliers, some of whom do not have a vehicle of their own, so they had to stop selling when their products ran out.

“Ang mahirap pa, kailangan pag kukuha ka, isang tao lang dapat kasi nanghihingi sila ng ID,” Mico said. He had to carry all the load by himself the last time he went there.

Although a lot of them continue to sell, they strictly follow the guidelines of a curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. By late afternoon, they vacate the area, per the barangay’s instructions.

“Kapag gabi, umiikot po sila (mga pulis). Lahat ng nasa labas, nagsisipasok, kasi kung hindi, isasama sila sa barangay,” he said. “Nagiging ghost town ito.”

Vendors like him are not legally permitted to operate by the local government, in its effort to reduce the Muslim population in the area, propagating further the longstanding discrimination religious minorities face. The good thing is, vendors of other denominations help and let them carry out their businesses in secret.

Overburdened Before the lockdown, the Department of Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez, at a press briefing last March 13, told non-registered vendors to sell outside Metro Manila to minimize social activity, quickly earning backlash.

The vendors’ “no work, no pay” conditions force them to defy lockdown orders, especially since not all families received relief packs yet from the local government.

Though some mall groceries are permitted to open, waiting in line would take hours. And compared with small-scale vendors, supermarket owners do not lose much in terms of cash inflow and item supply.

“Bawal kasi mamalengke sa ibang lugar dahil sobrang higpit talaga. Pero dito maraming tao, kasi wala nang mabilhan ng

PAGE DESIGN • MA. SOPHIA SIBAL

mga prutas,” Mico explained, pointing at the lane of stalls with various fruits. Fearing that this supply would only last so long, they had to increase the price of their products, earning almost P10,000 the day before.

Even sellers of disinfectants did the same. “May kakilala po kami sa pabrika na nagbebenta ng alcohol, kaso tinaasan yung presyo dahil nagkakaubusan,” he said. One 75-mL bottle could cost as much as P70.

Though outdoor activities are still banned in many areas in Luzon, available stores are still filled with people, like a nearby grocery store with around 50 people lined up outside because of the limited number of buyers that could enter at a time.

Even though customers have their own face masks, Mico does not have one. “Bata pa naman po ako at bihira naman ang cases na bata ang tinamaan ng COVID; puro mga matatanda na mahihina ang resistensiya,” he said, sitting bare-chested with his worn sando slung over his shoulder.

Still, all must have their own protective covering as new findings show vulnerability to the pandemic does not necessarily exempt particular age groups.

The crisis risks lowincome earners the most who, when symptoms arise, would often opt out of checking in at a hospital to avoid further expenses.

the Labor Force Survey of the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The crisis only heightens the impact of lack of social protection on their livelihood and safety.

“Yung tatay ko po may sakit, at yung nanay ko naman, nasa bahay nagbabantay kaya ako lang po ang maaasahan,” Mico said.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) had announced it would give a onetime P5,000 aid to employees of nonessential businesses under its COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP), if they provide their company payroll and a report of closure.

The Labor department disbursed nearly P3.1 billion to over 618,000 formal sector workers, as of May 7, with over 35,000 workers yet unprovided.

Even the current laws and regulations on labor do not cover the informal sector, exposing them to further financial, health, and security risks during crises.

Legislation has been proposed to protect workers from displacement and to provide

insurance options, among other benefits. Filed in December 2019, Senate Bill No. 1221, or the Magna Carta of Workers in the Informal Economy, however, remains pending for approval.

In the meantime, the likes of Mico will have to await help from the government.

“Sana bigyan na lang po nila kami ng permit para pahintulutan na magbenta. Hindi naman po kami patambay-tambay,” he said. “Wala naman po kaming ginagawang masama at sumusunod naman kami sa batas. Ito po ay para lang sa aming mga pamilya.”

Many human rights advocates have called for immediate assistance to vulnerable sectors— instead of the government criminalizing acts of survival amid the current health and economic emergency—including lifting rental fees and penalties, providing financial support, and distributing relief packages.

On a normal day, rain or shine, amid all bustle in the streets with the usual traffic and wayfaring crowd are the vendors, often overlooked, tirelessly making goods to sell, services to render at affordable prices. The city thrives on their hard work. In this crisis, it is only fair to give back and shed light on their plight and pull them out of the shadows. •

*not his real name, per his request for anonymity

Uncovered Although the government aims to assist the affected workers, policies are limited to registered establishments—a rather unfair provision, considering about 15.6 million Filipinos work in the informal sector, according to the latest report from

ILLUSTRATION • RANIELLA GRAZELL MARTINEZ

Monday, 8 June 2020

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ON LIFE SUPPORT

How Social Distancing Takes its Toll on the Filipino Urban Poor

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The Philippine Collegian Special COVID-19 Issue

Residents of the slums of San Roque know that, come hard times, there is nobody to turn to but themselves. Nor can a global pandemic spur the government to step in and act fast.

In an effort to stem the tide of coronavirus transmission, the government moved to sequester cities, restrict mass gatherings, and shut down schools and offices. For impoverished communities in cities, this idea of social distancing means more than just cancelling nonessential travels and social gatherings or dealing with tedious self-isolation.

Fe Seduco, 48, worries about surviving yet another day in Sitio San Roque, a sprawling slum of about 6,000 families in Quezon City, amid a mass quarantine implemented in Luzon. She lives in a dilapidated shack along with her husband who toils away at contractual construction jobs.

Much as she wanted to stockpile supplies as coronavirus fears spiral, her husband’s earnings could hardly provide for their daily needs.

“Kadalasan, ang hanapbuhay dito sa mga construction, sa arawan.

Kapag hindi makatrabaho, walang kakainin. Kaya talaga dumadaing ngayon ang mga tao dito sa San Roque na gutom na raw talaga ang inabot nila. Ang sabi pa nga nila, hindi nga raw sila mamamatay sa COVID, mamamatay naman daw sila sa gutom,” Ate Fe told me over the phone.

The same dilemma reminded me of the people I have met and talked to in pursuit of their stories.

Raul Zaraga, 48, a jeepney driver who plies the UP Ikot route on normal days would probably

ILLUSTRATION • JAMES ATILLO

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bother now how to navigate the remaining days of the quarantine period, considering that they are still barred from operating even as restrictions have begun to ease.

Yolanda survivors are also surely scrambling to survive in Ridgeview Park, a remote relocation site in Tacloban with subpar housing units and irregular access to electricity, water, and livelihood.

The likes of Ate Fe, Mang Raul and the Yolanda survivors cannot simply remove themselves from crowded living setups and densely populated areas.

Relegated further to the margins, they can only rely on social solidarity to narrow the yawning disparities they have to climb out of in this already divided society.

Diagnosis: Critical Condition School and workplace shutdowns, bans on social gatherings, and isolation of sick persons are not at all new public health measures. When aggressive waves of pandemics paralyzed the world in the late 1910s, nonpharmaceutical interventions like social distancing were implemented to reduce the rate of transmissions.

The same extreme social distancing measures are now being emphasized, to contain the growing spread of the COVID-19 while a vaccine is still unavailable.

In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte on March 17 originally placed Luzon under a

month-long lockdown in a bid to manage the spike in cases that would later overwhelm the country’s health system. Three extensions of the lockdown hence, the total infections have ballooned to as many as 18,000. This move of profoundly reorienting public life, effectively freezing the economy, and limiting mobility through inconsistent orders from authorities clearly sparked fear and stirred confusion among Filipinos.

Days ahead of the lockdown, consumers raced to supermarkets, hundreds flocked to terminals, while Ate Fe and the majority of the 7.5 million low-income families in Luzon, per thinktank IBON Foundation’s data, face the bleak prospects of food and job insecurity.

“Nung may panic buying na sinasabi, gustuhin man naming mag-imbak ng pagkain sa bahay, salat kami sa kwarta … lalong lalo na ’yung mga vendor, ‘yung mga padyak, ‘yung mga driver, kung hindi mamamasada, ano ang kakainin nila? Dapat intindihin ‘yun ng gobyerno,” Ate Fe said.

Flattening the curve Clearly, for IBON, the government failed to think of the poorest and the most vulnerable Filipinos who might fall through the cracks of such rigid measures.

“The Duterte administration clearly implemented the Metro Manila and then Luzon lockdowns in a moment of panic. It was dismissive about the pandemic

after the first confirmed COVID-19 case almost [six months ago] and was grossly negligent in failing to immediately take measures to contain the spread of the virus,” said Sonny Africa, executive director of IBON. Although many local government units (LGUs) have already started to provide for the households’ food and supplies, policymakers underestimate the difficulties of grappling with the crisis in urban poor communities.

In Ridgeview, Tacloban, residents carry the brunt of living in houses with poorly constructed drainage, septic tanks, and concrete walls— problems exacerbated by the recent Typhoon Ambo that has left a huge portion of Eastern Visayas devastated.

The unsanitary environment, the intermittent water supply, and the constrained spaces prevent them from religiously washing hands or maintaining at least a sixfoot distance with one another. I learned of this when I once spent a night in a 40-square meter shelter shared by a family of five who sleep shoulder to shoulder on a cold cement floor.

A similar situation is apparent in the NCR where almost half of homes have less than 30 square meters of floor area. Makeshift shanties made of patched-up tarpaulins and rusted corrugated metal sheets are cramped or stacked on top of one another.

BEHINDTHECURVE RICHARD CALAYEG CORNELIO

The most tragic joke yet that the government has played on the public is its fondness for locking up the poor and hungry during the pandemic. The police, for instance, arrested 21 protesting residents of Sitio San Roque in Brgy. Bagong Pag-asa, Quezon City after a violent dispersal of a peaceful protest, April 1.

It had been two weeks, then, since Luzon was put under lockdown, but the food and cash assistance that both the local and national governments had promised had yet to reach urban poor communities like

theirs. The residents took to the streets to demand immediate aid when riot police officers arrived, manhandling the protesters, and hauling them off to Camp Karingal.

The 21 arrested individuals were charged with unlawful assembly, non-cooperation in a health emergency, resistance to authority, and supposed violations of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act. They spent five days in jail before they got out on bail—amounting to P367,500—pooled from donations solicited online, coming even from celebrities

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like Sharon Cuneta’s daughter, Frankie Pangilinan.

The posting of bail, though, hit a snag as some of those arrested did not own or have lost their IDs. It was a tiny detail, but one that resonates with other urban poor communities and seems to speak a great deal to their erasure from the population that the government counts as its constituents.

Countless such erasures are bound to happen if authorities still refuse to deliver aid as the lockdown drags on. The coronavirus might be novel, but hunger is not—it has been known to tear through communities more grindingly and more

Alternative treatment As recent stringent policies dislocate millions of Filipino informal workers, the sense of fellowship with and compassion for the poor and vulnerable groups can do so much in staving off the pandemic’s impact. With businesses shuttering and millions dreading unemployment, the lockdown is bringing the global market closer to a recession which, for many Filipinos, already defines their everyday reality.

While the call for social distancing might indeed head off a larger public health emergency, misguided attempts to bring it to the extreme by alienating others only reinforce a sense of isolationism. We fail to recognize that it is our moral obligation as well to protect others. Since we are interdependent with one another, our welfare relies on our collective interest to take care of each other.

We often invoke this, in our culture, through bayanihan, a tradition of cooperation to respond to community needs, said Athena Presto, a sociology instructor at UP Diliman.

“People expect that bayanihan is just giving. A lot of people don’t recognize that all of us are positioned in different levels in the social grid, therefore we don’t have the same capacity to contribute.

Some of us can contribute monetarily, others can contribute

in terms of moral boosting, or in terms of very little ways, and not necessarily millions,” she said.

Various forms of social activism and volunteerism fortify these solidaries in the face of crises.

For example, the Save San Roque Alliance, which advocates housing rights for the community’s urban poor, began a donation drive to provide for the residents’ needs.

This initiative has collected over a million pesos already.

“Sa pagtulong ng Save San Roque at Kadamay, nabibigyan [ang mga residente] ng lakas ng loob at pag-asa. Nakikita nila na kailangan nilang magpatuloy at lumaban para sa mga susunod pang bukas,” Arvin Dimalanta, convenor of the alliance, said.

Recognizing today’s logistical woes, various groups and individuals also distributed sanitation kits to street dwellers and others who do not have the means to protect themselves from the disease.

This crisis, while capable of dismantling social practices, reminds us that our society is maintained not by a self-seeking ethos, but by our commitment to a common cause. It is through our efforts to stand for the likes of Ate Fe, Mang Raul, or the Yolanda survivors that we can overcome hard knocks and the plague of fear and panic.

After all, if we were to find ourselves in their shoes, we would know where to stand our ground.

We could only wish to submit to measures that, while highly advised, may inflict on our families a precarious future. •

ordinarily than any once-in-alifetime pandemic. But the fact that hunger has been the norm for the poor does not make it any less vicious.

“In a time when the entire world has stopped, the struggle of the marginalized does not end, and social distancing could very well be the last problem of someone with an empty stomach,” the Save San Roque Alliance had said in a statement of support for the 21 arrested residents.

Echoes of what transpired in San Roque would find expression in the police’s further overkill, such as when, on May 1, some residents and wellintentioned relief volunteers from Barangay Central, Quezon City found themselves at Camp

Karingal. They had set up a community kitchen but were somehow said to have violated lockdown measures. Meanwhile, in Marikina, the same script played out, with the arrest of 10 feeding program volunteers for a community of currently out-ofwork jeepney drivers.

While the Marikina mayor was sympathetic enough to order the release of those arrested, all 18 of those from Quezon City had to post bail.

Between that tidy sum and the tens of billions from the public coffers laid aside to deal with the pandemic, thousands of families on the city’s outskirts could have been fed, but are instead left awaiting either their turn behind bars or yet more pangs of hunger to endure. •

“Paano magkaroon ng social distancing dito? Alam nyo naman ang mga bahay dito, kaliit-liit lang, magkakadikit. Magkakaroon ba ng social distancing?” Ate Fe said.

Monday, 8 June 2020

17

LATHALAIN

SignoS Mga pahiwatig ng COVID-19 sa usaping kagutuman, karamdaman, at krisis panlipunan KENT IVAN FLORINO

Pinangangambahan ng World Food Programme ng United Nations ang isang malawakang kagutuman dulot ng pandemya.

Mas malaking banta ang naghihintay sa mga malaon nang di-makaraos na magsasaka sa bansang tulad ng Pilipinas.

The Philippine Collegian Special COVID-19 Issue

Ang paggalaw ng mga imahe sa mga pelikula ay nabibigyangbuhay ng balangkas ng kasalukuyang krisis pangkalusugan — dumarami ang bilang ng mga positibong kaso ng COVID-19 bawat araw.

Bunsod nito, nagpataw ng isang malawakang lockdown simula Marso at nagtayo ng mga istasyong pagrorondahan ang pulutong ng militar at pulisya.

Ngunit kasabay ng pagbabarikada sa mga daanan ay ang pagkipot ng oportunidad na magkaroon ng sapat na panlamang-tiyan sa panahon ng ligalig. Ayon sa Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), maraming magsasaka ang hindi pinahihintulutang makapunta sa mga sakahan at ipinagbibili na lamang sa Facebook ang kakaunting aning naiipit ng lockdown.

Bago pa man ang pandemya, nagbabadya na ang taggutom sa kanayunan dahil sa suportang matagal nang isinuko ng gobyerno sa interes ng tubo ng mga namumuhunan, komersyante, at arosero.

Pinalulubha lang lalo ng sakit ang pagkabalisa ng mga magsasaka at ng mamamayang nakaasa sa kanila.

Hanggang di malay ang mga namamahala sa pinsalang hatid ng agrikulturang nakatuon sa kita, laksa-laksang salimuot pa ang tatakbuhin sa paggalugad ng tugon sa suliranin sa pagkain habang naiipit ang bansa sa kawalang-katiyakan.

Armageddon Malaon nang nasubaybayan sa kasaysayan na matindi ang relasyong nabubuo ng kagutuman at pandemya.

Nililimliman ng krisis ang napipintong d a u s d o s sa suplay ng pagkain at, sa matagal na panahon, ang ganitong kawalan ng seguridad ang naghihinang sa kondisyong magsisilang sa bagong bayolohikal na banta sa mundo.

Isang halimbawa ang pagharap ng Kanlurang Aprika sa Ebola noong 2013. Nagmula

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ang naturang sakit sa mga paniking nagbibitbit ng Zaire Ebolavirus. Bagaman kultural na impluwensya ang pagkain ng nasabing bushmeat, isa rin itong alternatibong pinagkukunan ng protina sa mga bansang sadlak sa hirap, ayon sa pananaliksik ni Tammy Mildstein mula sa Cornell College at ng ibang wildlife ecologist noong 2015.

Litaw ito sa rehiyong sumailalim sa oportunismo ng malalaking kumpanyang nagkakamal ng kita sa mga produktong hindi kinakailangan ng bansa sa gitna ng outbreak.

Sa inilabas na dokumento ng Land Matrix, isang database ng mga kasunduan sa lupa sa buong mundo, mayroong 127 proyektong sumasaklaw sa halos 5.3 milyong ektaryang lupain ng Kanlurang Aprika. Malalaking korporasyong transnasyonal mula sa US at Europa ang may hawak sa higit kalahating kabuuan nito.

Bunsod nito, 15 porsyento na lamang ng kagubatan ang nananatili sa rehiyon, batay sa United Nations Environment Programme noong 2006. Isa sa nangungunang tumatagpas sa malaking bahagdan ng lupa ang plantasyong monocrop tulad ng cacao, palm oil, at goma, ayon sa Proforest, isang organisasyong non-profit.

Noong 2019, napag-alaman sa pag-aaral ng grupo ni Jesús Olivero ng Universidad de Málaga sa Espanya na, dahil sa pagkakalbo sa kagubatan, lima sa 20 paniking posibleng bitbit ang Zaire Ebola strain ang nawalan ng tirahan at mas naging malapit sa tao. Numipis ang kanilang likas na pinamumugaran, habang libu-libong residente’t maliliit na magsasaka rin ang pinalayas sa sariling tahanan upang magbigay-daan sa malalaking sakahan ng mga banyagang kumpanya.

Sa ganang ito, yumabong ang kalakalan ng bushmeat sa kabila ng ban na ipinataw ng mga gobyerno sa Kanlurang Aprika.

Naging madali ang paghuli at pagkonsumo ng mga dating mailap na hayop tulad ng mga paniking maaaring nagdadala ng mapaminsalang virus.

Matapos ang unang sigwa ng Ebola noong Pebrero 2015, umabot sa 300 libong katao ang naiwang walang kasiguraduhan sa pagkain, batay sa datos ng Food and Agriculture Organization ng United Nations.

DIBUHO • MIKHAELA CALDERON

Masisipat sa sakuna na ang paglagim ng sakit ay may katumbas na kawalan ng seguridad sa pagkain. Habang nananatiling paurong ang estado ng agrikultura, ganito ang napipisil na imahe ng Pilipinas sa pagrurok ng tensyong dulot ng COVID-19.

Exodus Walang pinagkaiba ang rolyong gumugulong sa Kanlurang Aprika at Pilipinas pagdating sa agrikultura— parehong binabansot ng mga negosyo ang mga magsasaka, dahilan para masadlak ang bansa sa gitna ng kawalan ng malinaw na tunguhin. Lalo itong lumalala habang pilit tinatapalan ng mga palisiyang nagdudulot ng palubog na takbo ng mga reserbang komoditi na bigas, isda at karne.

Matagal nang may pangitain sa magiging lagay ng pagkain sa bansa lalo’t nilagdaan ang Rice Tariffication Law (RTL).

Mula nang alisin ang quantitative restriction o dami ng maaaring iangkat na murang bigas mula sa karatig-bansa, maraming pesante ang nalubog sa utang matapos mapilitang isadsad ang presyo ng lokal na bigas.

Manipestasyon ng kasalukuyang kakapusan ang pag-aangkat ng tatlong milyong metriko toneladang bigas noong Enero upang mapawi ang hanggang anim na porsyentong taunang kakulangan sa suplay, ayon sa KMP. Ngayong nagsara na sa pandaigdigang merkado ang malalaking tagapagluwas ng bigas tulad ng Vietnam, wala nang ibang aasahan sa kalaunan kundi ang lokal na industriya ng pananim.

“Bumaba na nga ang suplay [dahil sa RTL], may karanasan pa tayong nabubulok lang [ang ani] at hindi napapamahagi,” ani Danilo Ramos, tagapangulo ng KMP. “Ngayong may COVID-19, kailangan nating ipanawagan na palakasin yung local palay production dahil kaya nating sustentuhan ang sarili natin.”

Ganito rin ang hinaing ng mga meat processor at mangingisda sa mga checkpoint na nagpapabagal sa pagpoproseso ng mga produktong ipagbibili pagkat hindi na umaabot ang karne at isda sa mga pamilihan ng Metro Manila. Napipilitang ibenta ang mga ito sa mga lokal na palengke.

DISENYO NG PAHINA • MA. SOPHIA SIBAL

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Posibleng maging tuntungan ng mga negosyo ang napipintong kakulangan sa suplay upang makapagtaas ng presyo. Ngunit ang higit na makapagbibigaykatwiran sa mga negosyante upang magpatong ng presyo ay ang kamakailang paghina ng kalakalan sa pandaigdigang stock market na sintomas ng matagal nang pingangambahang panibagong resesyon.

Pinaglalaruan ng mga korporasyong may monopolyo sa merkado ang desperasyon ng publiko. Adaptasyon ng kwentong ito ang food riot ng daan-daang residente sa Yingcheng, Hubei sa Tsina dahil sa pagtaas ng halaga ng mga importanteng bilihin tulad ng pagkain at kagamitang medikal, kasabay ng pagkasaid ng mga pamilihan dahil sa hoarding.

Hindi iglapang penomena ang ganitong mga eksena ng pandemya, bagkus kinahinatnan ng sistemikong pagsasawalangbahala ng gobyerno at ng pagsangkalan sa karapatan sa pagkain ng mamamayan.

Makaaalpas lamang ang bansa sa siklo ng sakit at taggutom kung may pagkalinga ang mga namamahala sa kanilang pinagsisilbihan— pagtiyak na ang mga patakarang ipinatutupad sa quarantine ay hindi para gutumin ang bawat Pilipino, hindi makaaapekto sa suplay na kailangang umabot sa mga pamilihan.

Sa komprehensibong dokumentong inilabas ng IBON Foundation, isang think-tank sa Pilipinas, humihiling ito ng ayudang P97 bilyon para sa 9.8 milyong pwersang mambubukid upang maipagpatuloy ang kanilang produksyon sa gitna ng COVID-19. Subalit tanging P1 bilyon lamang ang ipinangako ng Department of Agriculture, at magmumula pa ito sa pautang— sa halip na walang pasubaling ayuda—isang panlalansi sa panahong ipit ang nasa laylayan sa krisis.

Sa gitna nito, iginigiit sa gobyernong bigyangprayoridad ang kaligtasan ng mga pesanteng taliba ng lipunan

laban sa kawalan ng seguridad sa pagkain.

Isang malaking pinilakang tabing ang mundo at nakasubaybay ang bawat tao sa paghantong ng COVID-19 sa pambihirang pihit ng pagtatapos—matunton ng mamamayan ang daan upang singilin ang nanunungkulan habang binibigyang-lunas ang pagkalam ng kanilang sikmura. •

FEAST/FAMINE BEATRICE PUENTE & RICHARD CALAYEG CORNELIO Global food supply chains are snapping, with ripple effects on previously self-sufficient nations like the Philippines.

The clamor is mounting for the deployment of food relief to many fringe communities barely on the government’s radar. In the short run, some groups and civilians are stepping in to lead donation drives. Yet even they are not exempt from human rights violations at the hands of state forces.

Six volunteers of Tulong Anakpawis and Sagip Kanayunan were arrested in Norzagaray, Bulacan, on April 19. Carrying the required quarantine passes, the volunteers were stalled at a checkpoint on their way to deliver goods to a peasant and urban-poor community in Norzagaray.

They were accused of violating the law on reporting communicable diseases and inciting sedition.

Former representative Ariel Casilao, who is also the national vice president of Anakpawis Partylist and who had tried to negotiate for the volunteers’ release, also faced charges of usurpation of authority.

“Clearly this is nothing else but harassment against efforts

by NGOs (non-government organizations). The Duterte administration has been irate at private efforts to help those in need as it further exposes the government’s lack of action and incapability,” Bayan Muna Rep. Ferdinand Gaite said.

The police granted the volunteers temporary freedom after posting bail, April 22. “It is both the right and duty of

ILLUSTRATION • MIKHAELA CALDERON

every Filipino to aid those in need,” Casilao said in a previous report, echoing the campaign for ensuring food security in the country, more so during the pandemic.

Although the Department of Agriculture has assured the public of an adequate supply of goods in cities under lockdown, food security could not be guaranteed if the government continues failing to support local farmers in favor of importing goods, according to peasant groups in a virtual presser, April 27.

“Hindi nakapag-produksyon at ani ang mga magsasaka. Yung kanilang produkto rin ay hindi nabibili, kaya ang ating mga magsasaka ngayon ay gutom ang inaabot,” said Cathy Estavillo, spokesperson of rice advocacy

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group Bantay Bigas. If anything, the quarantine extension in several areas has only left farmers and farmworkers in a far worse situation, with little to no profit at all.

Farmers in the Cordillera region had to throw their harvest away last March because the lockdown made the movement of goods difficult. Causeoriented groups have since launched an online Bagsakan market. Consumers can place online orders and have produce from farmers delivered right at their doorstep.

These initiatives, however, could only do so much to help millions as long as the same system of neglect persists.

Relying on imports to ensure food security, they said, is a false promise. Estavillo lamented the government’s plan to buy rice worth P8 billion through a government-togovernment scheme.

“Nananawagan [tayo] sa NFA (National Food Authority) na sa halip na mag-import ay bilhin na lang nila ang lahat ng products ng ating magsasaka,” Estavillo said. For local peasant groups, food security could also never be fully realized if the government does not root out the fact that seven out of 10 farmers remain landless to date, said Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas chairperson Danilo Ramos.

“Wala pong tunay na reporma sa lupa,” Ramos said, “kaya ang lumilikha ng pagkain ang nagugutom, pati ang mamamayan.” The Duterte administration is all too glad to perpetuate landlessness, he added, which keeps farmers from maximizing the use of land to plant crops that could actually benefit more Filipinos. “Kung dati, may isang kahig, isang tuka; sa ilalim ni Duterte, wala na talagang matuka.” •

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The Philippine Collegian Special COVID-19 Issue

Diagnosis of Demagoguery What Duterte’s derangements mean for democracy and the free press RICHARD CALAYEG CORNELIO

Elizabeth Zimmerman, in open court and under oath, described her marriage as “miserable and unhappy.” She and her husband had been sleeping on separate beds for nearly a decade. He was a womanizer and quickly lost his temper. When she confronted him about a woman who had identified herself as his lover, he said, “Leave me alone. I know what I am doing.”

Zimmerman wished him out of her life, but infidelity could not be cited as grounds for annulment in the Philippines. So she turned to a psychologist, whose report, later entered into evidence, found her husband to be afflicted with a “grandiose sense of self-entitlement and manipulative behaviors” and a “pervasive tendency to demean, humiliate others and violate their rights and feelings.”

Such are the hallmarks of antisocial narcissistic personality disorder, the court records say—qualities that would, in 2016 and onward, energize and endear half of the nation to Zimmerman’s now ex-husband, Rodrigo Duterte, and disaffect and displease the other half.

These very tendencies are chronically on display in the president’s rhetoric and demeanor as he alternately castigates and appeases Filipinos during an

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unprecedentedly calamitous pandemic.

Duterte’s character has never been more instructive at a moment of national peril demanding a leader’s rigor, empathy, and, at the very least, capacity to sustain a train of thought. Instead, his coronavirus briefings afford a weekly barrage of run-on sentences and leaps of logic amplified at fever pitch.

They offer him a bully pulpit to rave, confuse, brag, lie, and hold the people hostage to his version of reality.

These episodes of lip service and histrionics do more than downplay the devastating blows the country has so far been dealt. They also serve as oxygen for the president’s grander bid for autocratic power and could foreshadow the shape of things to come from under the rubble of a demolished democracy.

Distress and distractions Democracy’s sell-by date is beyond foreknowledge, but the perversion of truth, a democratic ideal, is a reliable indicator. What now passes for “truth” are the president’s pronouncements that have crowded the vacuum of public discourse. They set, more oppressively than ever, the tone for a news cycle or two.

#SolusyongMedikalHindiMilitar

Duterte’s tirades against his critics have become the core of his weekly report to the nation. From his innuendos to life-threatening remarks, the president displays the hallmark of a madman—eager to put an end not only to people’s liberties, but even to democratic values.

The din from Malacañang resonates at a frequency that people could have tuned out three months ago. For in the same span, while Duterte has continued flouting facts, his administration has doubled down on his assaults on the press and even gone on to shutter ABS-CBN, the country’s leading TV network.

Framing the shutdown, though momentous, as the death of press freedom overlooks, for one, the literal deaths of scores of Filipino journalists in the past four years. The outpouring of support for ABS-CBN should also hardly be mistaken for a dismissal of the media giant’s penchant for rather cheap amusement, its allegiance to obscenely rich oligarchs, or whatever other follies it has drawn flak for.

Such flaws are at least as apparent in others. Yet what Duterte calls the media’s corruption has been catalyzed by his very project to bend the law to his repressive reflexes— with threats of libel or revoked licenses—and to demonize whoever dares to question him, which is part and parcel of the

media’s duty.

This latest move might not go down favorably even among Duterte’s base, but he has still much to gain from it, if only to distract the public from the letdowns that are sure to come.

“One thing consistent with this government is its ability to create all these distractions,” said Jonathan Ong, a professor of media and communications at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The point is to exhaust enough of the people enough of the time to muddy the waters even more. “There would be a big news event that will draw so much public attention and clamor, expend all our energies—everyone is riled up and angry—while, behind the scenes, there’s another deal, another shady transaction going on.”

The uproar over the ABS-CBN closure need not obscure any scummy government conspiracy when tragedies are hiding in plain sight—a curve that has not so much flattened as plateaued, a multibillion-peso coronavirus

PAGE DESIGN • MA. SOPHIA SIBAL

war chest that has scarcely translated into a relief package, and a raft of lockdown orders that are ratcheting up more arrests and anxieties than any advances towards recovery.

“In a situation where accurate and swift information is crucial, we are only likely to get what the government chooses to share,” said Rhea Padilla, national coordinator of progressive media network AlterMidya. Padilla’s colleagues, who still report from the regions, have found anomalies in cash aid distribution on the ground versus official figures released by local governments. “This information would likely be incomplete, inaccurate, sanitized, and untruthful,” she said.

The hope for policy decisions that would steer Filipinos away from risk diminishes a bit more every day. Meanwhile, officials sink the public further into new depths of political sludge, the toll of which bears so disproportionately on the poor who had often turned to the

ILLUSTRATION • RANIELLA MARTINEZ

FEATURES

The language behind Duterte’s coronavirus briefings lately is less a matter of improvisation than of calculations to deflect the majority’s disillusion towards the structural problems the pandemic has unmasked against what he wishes them to believe are the more legitimate fears at hand.

ABS-CBN’s relay stations for information.

The network’s strength is in its national news coverage reaching rural areas to give them a sense of the nation, said Diosa Labiste, who used to report from Iloilo City as a community journalist before teaching at UP Diliman Department of Journalism.

“Many households rely on free TV,” she said, “and now you’re cutting them off from the artery of information. You’re rendering them less knowledgeable about many issues, not just politics, but also about how they can access help and what to do in the time of pandemic.”

Deflections and denials There is no more opportunistic virus than a leader given to monomaniacal ramblings in the face of a crisis.

Duterte has long placed his viciousness and vacuousness front and center. But the language behind his coronavirus briefings lately is less a matter of improvisation than of calculations to deflect the majority’s disillusion towards the structural problems the pandemic has unmasked—poverty, for instance, breeding a host of comorbidities—against what he wishes them to believe are the more legitimate fears at hand.

The method to his madness begins with a red herring. Just as the ABS-CBN shutdown qualifies as one, so too do his references to the New People’s Army, the armed wing of the communist left. Last April 23, he bewailed, with guttural sounds to mimic gunshots, the funds his government splurged on to kill off insurgents. He has bullied, in vulgar terms, not only the NPA but also mayors and

opposition politicians.

Next to misdirection comes bluster. He never passes up a chance to mention his alleged legal knowhow as an ex-prosecutor, and has taken a crack at science, too, with screwball theories about vaccines from cobras and antibodies from horses.

He also channels such vanity to claim foresight of the crisis.

“Itong COVID na ito—ito talaga yung tunay na, at the start, sinabi ko sa inyo, ‘Bantay kayo dito, bantay tayo,’” he said on April 6, despite his remarks, on February 3, about the “unwarranted hysteria” over the outbreak.

Duterte hones his selfaggrandizement with denials and delusions at odds with even his own previous lies. He said the country was the first in Asia to implement a travel ban, despite his government’s initial insistence against it for fear of antagonizing China. He has claimed to have imposed a lockdown ahead of others in the region when, in fact, Vietnamese government had done so almost a month before he did.

“Of course, this is a lie, and netizens have the receipts to call him out,” said Pauline Estella, a lecturer in communication studies at Technische Universität Ilmenau in Germany. Duterte has spokespersons, legal counsels, and spin doctors to interpret whatever gibberish he spouts during his latenight appearances, which, in themselves, are the rallying point for his base, anyway.

Fact-checking matters less in so-called post-truth politics, in which, Estella said, appeals to emotion trump common sense and science.

Ironically, it makes sense, then, that Duterte has made his personal life, his idiosyncrasies and biases, a trademark of what should be self-effacing, unitybuilding messages. “Clearly, his speeches were a waste of airtime,” Estella added. “But by shifting the focus onto himself or his own rants and anecdotes, he is establishing his image as a hands-on, authentic, and approachable leader—a ’tatay’ to his supporters.”

Duterte’s loyalists vibrate to his every lament. So, when the country’s most powerful man regrets having skipped his partner’s birthday in Davao to hunker down, a lockdown—no matter the setbacks it means for down-and-out families still awaiting aid—starts to seem like

a tiny shared sacrifice. He has, by contrast, found scapegoats in loiterers defying curfew hours.

He has seized on the popular frustrations with the supposedly undisciplined poor, to pass the buck to individuals and blame them for when things go awry.

Dissonance and dissemblance There is no overstating the horrors in store at Duterte’s helm.

Yet any complacency about doing one’s part—sheltering in place and washing hands—is magical thinking, a copout. Not everyone affords the luxury of resignation, but those who do should instead begin to reckon with the long-term damage that Duterte’s derangements herald for the people and the democracy he is sworn to serve and safeguard.

This task, however, might entail lending the president’s words space and, by extension, resonance—the hazard of articulating the lies you wish to debunk, of wading through a rhetoric so steeped in bad faith that, in the process, you risk ventriloquizing your dissent, normalizing the toxicity you set out to decry.

The danger is to either come out on the defensive or skid down the slippery slope of a he-said-she-said formula—one of the many conventions of journalism that begs rethinking, said Luis Teodoro, a Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility trustee and former dean of UPD College of Mass Communication. For example, Teodoro noted, “the principle of prominence is, in actual practice, basically reporting what the powerful, the abled, and the wealthy say, to the exclusion of the powerless and the poor.”

Wielding words is an even more double-edged business for the few lesser reporters whom Duterte has sensed he can leverage for political clout. So is the case against profit-oriented journalism that defaults to “clickbait, which leads to business models that are not about rewarding investigative work but about the attractive headline, the arousing image, the misleading but quite resonant words, about emotions being triggered,” said Ong, who has also written about media witnessing and the moral duties of the press.

Because Duterte’s presidency remains a wellspring of sensationalist news, it is too

tempting to deadlock on the perils of his psychology. But interrogating whether he has the makings of a sociopath misses the point. He has thrived right from the get-go not despite, but precisely because of, his pathological lying, aggression, incoherence, and irrationality. A medical diagnosis barely makes all this a newfound insight.

The news cycle should rather be well past the point of asking what is wrong with Duterte and instead probe what else might go wrong if he is not reined in.

The real question persists: Should Filipinos continue letting democratic institutions crumble in the hands of a madman? The answer might just be the key to the country’s long overdue divorce from an abusive marriage. •

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NEWS

The Philippine Collegian Special COVID-19 Issue

Inmate’s death sparks stronger campaign to decongest jails during pandemic BEATRICE PUENTE & DANIEL SEBASTIANNE DAIZ While the lower courts have begun releasing a number of low-level inmates, the Supreme Court (SC), on the other hand, has kept mum about a petition filed by political prisoners that has been pending for two months now.

A total of 22 political prisoners urged the high court to release sick, elderly, and vulnerable inmates who might contract the novel coronavirus, April 8. But Solicitor General Jose Calida, in a comment forwarded to the SC on April 24, opposed the petition, citing that congestion does not qualify as a ground to release the prisoners. Calida’s response is consistent with his other legally suspicious recommendations of late, such as pushing for the closure of ABS-CBN. Political prisoner Adelaida Macusang, diagnosed with hypertension and an enlarged heart, did not live to see the petition materialize.

After experiencing severe stomach pain and nausea on May 4, she was declared dead on arrival at a hospital in Tagum City, Davao del Norte. Initial reports from her doctors stated that she suffered from kidney failure and cardiac arrest.

Macusang was not even tested for the virus. Many others have similar pre-existing illnesses and immunocompromised health, suffering as well the deplorable conditions inside penitentiaries. To the prisoners’ detriment, outbreaks inside these facilities are now emerging, human rights group Karapatan wrote in a statement, May 5.

must heed their urgent appeals before it’s too late,” Karapatan deputy secretary general Roneo Clamor said.

Kapatid, a group of families and friends of political prisoners, found such remarks as those

by Court Administrator Midas Marquez on April 20 a mere rehash of previous court orders.

Still, in any case, the group appreciated the SC’s recognition of the problem at hand.

“If we can convince the key decision makers about this, it has to be done quickly,” said Fides Lim, spokesperson of Kapatid, and also the wife of National Democratic Front consultant Vicente Ladlad, one of the petitioners. “Wala nang political color dito. Kasi, [it must be] viewed simply as human lives, ‘yun lang.” To expedite the process, they continue to urge the high court to form a committee that would handle the release of qualified prisoners.

But the government has belittled said petition as a mere stunt of so-called communist groups to get out of jail. Calida

Unanswered petition The SC has issued guidelines directing trial courts to fast-track the release of inmates who have served their sentences or whose trials have long been delayed, but the court’s move is still shy of an omnibus rule to set qualified inmates free amid the pandemic.

“Jails are already reporting outbreaks of the disease and the government needs to act to curb its transmission. The SC

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#SolusyongMedikalHindiMilitar

has even boasted that jails around the country have better hospital facilities than those outside.

“There has to be a decisive measure like what Iran did,” Lim said, citing the Iranian judiciary’s decision to free about 85,000 people from jails as of March 17. She added that their campaign is not only limited to political prisoners, but includes common detainees as well.

Ticking time bomb Kapatid hopes that, at least, free COVID-19 testing be made available to the inmates. As of May 25, about 517 prisoners at the Bureau of Management and Penology (BJMP) jails have already tested positive for the virus. The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), on the other hand, reported that 222 inmates have contracted the virus as of June 4, including 31 recoveries and 10 deaths.

Jail managements have become tightlipped on the latest numbers, but estimates show that this number is still increasing. Groups fear that this is an undercount, since the government has announced neither plans to test all inmates nor protocols for a strict

quarantine.

Oft-invoked preventive measures like physical distancing and personal hygiene are nearly impossible to observe inside jails.

Latest international audits have shown that the BJMP has a 534 percent congestion rate, with a total of over 215,000 detainees in its 476 facilities nationwide.

Similarly, the BuCor reported in January a 317 percent rate, catering to nearly 50,000 inmates.

“Very early on, Kapatid forewarned both the BJMP and the BuCor that no prison is a locked environment that can keep out the highly transmissible COVID-19,” Lim said, noting that several jail staff are exposed to the outside environment, even though jails have been on lockdown for months already.

The Justice department, for its part, has relaxed the requirements for application of parole or pardon. Per an order dated April 15, some 200 inmates may receive President Rodrigo Duterte’s power of pardon and parole, pursuant to Section 19, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution.

The SC, too, despite having

sat on the petition for too long, has ordered the release of over 22,500 detainees, as of May 29, due to the expedited procedures for their release.

The court has issued a circular that reduced bail to most inmates or allowed for their release through recognizance, by which the custody of those who cannot post bail will be transferred to the barangay, city, or municipality.

Yet many more vulnerable to coronavirus remain in jails across the country. Families of the petitioner inmates have written to SC Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta to follow up on their plea to release their relatives. Kapatid, too, has launched a petition that has already gathered signatories from various individuals and groups.

“Ang pagpapalaya ng mga bilanggong bulnerable sa panahon ng sakuna ng COVID-19 ay makatao, makatwiran at makatarungan,” Lim said. “Makatwiran at makatarungan lamang na kumilos na rin ang Pilipinas para magligtas ng buhay.” •

KAPATID

LUCKY DELA ROSA

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Mass testing sought as experts urge gov’t to boost lab capacity nationwide JOEY ABESAMIS Ramping up the country’s capacity to conduct more COVID-19 tests is crucial to formulating policy decisions, particularly on reopening industries after regional lockdowns.

Scientists and experts say the government has yet to make testing a priority as, three months since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, the public still has no clear picture of how the disease has spread over the country.

Rather than heeding the call for mass testing, government officials have diluted the appeal into a petty semantic issue. No less than Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque took the lead in scrutinizing the term “mass testing.” Advocacy groups, for their part, had explained even in early March that the phrase refers to the ramped-up testing of frontliners and other vulnerable individuals, not the entire population.

The current situation has led to drastic outcomes. The Philippines, as of mid-May, tallied the highest death rate and slowest recovery rate in the entire Southeast Asia, infectious diseases expert Dr. Benjamin Co said in an interview with the ABSCBN News Channel.

Yet the Department of Health (DOH) was bold enough to claim that the country was

Whatever the exit strategy is for the lockdown, it’s only going to work if you have in place, the capacity of the healthcare system, not just to treat the sick people but to be able to detect the cases, isolate them, and do the contact tracing—all of which starts with testing, said Danac.

beginning to flatten the curve, contrary even to official data.

To begin with, the low testing capacity cannot accurately indicate the actual curve, especially since only about 0.08 daily tests per thousand people are being administered, as of June 3.

UP molecular biologist Joshua Danac thinks the Philippines may just have hit the limits of the government’s testing capacity.

“It’s also possible na kaya lang nao-observe na parang nagfa-flatten yung curve is because we simply hit the ceiling of our testing capacity. We know this kasi if you look at the dayto-day [results], hindi pa rin bumababa, wala pang nakikitang downward trend in the cases of COVID-19,” said Danac, a member of Scientists Unite Against COVID-19, in a May 12 press briefing.

Dr. Jomar Rabajante, a UPLB professor and member of the UP COVID-19 Pandemic Response Team, supports this, saying it is more likely that the plateauing trend hardly indicates the actual epidemic curve. Boosting labs’ capacity is needed, he said, if the government wants to urgently address this public health emergency.

A worthy investment It all begins with investment.

In March, as the country began to grapple with the adverse effects of the new coronavirus, only six laboratories were accredited to conduct testing, with the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) managing most tests at around 2,000 per day.

The too few labs are among the main issues behind the country’s limited testing capacity—a problem that the DOH only began to address, though sluggishly, toward the end of March. The 41 accredited real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing labs nationwide, as of June 7, are still not enough, as proven by the huge backlog and delays in validating results. A total of 13 GeneXperts laboratories are also available.

While advocacy groups like Scientists Unite Against

INFOGRAPHIC • KENT IVAN FLORINO

COVID-19 understand that lab accreditation might be tedious, as biosafety requirements have to be ticked off, they believe the government’s performance so far should be worrisome enough to necessitate a spedup accreditation process (see sidebar).

It is also crucial to meet laboratories’ needs, which include ensuring an adequate supply of testing kits and other materials.

More individuals must also be trained to conduct molecular diagnostic work to handle ever-increasing caseload, Danac told the Collegian in a phone interview.

One of the efforts to address this is the initiative of the UP National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology which helped train 54 medical technicians in conducting RT-PCR tests.

Another challenge for the Health department is the accessibility of labs to regional areas, as most labs are in the National Capital Region. There is also an issue between public and private labs, which further

complicates the accessibility of testing.

For Danac, providing subsidy to laboratories will help address this concern. “It will be beneficial if they (the government) could subsidize private labs so they will also accept samples and get everyone in on the whole effort,” said Danac.

The crucial role of mass testing Only through helping laboratories nationwide can the country move forward and conduct mass testing.

“Building our testing capacity is one of the most important prerequisites for the ‘new normal,’ an investment to equip us to fight COVID-19 and future pandemics,” wrote Scientists Unite Against COVID-19 in an online statement.

“Mass testing is not going to be easy but that should be no excuse for the government not to do it.”

The lack of investment in mass testing has deprived the country of the data needed to effectively contain the virus. Whatever models and predictions scientists make will only be as good as the data,

which, again, can only be collected through testing, according to health experts.

Policies arrived at with incomplete and inaccurate information could lead to disastrous consequences, at great risk to more vulnerable communities. “Sabi nga ni Doc [Anthony] Leachon, we need real-time and granular data,” said Dr. Rabajante. “For example, baka yung delayed data ang maging reason why ang isang lugar ay manatiling nasa ECQ. Mas mabilis dapat tayo sa virus.”

As quarantine restrictions slowly ease, more and more people might become exposed and endangered unless a sustainable testing capacity is built.

“Whatever the exit strategy is for the lockdown, it’s only going to work if you have in place, the capacity of the healthcare system, not just to treat the sick people but to be able to detect the cases, isolate them, and do the contact tracing—all of which starts with testing,” said Danac. •

LABORATORY ACCREDITATION PROCESS

SELF-ASSESSMENT The laboratory must first assess its capability to conduct COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, from checking the available equipment and personnel, to assessing the management and safety systems in place.

ON-SITE ASSESSMENT A team from the Department of Health (DOH) will review the lab’s self-assessment before scheduling an on-site visit. The Health department will then provide assessment points, which the lab must comply with within a specific time period.

FULL-SCALE IMPLEMENTATION Upon passing the stages, the DOH will recommend them to conduct COVID-19 testing. Five positive samples must be submitted to the RITM for confirmation and if both results match, the laboratory can then conduct independent testing. The accredited lab would still need to take part in the RITM’s PT program, so as to monitor the lab’s performance.

COMPLIANCE When the lab has successfully fulfilled all other requirements, the DOH will then recommend them to proceed to the next stage.

PROFICIENCY TESTING A proficiency test (PT) panel will be provided by the lab from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) that the lab must pass before proceeding to the next step.

On this stage, they will be given unknown samples, which will determine their ability to accurately test for COVID-19.

SOURCE • Department of Health Press Advisory

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NEWS

Braving death on the frontlines

Health workers take the fall as gov’t botches pandemic response BEATRICE PUENTE & DANIEL SEBASTIANNE DAIZ For a tertiary-level medical institution that specializes in infectious and communicable diseases, much is expected from San Lazaro Hospital in Sta. Cruz, Manila at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was the first hospital in the country to have dealt with what was previously called the novel coronavirus disease (nCoV) in January. The World Health Organization Philippines had declared the hospital ready, having followed necessary protocols and equipped its staff with personal protective equipment (PPE).

But accounts from nurses in San Lazaro reveal otherwise.

Stationed at the triage section, nurse Janice Budy, 39, is among the first health workers to accommodate individuals who go to San Lazaro to get checked for COVID-19. In her 14 years of working in the health sector, similar outbreaks are no stranger to her.

“Yung mga emerging and reemerging diseases … napagdaanan na namin yan,” said Budy, citing H1N1 flu, Ebola, and MERS-CoV as examples.

What makes COVID-19 different, however, is the government’s lack of preparation to handle the situation. “Kami na nasa loob, nandun yung takot namin sa haharapin naming sakit

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kasi alam namin na yung mga gamit, mga PPEs ay hindi sapat,” she said. “Simpleng sabon, wala kami—isang taon na yun.”

Budy’s situation is shared not only by her co-workers in San Lazaro, but by thousands like them who stand on the frontlines of this crisis mitigation. They risk their safety to deliver perhaps the most crucial service to the public at present, even amid the deficiency of government concern for their welfare.

Hazard From the first time the country confirmed a positive COVID-19 infection, much has changed as cases continue to rise exponentially. As of June 6, a total of 21,340 individuals have contracted the virus. Meanwhile, over 2,600 health workers have also tested positive for the virus, as of June 1, manifesting how dangerous their jobs are without state-sponsored proper protection (see sidebar 1).

The problem, however, does not end in the lack of PPE. Even before the pandemic blew up, many health workers, especially nurses, had been suffering deteriorating conditions in the sector. Budy, for example, has experienced working for 16 straight hours during the measles outbreak last year, even though they were only supposed to render an eight-hour service.

#SolusyongMedikalHindiMilitar

At Budy’s hospital, even after their duty, the first batch of medical personnel assigned to COVID-19 patients was quarantined with no proper ventilation and water source.

“Naliligo sila using bidet,” said Jaymee de Guzman of the Filipino Nurses United at a press briefing, March 12. They were given only adobo for three consecutive meals a day.

Despite those long hours at work, they get no extra benefits from the hospital administration.

“Hindi na kami nagde-demand ng monetary [compensation].

Ang demand lang sana namin ay compensatory off hours,” De Guzman said. “If we’re working long hours, [dapat bigyan kami ng] additional off duty.”

Not even their current salary could justly reward all their efforts. Last year, the Supreme Court ruled on one case that an entry-level government nurse should receive at least P32,053, in line with the Nursing Act of 2002. In reality, nurses have been suffering more than a decade of stingy pay, because the law has not been strictly enforced, and the government has even argued in court that it was unconstitutional.

Take Budy, a nurse II, who earns roughly P30,500 per month, with additional hazard pay only amounting to over P7,600. Three months into 2020, another promise of a pay hike due to the Salary Standardization Law 5 approved early this year has yet to materialize.

“Ang nangyayari, baon na baon kami sa utang,” Budy said.

“Alam mo yung nasa kumunoy ka—pabaon ka nang pabaon.”

She was unable to buy medicine for her asthma because of this tight situation.

The government has its way of rubbing salt in the wound.

When the DOH first called for crisis responders and volunteer workers in March, the office offered a measly P500 daily allowance in exchange. To make matters worse, it even wanted to halt the deployment of nurses abroad last March.

Although officials eventually withdrew both proposals following some backlash, their treatment of health workers remains reflective of how little the government values them, even at the height of an emergency.

Such neglect seems to run deep in the system, prompting many health workers to leave for greener pastures. Previous reports revealed that some European countries offer as much as P100,000 for migrant nurses. In 2016, over 19,000 nurses left, according to the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (see sidebar 2).

If the government really wanted them to stay, it would not trap workers into “forced servitude” but instead offer better working conditions for them.

For De Guzman, their situation during the pandemic is miserable. “Ang pakiramdam namin ay ginagawa kaming alay sa virus,” she said in an online interview with the Collegian. “[The government] can’t just go around and force us to work because of patriotism–because

SIDEBAR 1A TOTAL CASES, RECOVERIES, AND DEATHS OF COVID-19 AS OF JUNE 6

patriotism is not the issue but self-preservation.”

Mishandling The government is, however, far from realizing its shortcomings. Instead of recognizing what the country so far lacks in terms of logistical preparedness, authorities seem to go around spreading claims that the Philippines is beginning to flatten the curve since May 5.

Mathematics associate professor Felix Muga II of Ateneo de Manila University countered this claim at a press briefing, May 8. He cited that in graphing the new cases of COVID-19 infection as reported by the DOH, an upward movement can still be seen. The professor also pointed out that the disease’s reproductive number is still at 1, meaning that the virus is still spreading, albeit more slowly than before.

The Coalition for People’s Right to Health (CPRH) holds a similar sentiment, noting that the country may just be regressing to the mean.

“Because there is more testing or measurement, the numbers do not tend to be in the extremes, but rather gravitate towards an average. This must be considered in interpreting data, otherwise it would be fallacious and prone to bias,” the CPRH said in a statement, May 10.

“Resorting to undue praise and premature celebrations in the middle of a pandemic while there is much work to be done is an affront to the people’s right to health,” the group added, noting how hospital and laboratory

SIDEBAR 1B HEALTHCARE WORKERS INFECTED WITH COVID-19 AS OF JUNE 1

capa cont In accr for C there estim tests week The ramp day addi total Gene can c relat E have still effec Whil tips to p virus that done conf loca cont abou “ kaila maa disse Josh of kumu ang regu kanil T daily do caus infor way

SIDEBAR 1C INFECTED HEALTH W

BY PROFESSIO

ACTIVE CASES 1,199 TOTAL CASES 21,340

RECOVERIES 1,438

NURSE 905

DEATHS 32 MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIST 93

ACTIVE CASES

DEATHS

RECOVERIES

TOTAL CASES: 2,669

NURSING ASSISTANT 155

UNCATEGORIZED 278

RADIOLOGIC TECHNOLOGIST 46

SOURCES • (1) Department of Health, (2) Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, (3) Philhealth Circ

The Philippine Collegian Special COVID-19 Issue

acities must be boosted to tain the spread of the virus. n its bulletin, the DOH has redited 54 testing facilities COVID-19 as of June 7. Since e are more labs available, the mated 8,500 to 9,500 daily s conducted for the previous ks may have already improved. department also aims to p this up to 30,000 tests per with the accreditation of itional laboratories. Of the l accredited labs, 13 are eXpert labs, while the rest conduct RT-PCR testing (see ted article on page 23).

Even as lockdown restrictions e started to ease, the DOH falls short of carrying out ctive risk communication. le the DOH has released and protocols on how prevent the spread of the s, health workers believe the agency should have e more. The various, often flicting protocols in each al government unit might also tribute to people’s confusion ut the matter.

“Doon sa level ng community, angan pa rin kasing maging ayos ang information emination natin,” said Dr. hua San Pedro, co-convenor CPRH. “Kung saan-saan ukuha [ng impormasyon mamamayan] kasi walang ular na nakakapag-assure sa la [ng updates],” The Health department’s y press briefing could only so much, according to se-oriented groups, if the rmation is delivered in a the general public would

hardly understand.

“Wag na yung magagandang salita. Di naman makakagaling ng COVID-19 yun e. Maganda nga salita mo, di naman maintindihan—useless,” de Guzman said.

For her part, Budy makes it a point to follow the recommended hygienic practices, fearing for her two toddlers. “Yun ang araw-araw na ginagawa namin—ligo, then yung mga gamit namin sa labas, di namin pinapahawak yan.

Naka-segregate na sila,” she said.

Disinfection Health workers go to such lengths as part of their duty to keep the public safe. Amid such grievances, it remains clear for health workers that they will continue serving the public.

“If worse comes to worst, hindi kami bibitaw dyan,” Budy said. “Ang nursing kasi, di lang propesyon yan e—ito na yung pagkatao ko.”

Ultimately, arresting the pandemic requires that the government work alongside health workers to act on its mandate to provide free and accessible healthcare for all.

So far, PhilHealth has promised to cover a part of the hospital expenses COVID-19 patients incurred (see sidebar 3).

“Kailangang masiguradong walang out-of-pocket payment [ang mga pasyente], na masusuportahan talaga dahil alam natin ang pagpapaospital ng isang tao ay hindi lang naman

C WORKERS, ON

JIM CLAY BAGANO magbuwis ng buhay dyan e,” said de Guzman. Still, she said, it would go a long way for all if other officials exist to share accountability should systems in place fail.

“Hindi yung sa amin ibabalik [ang sisi],” she added. “Ayaw naming maging pawn sa chess game na ito.” •

SIDEBAR 2 DEPLOYED NURSES ABROAD 2012 • 15,665

PHYSICIAN 695

sya sa usapin ng bayarin sa ospital,” Dr. San Pedro said. “Maeencourage nating magpatingin ang tao kung alam nilang hindi nila kailangang isipin ito sa pang-araw-araw.”

Only then can all individual efforts pay off.

“Marami po talagang umaayaw nang mag-duty.

Sinasampal sa mukha naming ito yung sinumpaan naming tungkulin. Tanggap namin yung sinumpaan; willing nga kaming

2015 • 22,175

2013 • 16,404

SIDEBAR 3 PhilHealth coverage for COVID-19 patients 2014 • 18,492

SEVERITY

2016 • 19,551

NON-MEDICAL STAFF 308

cular 2020-0009, issued April 8 (bit.ly/3cmHOup)

Since the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, hospitals have been overwhelmed with rising cases of infection.

This problem points to the government’s lack of political will to address the needs of the ailing health sector, according to healthcare workers and advocacy groups in a press conference, March 12.

= 1000

PACKAGE AMOUNT

HEALTHCARE PROVIDER CATEGORY

mild pneumonia in the elderly, or with co-morbidities

P 43,997

Level 1-3 hospital, private room

moderate pneumonia

P 143,267

Level 1-3 hospital, private room

critical pneumonia

P 333,519

Level 2-3 hospital, private room, ICU

severe pneumonia

P 786,384

Level 2-3 hospital, private room, ICU

PAGE DESIGN & INFOGRAPHIC • LEIJH HANNE ALIANZA

Monday, 8 June 2020

25

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The Philippine Collegian Special COVID-19 Issue

SANNY D. AFABLE

A HOSTILE HOME Metro Manila’s Poor and the Balik-Probinsya Program Migrating the people out of the nation’s capital offers the state both a distraction from its mishandling of the pandemic and an excuse to view the urban poor patronizingly as part of the city—but not quite.

There are at least three occasions in which Metro Manila cannot casually hide the poor in plain sight: local elections, national elections, and a global pandemic.

While all are catastrophic in their own right, the virus and the lockdown have proven exceptionally disastrous for at least 4.5 million informal settlers in the nation’s capital, whose livelihoods have been paralyzed by the now eleven-week-long community quarantine and who now face a humanitarian crisis.

And yet, such is not the motivation of the government for institutionalizing in the middle of a pandemic the Balik-Probinsya,

Bagong Pag-Asa Program (BP2), a policy that “reverses” the migration of the rural poor to Metro Manila. According to Executive Order (EO) No. 114, “whereas, the epicenters of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines are congested areas located in the NCR,” the BP2 is among the “measures that address and respond to the COVID-19 emergency.”

For all the ambiguities and platitudes of this law, what it suggests is a policy of voluntary exodus even as the outbreak situation in Metro Manila and other provinces remains uncontrolled and uncertain.

For all its lip service to some

notion of regional economic balance, the BP2 intends for the literal gatekeeping of the nation’s capital, which is all but built on the backs of the urban poor population it now treats as unwanted visitors.

Plight or flight One likely grew up watching the films of Dolphy or FPJ, which commonly featured probinsyanos—as migrants to Manila are pejoratively called— either as naïve sidekicks or noble heroes, or teleseryes which unfairly stereotyped Bisaya maids for their accent.

But the rise of migrants in popular media actually finds basis in history: Following the post-War reconstruction of the nation’s capital, especially in the 1960s, landless and jobless migrants flocked to Manila and surrounding provinces such as

SIDEBAR 1 NUMBER OF INTER-REGIONAL PERIOD MIGRANTS (2013-2018), IN THOUSANDS OUT-MIGRANTS IN-MIGRANTS

NCR CAR

REGION I REGION II REGION III IVA-CALABARZON IVB-MIMAROPA REGION V REGION VI REGION VII REGION VIII REGION IX REGION X REGION XI XII-SOCCSKSARGEN XIII-CARAGA BARMM 600

500

400

300

200

100

0

100

200

300

SOURCE • Philippine Statistics Authority and University of the Philippines Population Institute (2019). 2018 National Migration Survey. Quezon City, Philippines: PSA and UPPI.

26

#SolusyongMedikalHindiMilitar

400

500

SIDEBAR 2 • SHARE OF MIGRATION FLOWS (2013-2018)

RURAL-RURAL

URBAN-URBAN

URBAN-RURAL

RURAL-URBAN

SOURCE • Philippine Statistics Authority and University of the Philippines Population Institute (2019). 2018 National Migration Survey. Quezon City, Philippines: PSA and UPPI.

Rizal to supply the labor demand of a few private industries, only to end up in informal settlements.

This is the simple premise of BP2: Metro Manila’s problems are caused by urban congestion, which is caused by the explosion of its population, which is caused by the massive migration of Filipinos to the nation’s most industrialized metropolis, which is ultimately caused by poverty and underdevelopment in the countryside. This seems a commonsensical argument that has long pervaded discussions on spatial development in the Philippines, even among academic and progressive circles.

It may have been true some time ago, but the most recent data tell a different story.

First, Metro Manila’s 13-million strong population— if it is in any way a problem—is the result of a demographic phenomenon called population momentum: Even as fertility declines, the population will continue to increase due to its large base of young population

PAGE DESIGN • MA. SOPHIA SIBAL

who have already entered or are entering their reproductive ages.

It is estimated that 84 percent of the country’s population growth will be because of wanted fertility and population momentum.

Manila has indeed been the migration hub of the Philippines—gaining 1.7 million net migrants who ever crossed regions in their lifetime, according to the 2018 National Migration Survey, the first of its kind in the Philippines. But migration currently contributes little, if at all, to its population.

Based on the same survey, some 388,000 individuals migrated to Manila between 2013 and 2018, but 509,000 moved out of the capital.

In other words, more people left Metro Manila than it received in recent years (see sidebar 1).

The same survey also finds that only 3 percent of migration flows from 2013 to 2018 was rural-to-urban, while intra-urban and intra-rural moves comprised about 93 percent of all moves (see sidebar 2). Thus, there is only a very small minority of

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Filipinos who came from the rural countryside to urban areas, and even fewer who came to Metro Manila recently.

Some of them may be the sons and daughters of once hopeful newcomers, but most of Metro Manila’s urban poor residents today no longer consist of active migrants. A majority of them have been here since birth and are here to stay because they are very much a vital part of the city.

The myriad problems they face are not born out of their sheer number, but of decades of failed urban planning—if it exists, to begin with—and of a development perspective that continues to keep them in the margins of the center, like some virus to be rid of.

The gates of hell The population is surely a nice scapegoat for everything public policy fails to address.

The expansion of slums in the 1960s, and which peaked during Martial Law years, prompted dictator Ferdinand Marcos to create in 1978 the Ministry of Human Settlements, which was headed by his consort, Manila Governor Imelda Marcos.

Building human settlements meant an extension of her bloody beautification campaign for Metro Manila, which also meant violent demolitions and the forced relocation of families to nearby suburban areas under the supposedly voluntary balikprobinsya (BP) scheme.

BP has since become a tired little policy rehashed by different administrations and local governments for their

various agenda, primarily as an attempt to decongest Manila and other cities.

The Corazon Aquino government used the BP, alongside the “balik-baril” strategy, as part of its reconciliation program for rebel returnees, all while the forced relocation of communities to nearby provinces continued.

The Arroyo administration, on the other hand, offered the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s BP program to informal settler families (ISFs) who were victims of typhoon Ondoy in 2009. Meanwhile, the Benigno Aquino government proposed to relocate some 500,000 ISFs in NCR under the BP program of the Department of Agrarian Reform.

In 2006, the city government of Cebu offered a BP grant to the town of Dalaguete, Cebu, “to help keep people off the streets” during the ASEAN summit.

More recently, the Quezon City government extended its similar program to the 130 “kuliglig” drivers it cracked down on in February this year.

These efforts, no matter how possibly well-intentioned, have not been very successful, and the national and local governments are very likely well aware of this. An official of the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor noted last year that the Balik-Probinsya program “has no takers.” Several local chief executives have also pointed out how the very few beneficiaries of the program tend to return to Manila after some time.

At any rate, economic

needs facilitate the movement of people, with or without a BP program.

But balik-probinsya is still being proffered as a hollow consolation to victims of disasters, demolitions, forced evictions, and other measures against what the state views as “surplus pawns,” in the words of Andre Ortega in his 2016 book Neoliberalizing Spaces in the Philippines. The precarious conditions of the urban poor are being used as an excuse to view them patronizingly as transient forces of the city—part of it but not quite, the very foundation of it but not really.

Today, hankering for the ways of the Marcoses, the Duterte administration espouses the same language of human settlement and balik-probinsya.

The problem is population congestion—they want us to believe—and the emphasis is put on the “population,” obscuring a host of issues that are now magnified and compounded by the pandemic.

They who own the city As COVID-19 cases soared in Metro Manila, Senator Bong Go proposed the BP 2, his latest pet project, as a “long term” solution to the pandemic. His and other BP 2 ’s proponents’ line of reasoning makes sense at a cursory glance: The spread of the virus is accelerated in highly congested spaces, such as in Metro Manila’s informal settlements, and so the city must be depopulated by promoting the migration of people out of Metro Manila.

And yet, how will local

governments, which are fast running out of funds in response to the pandemic, support the exodus of people to their municipalities? How will housing be provided to ISFs in the face of a standing 6.8-million housing backlog? How can BP2 be a longterm solution to the pandemic when the government, by and large, fails to conduct rigorous contract-tracing and expansive testing in the short term?

The EO does not specify any of these, other than recycling motherhood policy statements on agriculture, spatial development, and private-public partnership that have little to no practical value whatsoever to the program’s implementation on the ground.

The point, however, is to move people, to decongest the city like clearing a pair of lungs inflamed and consumed by the coronavirus.

Never mind that the body politic has long been plagued by social inequalities, which manifest no more clearly than in Metro Manila’s land-use plan, or the lack thereof. Progressive think-tank IBON Foundation estimates from census data that half of the families in NCR live in houses smaller than three parking spaces, making it impossible to implement proper social distancing or self-isolation when showing symptoms. In stark contrast to this, only about 3.9 percent of NCR’s families live in homes

200 square meters or wider. The poorest 70 percent of Metro Manila’s population could occupy all the residential spaces of the richest 30 percent, and all of them would not be found homeless (see sidebar 3).

As noted by a World Bank study in 2017, private developers control much of NCR’s lands, leading to inefficient land use and the sprawling of informal settlements. A quick search in Google Maps would lead one to at least 10 golf clubs and courses in the metro, the smallest of which is as wide as 20 hectares, enough to host 4,000 families in non-vertical, 50-square meter housing units.

Instead of addressing these issues, however, the government, through the BP2, effectively “others” the urban poor in the discussion of city development and its plans for the “new normal.” They are needed, all too important until they are finally dispensable.

By institutionalizing the BP2, the government is introducing its first-ever internal migration policy. But the problem is not that we are overpopulated—a very subjective point of debate—but that we are badly governed. A policy of migration, voluntary or not, will neither solve nor ease the problem of traffic, poor sewerage, unemployment, illegal drugs and crime, or the next pandemic. Only effective and truly pro-poor governance will. •

SIDEBAR 3 NCR FAMILIES BY THE FLOOR AREA OF THEIR HOMES (2013-2018)

Each housing unit per floor area size corresponds to 50,000 families

Floor area refers to the area or spaced enclosed by the exterior walls of the housing unit. In case of housing units with several floors or storeys, get the area of each floor/ storey in square meters or square feet and add them together to get the total floor area of the entire housing unit.

SOURCE: IBON Foundation

9 sq. m OR LESS

10 - 19 sq. m

20 - 49 sq. m

50 - 89 sq. m

90 - 199 sq. m

200 sq. m

Monday, 8 June 2020

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The Philippine Collegian Special COVID-19 Issue

halls, and museums. Music corporations, for example, tend to favor bands who already have large followings, often leaving smaller acts scrambling for the limelight.

After the Closing Night

A portrait of the artist under lockdown KIMBERLY ANNE YUTUC

Life was already a struggle for Filipino artists and performers.

But the new coronavirus has hit the creative industry all the quicker and harder.

The life of a cultural worker often comes with uncertainty. For David, a 20-year-old student who freelances to make a living off his paintings, this could not be farther from the truth. Since 10th grade, he has been chipping in money to pay bills at home, to buy food and art materials, and is left with funds for little else.

With cash fluid and fleeting, David feels like he is constantly standing on the precipice—and the onset of the COVID-19 crisis felt like the tipping point.

“The virus is far from my mind, because it’s hard not to be worried about whether or not we have anything to eat,” said David. Word of the lockdown filled him with nothing but dread and anxiety, with the thought of the mouths to feed in his household the first thing coming to mind.

Cultural workers often scrape along as freelancers and lack the same leverage and security as regular employees.

This only reinforces the need to interrogate their standing in

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society, whose appreciation of the arts must translate into social protections most needed when bills seem to pile up by the day in times of crisis.

Limited run For the average artist, musician, or performer, there is an innate financial instability in their respective careers.

Earnings tend to be low and come sporadically, and there is little to no job security in a cutthroat industry that tends to exclude grassroots artists and musicians.

For David, who has been struggling to “make art that stands out,” the competitive nature of galleries and art shows takes a toll on his ability to create. Adding to his troubles are the constraints on his budget, which, in turn, impinges on his capacity to buy paint that could help him realize his vision.

It is a vicious cycle: Without the funds to buy the needed materials, a painter’s grand ideas never get to see the light of day—and neither does the

#SolusyongMedikalHindiMilitar

money that he could have made off those ideas.

Artists often come into the industry fully aware of the precarity of this line of work.

They are mainly underserved, underemployed, and have little to no savings to bank on.

This is true in the case of Isaac, a percussionist for a soul-funk-jazz band. For him, gigs are a labor of love. But it is hard to survive an emergency on love and an empty stomach.

A musician and a student, he gets most of his income from playing twice a week, but the measly amount he gets from these makes it difficult for him to save up.

Exacerbating their vulnerability is the convoluted relationship between business interests and artists. The concept of high art that dictates what is refined art from what is oriented towards mass consumption has created a divide in the market.

Such distinction makes it difficult for an artist to break through the closed-off walls of high-end galleries, concert

In the round David was fortunate to have a patron compassionate enough to have commissioned him at the beginning of the lockdown.

Yet that money also quickly got drained. With his mother at home and his father without stable employment, his situation is now more uneasy than ever.

Isaac, on the other hand, is currently stacked with a week’s worth of instant food and canned goods. The leftover money he laid aside from his gigs before the lockdown would be enough for only another week, but he hopes his girlfriend can get her pay from work and help him get by.

Most musicians and performers under quarantine are left without both a source of materials and conventional platforms on which they can share their works. In fact, over 269,000 entertainment and recreation jobs will be disrupted by the lockdown in Luzon, according to think-tank IBON Foundation.

“Sometimes it makes you wish you picked a more stable source of income, but if I went into something like accounting, I can’t freelance,” said David, telling about how the lockdown led to the postponement of two large projects and delayed his expected payments.

Cash-strapped, many of them have since shifted to online platforms. Musicians and poets have turned to YouTube or to live streaming on Facebook, while visual artists have been opening online art commissions.

Offstage The switch to online media, however, inevitably come with their own pitfalls. Galleries and gigs, after all, offer a place for both artists and viewers to foster a sense of community where they can muse about art and share an experience, in person, with the audience.

The lockdown has given David free time to spend on personal art, which helps him process the flood of fears and anxieties he wrestles with daily. The rest of his day, he works slowly away at the painting his loyal client commissioned him for.

The struggles cultural workers are facing right now only prove that things must be remedied beyond the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. While this is easier said than done, this can begin with seeking laws providing benefits and stronger safety nets for the kind of workers often left out of the mainstream.

“Essentially, karamihan sa mga musikero ay kontraktwal— hindi naiiba sa mga manggagawa na nae-exploit din sa ganitong sistema,” said Jon Cyrus Sims, the chairperson of cultural mass organization Alay Sining Fine Arts and a musician himself.

“Dapat magkaroon ng humane na lockdown ... Dapat may tunay na ayuda para sa mga manggagawa, m ag s a s a ka , at lahat— ar tists included.”

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Despite these seemingly innumerable troubles, creators continue to form virtual communities. Isaac often streams videos on Facebook, so he can share his music and his knowledge of the instruments he plays. “In a small way, it helps me continue my passion of playing music and making people happy and learn something new,” he said.

A Facebook group, Tugon: Filipino Artists and Creatives on Lockdown, was formed as an avenue for sharing critical responses to how the government’s action on the COVID-19 crisis leaves much to be desired. The Concerned Artists of the Philippines, an organization of cultural workers, also released a song, titled “Babangon Tayo,” as a tribute to the country’s frontliners.

Beyond the need to earn money is the need for creatives not only to express but also to expose, especially in such a period of disquiet. Not only do arts and culture have the capacity to speak to the public’s frustrations, they can also empower and mobilize people towards rightful dissent.

In spite of the torrent of uncertainties, what is sure is that no lockdown can jail the free mind of an artist. •

Culture Shock RICHARD CALAYEG CORNELIO People starved of a life outdoors are beginning to turn to their palmsized screens to seek culture—from music and films to books and illustrations— to while away the rest of their quarantined days. The surge of clicks and views on “Ang Huling El Bimbo,” a play based on the hits of OPM band Eraserheads, in its 48-hour streaming, is a case in point—if only, however, the same can be said of other productions, in theater and otherwise, whose artists and creative workers have not been raking it in since the lockdown.

Nor is the daily life of a cultural worker a field day in more routine times. There is a reason the cliche of a tortured artist has gained currency—and that is on no account of any character failings. Making do on slim savings, floating from one gig to the next, is tough enough without a pandemic to worry about.

In April, a survey by Nayong Pilipino Foundation and #CreativeAidPH, a community of artists and cultural workers, estimates a mean income loss of P98,209 for each of its 499 respondents. More than half of them were freelancers or self-employed, while others were engaged on contract in TV, theater, public relations, and advertising, among other fields. With an extended lockdown, the shortfall for every freelancer is expected to soar to P171,050—a

PAGE DESIGN • MA. SOPHIA SIBAL

ILLUSTRATION • KIMBERLY ANNE YUTUC

conservative projection, what with the economy in free fall.

A mercurial career path is, however, no reason for protections and benefits to be so easily stripped away from the job sector if, in the first place, such a process has not been steadily afoot even long before COVID-19. The market may be unstable—and punishingly more so for cultural workers—but democratic institutions are in place precisely so that the most vulnerable are buffered against any such instability.

In the Philippines, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) is one such body, mandated to extend immediate aid to creative workers hamstrung by a crisis. Surely, the COVID-19 pandemic passes muster. But the NCCA initially limited its support to the Department of Labor and Employment’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program— just a one-time P5,000-subsidy, plus minimum wage-level compensation for at least 10 days of sanitation work.

Even within the NCCA, the program’s design has raised some questions, especially over the agency’s failure to consult its 19 duly elected committees.

In a letter to the NCCA board of commissioners last April 2, writer and film critic Roland Tolentino, who heads the NCCA National Committee on Cinema, described the program as “arbitrary, not transparent,” and “too little in

scope and coverage.”

NCCA Executive Director Al Ryan Alejandre announced, on May 21, that the commission would lay aside P76.8 million to cater to about 14,520 freelance cultural workers—a miniscule amount in contrast with the P267.2 million at its disposal, per its 2020 procurement plan. Even its own database has recorded as many as 400,000 individuals in the creative industry to have been caught short by the COVID-19 crisis.

The NCCA could have done much more to realign its budget and provide rapid relief through an equitable disbursement process. “Aanhin pa ang limpaklimpak na pondo para sa arts and culture kung ang mga alagad ng sining natin ay nasa bingit ng kamatayan?” the Concerned Artists of the Philippines wrote in a petition to the NCCA. Of the many cultural shifts that have been predicted to come out of this crisis, there remains the state’s unshakable conviction that artists and creatives must always be on the back burner. This might be less deplorable if, at best, aid trickled down to the harderhit sectors instead of getting tangled in red tape, shoveled in, and explained away in an audit trail at the end of this pandemic.

In the meantime, the government cannot be bothered to break out its ledger while there are many more shows to stream, books to crack, and artists left to starve out of a misguided perception of their threshold of torture. •

Monday, 8 June 2020

29

KULTURA

The Philippine Collegian Special COVID-19 Issue

SAKIT NG LIPUNAN POLYNNE DIRA Nang harapin ng Tsina ang unang pandemya ng ika-21 siglo, ang unang hakbang ng pamahalaan ay pigilan ang pagkalat ng balita tungkol dito. Dahil kasabay ng pagputok ng Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) ay pagbabago ng administrasyon, at kailangang ipakita sa mamamayang matatag ang partidong namumuno.

Matapos ang dalawang dekada at halos 800 pagkamatay ng mga dinapuan ng SARS, muling humaharap sa krisis pangkalusugan ang buong mundo dahil sa bagong coronavirus (COVID-19). Sa halip na itago ang tunay na kalagayan ng mga bansa, kahingian ngayon ang mabilis at matalinong pagtugon mula sa mga lider, at maayos na sistemang medikal.

Sintomas Malaon nang sa tuwing nakararanas ng krisis ang lipunan, ang unang hakbang ng mga namumuno rito ay protektahan ang interes ng mga tulad nila.

Hindi nangialam sa mga pribadong negosyo ang gobyerno nang maging lider ng Italya si Benito Mussolini noong 1922.

Isinaalangalang niya ang interes ng mga mayayamang sumusunod sa bawat polisiya. Binawasan ang buwis ng mayayaman, at sa pagnanais na palakasin ang sariling salapi ng bansa upang makakuha ng prestihiyo mula rito, binabaan ang sahod ng mga manggagawa.

Gayunman, ang pagkatig ni Mussolini sa iisang uri ang naging dahilan ng paghina ng ekonomiya ng Italya matapos ang pangekonomikong krisis noong 1929, ayon sa pag-aaral ng ekonomista mula sa Bank of Italy na si Claire Giordano, at ng kanyang mga kasama.

Sa Estados Unidos naman, umiral ang kawalan ng pananagutan ng mga administrasyon sa mamamayan.

Ginamit ng mga presidente noong dekada ng 1920 ang ideyang hindi

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#SolusyongMedikalHindiMilitar

sila mangingialam sa mga negosyo at mga indibidwal dahil naniniwala ang gobyernong kaya nilang buhayin ang sarili nang walang tulong mula sa estado.

Nagresulta ang polisiyang ito sa pagdami ng mahihirap sa Estados Unidos dahil marami ang napapabayaan at hindi nasusuportahan, at di nagtagal ay nagbunga ng pang-ekonomikong krisis noong 1929 na nakaapekto sa buong mundo; bumaba ang produksyon ng mga produkto, at nawalan ng trabaho ang milyunmilyong manggagawa.

Ngunit sa kabila ng lunos na karanasan ng mga tao noon, hindi pa rin nagbabago ang mga polisiya at namamahala— nagpapatuloy ang pag-usbong ng mga krisis dahil sa pagkiling ng mga namumuno sa interes ng iilan, at pagsawalang-bahala sa kapakanan ng nakararami.

Diagnosis Habang dumarami ang mga pasyente ng COVID-19, ang tanging malinaw sa mga panukalang inilalabas ni Pangulong Duterte ay ang pagtingin niya sa kapakanan ng mamamayan, o ang kawalan niya ng pakialam sa mga ito. Makikita ang kawalan ng prayoridad ng administrasyon nang huli na nang ma-implementa ang travel ban sa Tsina dahil sa takot na masira ang relasyon nito sa makapangyarihang bansa.

Sa pagpalo ng bilang ng mga biktima ng pandemya sa higit 19,000 at pagkamatay ng halos 1,000, wala pa ring kongkretong tugon at hakbangin ang gobyerno sa pagsugpo sa sakit.

Magtatatlong buwang isinara ang Metro Manila, ipinagbawal ang paggalaw ng karamihan ngunit pinayagan ang operasyon ng ilang pribadong negosyo, lalo na iyong mga nagseserbisyo para sa mga dayuhan tulad ng Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator.

Wala pa ring malinaw na solusyong pang-medisina ang inilalabas. Iniiwasan ng pangulong panagutan ang krisis nang iwan niya sa mga Local Government Unit (LGU) ang mahahalagang desisyon at ispesipikong mga hakbangin.

Mga LGU ang nag-aayos ng problema sa transportasyon,

DIBUHO • MIKHAELA CALDERON

maging sa sahod at kabuhayan ng mga manggagawa.

Napabayaan ang mga pampublikong ospital na maghanap ng sarili nilang pangprotekta dahil sa limitadong pondo ng mga LGU para sa kanila. Sa halip kasi na itaas ang prayoridad para sa pampublikong serbisyo gaya ng ambulansya, itinulak silang gamitin ito sa pagpapagawa ng mga imprastruktura.

Samantala, nakatuon ang pansin ng pangulo sa pagpapadala ng militar sa siyudad na dumagdag lamang sa takot ng mamamayan.

Napupuno ng pangamba ang mga tao, at nagluluwal ito ng kawalan ng tiwala sa namamahala dahil wala itong ginagawa upang matulungan sila sa panahon ng krisis. Sa kawalan ng tiwala, umaalma ang taumbayan, naglalabas ng mga hinaing.

Isinisiwalat lamang ng mga krisis ang tunay na katangian ng mga namumuno, iyong pilit nilang itinatago sa araw-araw— mapaglingkod sa sarili, marahas sa iba.

Reseta Nakabatay sa pamamahala ang kalusugan ng isang lipunan dahil sinasalamin ng namumuno ang interes ng kinabibilangan niyang uri, ayon sa propesor at doktor ng Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health na si Vicente Navarro.

Ang mga bansang pinamumunuan ng mga demokratiko, at kung saan may malakas na kilusan ng mga manggagawa, ay nakakitaan ng mga polisiyang may maayos na paglalaan ng pondo. Dahil dito, ang mga bansang ito ay mayroong mataas na health index; halimbawa nito ang mas kaunting bilang ng mga namamatay na sanggol.

Sa kabilang banda, nagpapakita ng mas mababang health index ang mga bansang pinamumunuan ng mapaniil na gobyerno, iyong dati at kasalukuyang

DISENYO NG PAHINA • SOFIA DELOS REYES

pinangungunahan, halimbawa, ng mga diktador. Mahina ang kilusan ng mga manggagawa, at sa gayon hindi masyadong napaglalaanan ng pondo ang batayang mga serbisyo.

Taliwas sa ideyang ang kalusugan ay labas sa trabaho ng gobyerno at isang pang-indibidwal na bagay, ito ay isang panlipunang usapin, at lalo itong nagiging malinaw sa mga pandemya o epidemya.

Marapat na matutunang madaling matutugunan ang ganitong uri ng krisis kung mayroong pondo para sa kalusugan, sa halip na ilaan ang pera sa mga sikretong pondo sa ilalim ng opisina ng presidente. Kailangan ang mabilis at matalinong paglalabas ng mga polisiya; malinaw ang proseso ng transportasyon at pagtatrabaho ng mga tao, may suporta para sa mahihirap na mawawalan ng pagkakakitaan.

Sa pagdami ng biktima ng sakit sa bansa, at paglala ng epekto nito sa mamamayan, kinakailangang tasahing muli ng gobyerno ang pagturing nito sa batayang mga serbisyo, itama ang mga pagkakamali. •

KULTURA

@phkule

TANGLAW NG KATOTOHANAN MARVIN ANG Tila humantong na sa apokalipsis ang mundo.

Sa isang iglap, ang dating maiingay na kalsada’y nanahimik, ang mga sasakyan at pampublikong lugar na dati’y di mahulugang karayom ngayo’y walang katao-tao. Ang lahat ay nakakulong sa kani-kanilang tahanan, habang minu-minutong inaabangan ang pagtaas at pagbaba ng kaso ng bagong coronavirus (COVID-19) sa bansa.

Wala na sigurong higit na nakakatakot maliban sa kawalan ng impormasyon hinggil sa kinabukasan—kailan ito matatapos, kailan maibabalik sa normal ang buhay ng lahat.

Ilang ulit mang panoorin ang press conference ng pangulo sa Facebook, wala namang itong maibigay na kongkretong solusyon o kasiguraduhan.

Kaya gugugulin natin ang isang buong araw kaka-scroll sa iskrin ng ating mga telepono, sa pag-asang matisod natin ang balitang sa wakas, nariyan na ang bakunang tutuldok sa lahat ng ito.

Sanhi Magmula nang ipataw ang lockdown sa iba’t ibang sulok ng mundo, ang midya ang nagsilbing matang mapagmatyag ng mamamayan sa mga nangyayari sa labas ng kanilang tahanan.

Isa ito sa maimpluwensyang institusyong humuhubog sa pagtingin ng madla sa sarili at lipunang kanilang kinabibilangan.

Kaya responsibilidad ng mga mamamahayag na mag-ambag ng mga tamang impormasyon upang higit na maintindihan ng mamamayan ang tungkol sa kumakalat na sakit, at kung paano makakaiwas dito.

Tinawag na “coverage of chaos” ng noo’y Secretary General ng unyon ng mga mamamahayag sa bansang Liberia na si Daniel Nyakonah ang paguulat ng mga mamamahayag tungkol sa Ebola noong 2014.

Dahil kulang sa pagsasanay at sapat na impormasyon ang mga mamamahayag noon sa pagbabalita ukol sa siyensiya at kalusugan, mabilis na napangunahan ng pangamba ang kalakhan ng mamamayan,

DIBUHO • LOUISE SEGUI

at nagsitakbuhan papalabas ng quarantine line sa takot na pati sila’y mahawa at mapahamak.

Diskriminasyon at pangaabuso naman ang sinapit ng mga migranteng Latino sa Estados Unidos (US) sa pagdating ng unang kaso ng AH1N1 virus o “swine flu” sa bansa noong 2009. Labis na kinagat ng midya ang takot ng mga Amerikano sa sakit, kung kaya mas natuon dito ang atensyon ng marami kaysa sa aktwal na katangian ng sakit at kung papaano ito malulutas, dahilan upang tumindi ang mga atake sa minoryang grupo.

Sa panahon ng di-katiyakan, higit na kinakailangan ang wasto at tapat na pagbabalita pagkat ito ang nagbibigay-linaw sa mga maaaring katanungan at agamagam ng mamamayan, ayon sa mamamahayag mula sa Poynter. org na si Tom Jones. Kung walang kumakalat na maling impormasyon sa hanay ng midya, madaling napapanagot ang mga nasa kapangyarihan sa kanilang kapalpakan at kapabayaan, at maiging nadadalumat ang tungkol sa sakit.

At bilang nasa laylayan ng lipunan ang pinakabulnerable sa sakit, sila rin ang madalas na pangunahing biktima ng ganitong mga atake.

Tsino na nakatira sa ibang bansa.

Sa panahon ng krisis katulad ng pandemya, ang pagbibigay ng espasyo sa ganitong uri ng komento o opinyon ay paglalagay sa alanganin ng buhay ng mga inaakusahan nang walang aktwal na batayan, ayon sa pag-aaral ng antropologo mula sa Indiana University na si Sarah Monson.

Aniya, higit na mapanganib ang ganitong klase ng pambubukod kaysa sa kumakalat na sakit.

Habang ipinababaha ng estado ang bersyon nito ng “new normal,” ginagamit nito ang pangmadlang midya upang sagkaan ang naratibo ng kalakhan ng mamamayang nabubulid sa kahirapan. Nagagawa nitong isulong ang kanilang propaganda at pagtakpan ang sarili nitong kakulangan at kapabayaan, habang naisasantabi ang wastong panawagan ng mamamayan para sa buhay at karapatan.

Kung kaya sa pag-uulat, mahalagang nabubutbot ng midya ang tunay na karanasan ng mga pinapaksa nito sa kanilang ibinabalita. Pagkat higit pa sa paglabag, malinaw na ang mga dahilan ng ilan sa hindi pagsunod ay gutom at kahirapan na dapat sinosolusyunan ng pamahalaan.

Solusyon Sa panahong ginagamit na armas ang mga peke’t mapanlinlang na impormasyon sa social media, mahalagang magawa nating makahulagpos sa ganitong kuwento sa pamamagitan ng ating paglikha ng sariling naratibo ukol sa krisis na ating kinahaharap.

Nariyan ang ambag ng mga Facebook groups katulad ng “lockdown diaries” at “People’s History of the Coronavirus Pandemic” na nagbibigay-suporta sa bawat isa sa panahong ito.

Sa mga grupong ito, malayang nakakapaghatiran ng impormasyon ang mga tao mula sa iba’t ibang parte ng daigdig, at sama-samang naitatala ang kasaysayan labas pa sa opisyal na tala ng mga nasa kapangyarihan.

Sa pagtatala ng mga mapagpalayang salaysay, nagagawa nating lumikha ng kasaysayang hindi lamang nasa perspektibo ng mamamayan, kundi nilalaman ang danas na magagamit natin sa susunod na kaharapin nating muli ang ganitong sakuna. Ganito ang kapangyarihan ng panitikan, ayon sa pag-aaral ng ecokritik na si Rina Garcia Chua—

nagsisilbing “time capsule” upang hindi tayo makalimot.

Bukod sa tagapaghatid ng balita, nagsisilbi ring tagapagtala ng kasaysayan ang mga ulat ng midya na siyang kapupulutan ng aral. Mahalaga, kung gayon, na anumang balita o artikulong inilalabas nito’y tama, tapat, at nakasandig sa interes ng mamamayang kaniyang pinaghahatiran nito ng impormasyon. Pagkat sa kabila ng pekeng impormasyon at propagandang layong patahimikin ang mapagpalayang boses ng mamamayan, uusbong at uusbong ang malayang naratibo ng bayan.

At sa panahong natapos na itong lahat at bumalik na tayong muli sa dating gawi, mapagtatanto ng lahat na huwad ang kasaysayang bulag sa salaysay ng mamamayan. •

Sakit Ganito rin ang dinanas ng mga Aprikano-Amerikano noong kasagsagan ng paglaganap ng Ebola virus sa US noong 2014.

Karamihan ng mga balita noon ay binansagang “African” ang naturang sakit, at ang lahat ng Aprikano-Amerikano ay posibleng tagapagbitbit ng sakit. Kahit mga Amerikanong nanggaling sa Africa para bumisita ay hindi nakaligtas sa pangungutya at diskriminasyon.

Mula naman nang maitala ang unang kaso ng COVID-19 sa labas ng Tsina, mabilis na kumalat ang sakit sa iba’t ibang parte ng mundo, dahilan upang bansagan itong “chinese virus” ng pangulo ng US na si Donald Trump. Kabikabila rin ang mga naitatalang kaso ng pambubugbog, pangungutya, at pananamantala sa mga

Lunes, 8 Hunyo 2020

31

KULTURA

The Philippine Collegian Special COVID-19 Issue

TAMANGDISKARTE POLYNNE DIRA

Hindi maproseso ni Bryan ang sinabi sa kanya ng isang pulis nang harangin siya nito sa isang checkpoint: suspendido, tigil ang galaw, sakit, lockdown.

Kararating lang niya sa Maynila kahapon upang maghanap ng trabaho, at wala siyang ibang alam kundi ang kahingian dito ng mga manggagawa sa konstruksyon.

Diskarte ang bumubuhay para sa kanya. Kapag kulang ang ulam, diskarte lang; sabayan ang maliit na kurot ng daing ng tatlong kutsarang kanin. Kung kailangan ng sapatos, kumatok sa pinakamalaking bahay sa barangay at manghingi ng di na ginagamit.

Diskarte rin ang nagdala sa kanya sa Maynila. Naririnig niya

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sa telebisyon ng kapitbahay ang paglulunsad ng gobyerno ng iba’t ibang proyekto roon, at minsan nasisilip niya ang imahe ng mga nagtataasang gusali. Sa tingin niya, mas mabibigyanghalaga sa lungsod ang pagiging karpintero niya dahil sa dami ng kailangang itayo.

Ngunit hindi niya inakalang isang pandemya ang sasalubong sa kanya, krisis na hindi lang makakaapekto sa kalusugan niya ngayon, kundi maging sa kanyang kikitain. Nanatiling nakatayo si Bryan, at ang utak niya ay binabagyo ng mga alalahanin.

Pinapabalik siya ng pulis sa kanyang bahay, ngunit wala siyang babalikan dito.

Nang makarating kasi sa lungsod ay mas inuna niya ang paghahanap ng trabaho bago ang kanyang tutuluyan.

#SolusyongMedikalHindiMilitar

Pinayagan siyang tumulong sa isang ginagawang riles ng tren, ito ang unang beses niyang makakita ng bagon sa totoong buhay.

Tama siya, nasa siyudad ang kaunlaran, at baka dito na rin niya matagpuan ang masaganang buhay.

Binigyan ng P400 sahod si Bryan, at kuntento na siya rito kumpara sa baryang sahod sa probinsya. Ngunit saka niya lang nalamang kulang ito para mabuhay sa Maynila nang walang nagparenta sa kanya ng kwarto sa halagang sinahod.

Umisip si Bryan ng diskarte.

Napadaan siya sa isang underpass at nakakita ng mga karton sa tabi, magtitiis muna siya ngayong gabi. Bukas, babalik siya sa konstruksyon at magbabakasakaling hayaan uling magtrabaho roon. Baka

DIBUHO • KIMBERLY ANNE YUTUC

payagan na rin siyang tumuloy sa kanilang barracks.

Ngunit hindi na nangyari ang inaasam niya, ang pagbabalik sa trabaho, ang pag-iipon.

Malabo na rin ang imahe ng kanyang pag-unlad. Mabilis siyang nawalan ng kabuhayan, gayundin ang apat na milyong manggagawa sa konstruksyon sa bansa. Silang nagtataguyod ng mga proyekto ng gobyerno at nagtatayo ng mga esensyal na gusali’t kalsada, silang nagtutulak ng ekonomiya ng bansa, ay bastang iniwanan sa gitna ng krisis.

Gusto nang umuwi ni Bryan, maglalakad na lang siya basta makabalik.

Pumunta siya ng Maynila upang mapunan ang mga

pagkukulang, ngunit ngayon, ubos na ang lahat. Wala ring nag-aabot ng tulong, hindi humihinto ang mga nakakasabay na kotse anumang para niya.

Gaano man kahalaga ang istrukturang ginagawa niya, sa huli’y siya pa rin ang unang nawawalan. Ang totoo’y salat siya at siya ang pinakamagdurusa, habang maililigtas silang maykaya.

Hindi patas ang mundo, at hindi diskarte ang magpapantay sa kanya sa iba.

Ngunit sa ngayon, ang magagawa niya lang ay magpatuloy sa paglalakad.

Kailangan niyang makauwi, maibigay ang sahod, at makabili kahit isang latag lang ng gamot ng nanay. •

DISENYO NG MGA PAHINA • SOFIA DOMINIQUE DELOS REYES

KULTURA

@phkule

WORK FOR HOME Araw-araw man nagsasalita sa telepono si Anna mula gabi hanggang umaga, hindi niya kailanman magawang makipagusap. Hindi dahil sa hindi niya kaya, kundi dahil ito ay bawal— maliit lang ang iniiwang puwang ng trabaho niya para sa natural na pakikipag-usap. Bilang customer service representative para sa isang Amerikanong airline, dalawa lang ang dapat niyang itatak sa isipan: sundin ang kanyang call script at bantayan na huwag sumobra sa walong minuto ang tawag ng customer.

Madali lang naman makipagusap, may script man o wala, hangga’t nagkakaintindihan ang magkabilang panig. Ngunit agad na lumalabo ang pag-unawa kung sigaw at lait lang ang maririnig mula sa kabilang dulo ng linya. Natanggap na ata ni Anna rito ang lahat ng posibleng insulto sa mundo, lahat nang dahil lang sa nakansela o naantalang flight, bagay na hindi

MULTO SHEILA ABARRA Ngawa ako nang ngawa. Napanaginipan ko na naman ang babaeng nagkukudkod ng inidoro sa CR ng kwarto ko.

Natulog akong may bakas pa ng ihi ni Gali yung sahig, ngunit paggising ko malinis na. Dahilan ng luha ko? Kung di pagkalito, takot, ay di ko rin alam.

Kung hanggang anong oras ididikit ni Gali sa’kin ang basa niyang ilong? Depende kung anong oras ako matatapos umiyak. Pagod na ako. Simula nitong quarantine, minumulto na ko. Gusto ko na lang pumasok sa trabaho.

Kunsabagay, sana kasi di na lang ako umuwi ng bahay.

Sana nag-stay na lang ako sa opisina ng aking corporate job.

Kumbakit ba naman maingat ang kompanya namin, kunwari pang ayaw magpatuloy ang kita habang may pandemya.

Paborito ko ang session ng mainit na tubig namin ni Gali sa umaga. Iba nga lang ang almusal nya–dog food. Tuwang-tuwa si tanga pag nilalapag ko na ang pagkain niyang nagkakahalaga

rin ng isang ginintuang araw ko sa opisina.

Nagising akong nanlilimahid sa sarili kong pawis, at sa laway ni Gali. Lintik na yan, alas singko na ng hapon. Paano ba mababayaran ang pagmamahal ko? Sapat na ba ang manakanaka nyang utot ilang minuto pagkatapos mabusog, o iyong katotohanang kami na lang ng aso ko ang natira sa pamamahay na ito.

At muli akong minulto, bukod sa malinis na sahig na dapat parang peryahan dahil makulit si Gali, naisip ko na tangna, yung multo ko di lang pala night shift.

Nagparamdam lang siya at umiiyak na naman ako. Ang labo ng paningin ko dahil sa namumuong luha sa talukap. Ang labo.

Ilang taon na nang pinakawalan ni Mama ang sarili sa tanikala ng bahay na ito.

Pero umiiyak pa rin ako.

Hindi ko na mababayaran ang pagmamahal niyang may lenggwahe ng serbisyo. Kung may isang bagay man na itinuro sa akin si Mama, yun ay walang katumbas ang trabahong pagmamahal ang batayan. At ito

DIBUHO • KIMBERLY ANNE YUTUC

niya naman kasalanan. Pero aakuin niya pa rin ito, hihingi ng paumanhin, mamaya niya na lang siguro didibdibin, may susunod na tawag pa.

Kaso hindi naman nauubusan ng tawag na dapat sagutin si Anna, lalo na’t bawal lumabas ng bahay. Ngayong lumipat na sa telepono ang mga transaksyong karaniwan ay pisikal, tulad ng pagpunta sa bangko at pag-order ng pagkain, lalong bumigat ang pangangailangan para sa mga call center agents tulad niya. Habang ang ibang empleyado ay nasa kanyakanyang bahay nagtratrabaho, araw-araw pa ring pumapasok si Anna sa opisina, pinapasadiyos na lang na hindi siya magkasakit.

Sa dami ng oras na ginugugol niya sa buong araw sa kanyang cubicle, parang dito na rin siya nakatira. Subalit kaiba sa kanyang tahanan na libre ang pahinga, karangyaan kung ituring dito ang panandaliang pagliban sa trabaho. Isa pa’y hindi niya batid ang paglipas ng oras sa opisina dahil naka-ayon ang mga orasan sa oras sa Amerika.

Kaya nasa Pilipinas man ang kanyang katawan, pakiramdam

SAM DEL CASTILLO ni Anna, wala rin siya rito.

Nilalaan niya ang lakas niya para sa bansang hindi niya pa napupuntahan, sinasayang ang oras sa dayuhang hindi niya naman kilala. Sa Amerika nakadepende ang kanyang kabuhayan, kaya nang mawalan ng kita ang airline na pinagtratrabahuhan niya dala ng kawalan ng pasahero, isa siya sa dali-daling binitawan nito.

Simula nang mapasok sa ganitong linya ng trabaho, hindi na lumayo kay Anna ang takot na biglang mawalan ng kabuhayan—mistulang maliit na parte sa isang makina, na sa segundong pumalya ay agad na tatanggalin at hahanapan ng kapalit. Pero ito siguro talaga ang tadhana ni Anna at iba pang ahente na bahagi ng makinang sira na sa umpisa: matapos tanggalin, kailangan niyang maghanap ng mapapalitan.

Matapos alisin sa trabaho, agad na naghanap ng bagong mapapasukan si Anna sa internet. Gaano man kahirap ang buhay niya sa dating trabaho, wala siyang pagpipilian kundi dito rin bumalik. Kakabisaduhin niya na lang ulit ang bagong script, hihilingin na tumatagal na siya rito, kahit lagpas walong buwan lang. •

ang pundasyon ng bahay na ito.

Susweldo akong muli sa katapusan at ni hindi man lang kita naibili ng gamot gamit ang unang sahod ko sa balasubas na kumpanya. Lumapit si Gali at umupo sa tabi ko.

Sa aking pagtulog, magigising ako sa bango ng tinimplang kape ng multo ni Mama. Sinabi ko sa panaginip ko na sa kaniya ang bahay na ito, at siya ang bahay na ito. Ang kabayaran ng mundo sa di nababayarang lakas-paggawa ay ang katunayan ng pagmamayari ng lahat ng nilikha.

Gumising ako sa araw ng pamamalengke. Bumili ako sa ale na nagbebenta ng puto sa talipapa. Sabi ko sa kaniya, isang araw mapapa-sa kaniya na ang mundo. Sana narinig niya, Ma. Ma, sana narinig mo. •

DIBUHO • JAMES ATILLO

Lunes, 8 Hunyo 2020

33

KULTURA

The Philippine Collegian Special COVID-19 Issue

HARRY DE TAZA

PASALUBONG Malakas pa rin ang tilamsik ng mantika, gaano man ito kakaunti.

Napa-ilag si Melinda sa kawali habang nagpiprito ng itlog.

Ayos na ito, simpleng almusal sa simpleng umaga.

Tapos nang mag-ayos si Eddie para sa trabaho. Wala nang ligu-ligo, punas punas na lang.

Matatagalan pa kung mag-iigib, at medyo tinanghali na rin siya ng gising. Alas singko na ng umaga.

“Kain na,” anyaya ni Melinda sa kanyang asawa.

Latag na ang plato’t itlog, pati na rin ang pandesal galing pa kahapon.

“Ikaw?” tanong ni Eddie, habang inaabot ang pandesal.

“Kumain ka na rin.”

“Mamaya na ako,” sagot ni Melinda. Tahimik siyang pumasok sa katabing kuwarto, at tinabihan ang kanilang natutulog na sanggol.

Dadalawang pirasong pandesal na lang pala ang laman ng plastic. Tiningnan ni Eddie kung may itlog pa sa kusina. Wala.

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“May nag-abot na ba ng relief goods kahapon?” tanong ni Eddie.

Walang imik.

Nakatulog na si Melinda.

Minabuti na lamang ni Eddie na magtira ng pandesal at itlog.

Sinilip niya sandali ang magina, humalik sa noo ng dalawa at tsaka gumayak.

Baguhang deliveryman si Eddie sa pabrika ng tinapay malapit sa kanila. Dahil walang masakyan, araw-araw naglalakad si Eddie papuntang trabaho.

Nakatapis ang panyo sa mukha, at suot ang mumurahing shades, wala na siyang ibang bitbit kundi ID sa trabaho at lisensya.

Naging matalik niyang kaibigan ang minamanehong trak. Bawat kislot, bawat tunog, alam niya ang kahulugan.

Siya at ang trak ay iisa.

Walang buhay ang isa kung wala ang isa. “Ayos na pre,” sigaw ng katrabaho niya sa pabrika.

Naiayos na ang mga para sa delivery ngayong araw. Binuksan ni Eddie ang makina ng trak. May

#SolusyongMedikalHindiMilitar

Nakatulala habang nagkakape sa maliit na tahanan si Berto.

Natutuliro na sa kaiisip kung paano niya maitatawid ang pang-araw-araw na pamumuhay nilang mag-anak gayong pamamasada lamang ng jeep ang tangi niyang kabuhayan.

Bagaman kahit pa magsipag ang isang kahig isang tuka, malabo namang makaipon dahil sa taas ng mga bilihin. Ang tatlo niyang maliliit na supling at asawa lamang ang siyang itinuturing na yaman sa lipunang kanilang kinabibilangan.

Bakas sa mukha ni Miriam ang takot at pag-aalala habang nagmamadaling pumunta sa harap ni Berto. Hindi na alam ng maybahay ang gagawin. “‘Pa, si Lando, inaapoy ng lagnat. May pambili ka pa ba ng gamot diyan?”

“Naku! Wala na akong pera, pero susubukan kong humanap ng paraan. Inuubo ba si Lando?”

“Oo, hindi nga matigil! Iyak din nang iyak,” sabay tingin sa anak na naglulupasay sa may pintuan.

Namomroblema ang magasawa. Saktong bumisita naman ang kapitan nila sa kanilang lugar. Magbabaka-sakali sanang kasama siya sa nakalistang mabibigyan ng pinansyal na ayuda ng pamahalaan.

bigat, may bitbit, puno na ito ng kargadang tinapay, puno ng kaba at pagdadalawang-isip.

Inaabot si Eddie ng init sa lansangan. Tagaktakan na ang pawis ni Eddie. Wala ni electric fan ang trak, kaya todo na lang ang pagpaypay niya, at minsa’y uubuhin. Walang kaso noon, ibang usapan ngayon.

Sa lahat ng pupuntahan niya, naroon ang mga tao. Madalas dagsaan, patok lagi ang tinapay, mabilis ma-out of stock. Pagbaba ng trak, manipis na tela lamang ang naghihiwalay kay Eddie sa lahat ng makasasalubong niya.

Doble ingat sa galaw, pero hindi maiwasang may mabunggo, masagi, madaplis.

Lumipas ang isa na namang araw ng trabaho. Tindahan, palengke, grocery, isaisang minarkahan ni Eddie

DIBUHO • MIKHAELA CALDERON

AMA NAMIN “Magbabahay-bahay kami ng aming team upang maghatid ng ayuda at ipakita sa inyo ang listahan ng mabibigyan ng financial aid. Kung wala kayo, ibig sabihin, hindi kayo kwalipikado,” anunsyo ng kapitan.

Sakto namang nasa bungad lamang ang bahay nina Berto, kaya sila ang unang pinuntahan.

“Kap, naku! Salamat ho napapunta kayo rito. Maaari ko ho bang makita ang listahan muna?” tanong ni Berto.

Singlinaw ng sikat ng araw ang pag-asang mapakain nang sapat ang pamilya.

Maipapatingin na rin sa doktor at mapapagamot na ang tatlong taong gulang na supling.

“Berto, tingnan mo rito sa listahan. Hindi ako ang gumawa nito eh.”

“Sige ho.”

Hinanap ni Berto ang kanyang pangalan sa apat na pahinang listahan ng makakatanggap ng pinansyal na ayuda. Hindi niya nakita ang kanyang pangalan.

“Kap, bakit ho hindi ako kasama?”

“Hindi ko rin alam Berto, pasensya na.

Mayroon naman kaming relief goods na ipinamimigay rito, kaya nga kami nag-iikot.”

lahat ng tapos niya nang madalhan ng tinapay.

Uwian na, at wala nang tinapay na iuuwi. Bukas ulit.

Tulad ng kahapon ay gigising siya nang maaga, daraan sa pabrika at bibyahe, magbubuhat, bibyahe at ganoon uli sa susunod.

Tinapay ang madalas bitbit ni Eddie sa daan papunta. Pabalik, walang kasiguruhan kung anong napulot niya sa daan; sa tindahan, palengke, grocery.

DIBUHO • LOUISE SEGUI

LEVEI BIGCAS “Sabi doon sa dyaryo na binabasa ko noong isang araw, kwalipikado ako. Bakit ngayon, hindi nakalista ang pangalan ko?”

Naririndi na ang kapitan sa napakaraming tanong ni Berto.

“Tama lang na wala ka rito sa listahan dahil kayong mga tsuper ang dahilan ng trapik sa bansa!”

Kumirot ang puso ni Berto nang marinig ito mula sa kanilang primaryang inaasahan ngayong pati sila ay sumasailalim sa lockdown. Ito ang kabayaran ng mga pulitiko sa paglilingkod ng mga tsuper sa publiko, sa kabila ng pagsalo nila sa kapalpakan ng gobyerno sa pagpapanatili ng kaayusan sa pampublikong transportasyon.

Iginagaod ng mga tsuper ang bawat araw nang walang kasiguraduhan, habang karamihan sa kanila ay ayaw tustusan ng mga lokal na pamahalaan. Kung mawawala ang mga pampublikong tsuper, mapipilayan ang ekonomiya ng bansa.

Karamihan sa mga Pilipino ay pinipiling magkomyut dahil mas tipid sa arawang gastusin.

“Magdadasal na lang ako at hihingi ng lakas mula sa Diyos, Kap. Kahit ganyan ang trato ninyo sa amin, hindi namin hahayaang mahirapan ang karamihan sa kapwa namin. Kailangan nila kami, kailangan pa naming mabuhay.” •

Umalis siyang may dalang tinapay, uuwi siyang bitbit ang takot.

‘Wala nang gatas si baby, bili ka sana sa daan. Ingat, mahal,’ text ni Melinda sa asawa.

Ngayon kailangan niya nang umuwi. Bitbit ang mga tanong: May pandesal pa ba kaya sa bahay? Itlog?

Pasan din ang alinlangan— hindi lamang gatas o pagkain ang kaniyang maiuuwi. •

DISENYO NG PAHINA • SOFIA DELOS REYES

KULTURA

@phkule

Naka-off na ang camera. Hindi na kasama sa pakulo ang rider na uuwi na ngang walang kita, abunado pa. Biro lang para sa vlogger, tumabo ang views at kita; pero nangangahulugan ng dagdag pasakit sa hikahos na buhay ng manggagawa sa gitna ng pandemya.

Isa lang ito mula sa kinalbo habang tulog hanggang sa chat thread ng mag-jowa raw na lampas-langit ang kacornyhan.

Magkakaibang tipo ng prank pero umiikot sa parehong mga pakiramdam: nakakatawa, nakakainis at kung minsan, nakakagalit.

Mula sa telebisyon, nagpunta na rin sa iba’t ibang midyum ang temang prank o practical joke.

Komplementaryo ang tambalan dahil pinalalaganap ng vlogging ang self-made content na tila nasa’yo ang lahat ng kontrol sa iyong likha; at ang practical joke na lapat sa pang-araw-araw na buhay— lagyan mo lang ng kalokohan, pwede na, hindi na kailangang kumatha ng kwento tungkol sa bampira o sa elyen.

Pikon-talo Sa hirap ng buhay ng mga Pilipino, nakukuha pang magbiro at tumawa.

Maaari itong tingnan bilang insulto sa mga namatayan ng magulang na nagpositibo sa virus, estudyanteng gahol sa oras at rekurso sa pag-aaral. Pero ang sasabihin ng payaso, masyado kang seryoso.

Ang kultura ng pagiging huwad na positibo o toxic positivity ay sinusuportahan o di kaya, idinidikta ng iba’t ibang midyum. Sa ikalawang hati ng 1990s tumampok ang reality TV sanhi ng pagtakbo ng mga channels sa telebisyon— kailangan ng mga bagong programa bukod sa balita na

Masamang Biro SHEILA ABARRA hahatak ng manonood. At bilang laganap ang kahirapan sa lahat ng bahagi ng mundo, patok ito dahil feel-good, nakakapagpalimot ngunit hindi nakakatanggal ng problema sa buhay.

Nagbunga ng plakadong katatawanan o humor ang mumurahing kamera—ito lamang ang kailangan sa reality TV noon, ayon kay Annette Hill, propesor sa midya at komunikasyon sa Sweden. Ang reality TV o iyong mga palabas na hango sa tunay na buhay at mayroong murang produksyon, mga nadadaanang set tulad ng kalsada, gayundin ang hindi perpektong anggulo ng kamera.

Higit pa sa genre na drama sa mga reality TV, ang temang nakakatawa ay sikat din noon sa porma ng situational comedy o sitcom. Napagyaman din ito sa bansa na nag-anak ng mga batikang artista tulad ni Dolphy. Binitbit ng mass media ang humor na nalikha ng manonood sanhi ng mga ganitong tipo ng palabas; dahilan para sa halip na magalit, humahalakhak pa sa tuwing dinadaot sina Babalu na gumaganap bilang mahirap.

Maraming pamamaraan ng pagjo-joke–mula sa paglikha ng mga sitwasyon, wordplay, hanggang sa mga banat. Pero ang mumurahin at aksesible ay ang prank; kahit sino kayang gumawa. Matatandaan ang Just for Laughs na palabas na inuulitulit pa ng karamihan ngayon.

Gayundin, mayroong sariling atin na “Wow Mali!” kung saan ito ay lumikha pa ng jargon sa kultura ng

DIBUHO • KIMBERLY ANNE YUTUC

prank sa mukha ng ‘na-wow mali ka.’ Mayroon din itong iniabante sa sitcom dahil humanistiko— tunay na nagugulat ang nabibiktima—lapat sa reyalidad at totoong reaksyon.

Sa pag-usbong ng mga bagong midyum sa social media tulad ng Youtube at Facebook, tumatawid ang mga estetikang taglay ng telebisyon dito. Maaari nang magkaroon ng sitcom ng pang-araw-araw na buhay ang isang vlogger. Tunay marahil ang hakbanging maging kakaiba kung sasabak sa vlogging ngunit tulad ng mga palabas sa telebisyon, mahirap mag-isip at lumikha ng bago.

Sa pagitan ng taong 2010 at 2013 naging usapin ang toxic na kultura ng vlogging sa mukha ng mga prank na lumalampas sa linya ng moralidad. Ngunit tulad ng lahat ng pakulo, bawal ang pikon sa mga bagay na biro lamang.

It’s a prank Ang linyang naghihiwalay sa tama at maling biro ay ang moralidad na bumabagtas sa pilosopiya ng lahat ng paksa at tema partikular sa mga likhang-sining.

Kung hanggang saan ang pwede sa hindi, hindi ito mapapara ng kahit na anong porma; tulad ng mga vlogs na naging dokyu, at pelikulang kakain ng kalahati ng iyong araw.

Gayunman, sa lahat ng mga hindi nahahagip ng kamera, kabilang doon ang aspeto ng kakayahan batay sa ekonomiya.

Makakalikha ng iba’t ibang

DISENYO NG PAHINA • SOFIA DELOS REYES

estetika at istilo ang isang vlogger kung may salapi siyang panggasta, at nililikha niya ito para sa manonood niyang may interes din sa anumang kaniyang nagagawa. Katulad din ito ng mga pelikulang high-art na ginagawa para sa mas nakaririwasang uri.

Samakatuwid, ang mga may-kaya o sa madaling salita, burgis, ang nagpapalaganap ng kulturang ‘malaya’ na ito. Anupa’t ang demokrasyang burgis ay hindi lang lumilikha ng hindi lapat sa lupang katha, nagbubura pa sa proseso ng paglikha. “The author is dead,” wika ng artistang burgis na sumulat ng tula tungkol sa rags-to-riches tampok ang bidang babae.

Kapag nabura ang ubod na pinagmulan ng mga likha, naipapamandila ang sining na di nakaangkla sa lipunang ginagalawan nito. Di hamak na suportado ng makapangyarihang-iilan ang demokrasyang burgis na idiniin ng manunulat na Aleman at historyador na si Arthur Rosenberg.

Ito ang namamayani sa lipunan ngayon tulad ng sa Pilipinas, pinatatahimik ang kritiko ng gobyerno habang malaya ang mga vloggers na magsagawa ng iba’t ibang pakulo; ang ilan pa nga ay sumusuporta sa pangulo hanggang sa oplan tokhang.

Ang hindi direktang suportahan ng makapangyarihang-iilan at burgis ay nagpapatibay sa pundasyon ng likhang walang patumangga, walang pakialam sa lahat ng hindi nahahagip ng kanilang kamera.

Seryosong usapan Matagal nang kilala ang bagong nasyunalismong likha ng mga kontemporaryong presidente, bilang pamamaraan at daan sa kani-kanilang pwesto.

Ipinaliwanag ni Rosenberg ang nasyunalismong ito bilang ‘constructed’—may pormula na maibabatay sa pagdaloy ng imahe ng nasabing mga lider.

Matagal nang ninormalisa ang karahasan ngunit ang pamamaraan ng pagtitibay nito ng mga populistikong presidente gaya ni Duterte ay may aspetong praktikal.

Praktikal ang pandarahas o sa eksaktong termino, pasismo, para sa Pilipinas na tinransporma niya mula sa panahon ng pangangampanya hanggang sa panunungkulan.

Tadtad ng mura at lampas sa linyang mga biro, hanggang dito ang inabot ng pamantayang moralidad. Kung kaya, ayos lang kung iba man ang itsura, katunog ng mga likha ang balasubas na pag-uugali, bastos na pananalita. Ang mga lumalampas na birong nasa trend na magsisilabasan sa mga vlogs, ay ayos lang.

Nagtatagumpay ang pasismong kultura kung may mga disipulo ito. Pamilyar ang paratang na ito ni Rosenberg sa mukha ng batalyon ng trolls online na sumusuporta sa pangulo.

Sa lahat ng nagaganap, walang pagkakasunud-sunod ang pagtawa, pagkainis at pagkagalit; maaari pa nga itong maramdaman nang sabay-sabay.

Kung tutuusin, pwede namang magising ang mga Pilipino sa mga di makatarungang biro, mula man ito sa vlogs o sa gobyerno.

Maaaring makalikha ng bago mula sa lumang kasabihan: magbiro ka na sa lasing, wag lang sa mulat at gising. •

Lunes, 8 Hunyo 2020

35

EDITORYAL

The Philippine Collegian Special COVID-19 Issue

Pakikipagkapwa at pakikipagkaisa sa panahon ng krisis ang kailangan, ngunit ang kawalan ng aksyon ng gobyerno ang nagtutulak sa ating matakot, mangamba bawat minuto, maging makasarili.

Noong Marso 12, pinakinggan ng bansa ang pangulo, katabi ang sandatahang-lakas na animo’y magdedeklara ng gyera. Sa halip na solusyong medikal, malupit na militaristang tugon ang lunas nito sa isang krisis pangkalusugan.

Naninigas ang kamay at bisig, dapat laging nakapirmi, wag hawakan ang mata, ilong, bibig.

Parang impyerno ang pauwi’t pabalik, byahe habang ang araw ay tirik. Ang bawat bukas ay rurok ng krisis sa pampublikong kalusugan.

May tunog-ama na nagsesermon si Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte sa kanyang unang talumpati, bago niya ideklara ang malawakang kwarantina upang sugpuin diumano ang pandemya. Higit dalawang buwan makalipas, muli nilang bubuksan ang ekonomiya ng bansa, wala mang maayos na sistema upang pigilan ang pagkalat ng virus. Mas maraming

36

buhay ang malalagay sa peligro—mas malalim na krisis ang nagbabadya.

Tila kasalanan ng mamamayan ang pagkalat ng virus at umuusbong na suliraning panlipunan dahil dito; tila ang gobyerno at ang pangulong kumander ng lahat ng sangay nito ang naaagrabyado.

Hindi na lingid sa kaalaman ng mundo ang bigat na dulot ng COVID-19 sa mga mahihirap na bansa tulad ng Pilipinas.

Araw-araw nadaragdagan ang kumpirmadong kaso anupa’t di na biro ang bilang ng nagpapakita ng sintomas ng pagkakaroon ng virus; nangangamatay sa loob at labas ng bansa.

Sa halip na magpaliwanag

#SolusyongMedikalHindiMilitar

at paghusayan ng administrasyong Duterte, naglatag ito ng mga hakbanging lalo lamang nakapagpapalito, nagbabawal, nagtututok ng baril.

Ang kumpas na malalockdown sa Metro Manila ay ipinaliwanag sa malabong panuntunan. Sa mga anunsiyo ni Pangulong Duterte na inilangkap nya sa isang executive order, ang lockdown ay may hitsurang pulis at sundalo sa bawat kalye.

Nagpahayag ng dispensa ang pangulo—hindi umano ito Batas Militar. Pilit tinatakpan ng administrasyon ang sariling mata.

Ang tanong ng mamamayan ay hindi nasasagot ng karahasan, kundi ng lunas sa karamdaman.

Subalit wala sa hinuha ng gobyerno ang pagpopondo at pagpapabuti sa gawaing pangkalusugan. Bago pa ang COVID-19, huli na sa prayoridad ang sektor ng kalusugan— binawasan ng P10 bilyon ang badyet ng Kagawaran ng Kalusugan (DOH) habang lumobo sa P4 na bilyon ang

kwestyonableng intelligence at confidential fund ng Pangulo.

Bagaman unti-unti nang dumarami ang mga testing center na may akreditasyon ng DOH, hindi pa rin naaabot ng bansa ang target nitong bilang ng mga test sa isang araw; kulang na kulang at hindi nakakaabot sa lahat ng probinsyang di ligtas sa banta ng virus. Sa halip na tugunan ang kakulangan, ang prayoridad ng pamahalaan ay pagbabago ng mga terminolohiya upang subukang pagtakpan ang malaking testing backlog sa bansa, ang kawalan ng maayos na sistema upang sugpuin ang krisis.

Nananatiling delikado ang sitwasyon ngunit nais ng pamahalaang bumalik sa trabaho ang maraming manggagawa ngayong buwan kahit malaking bahagi ng pampublikong transportasyon ay paralisado.

Hindi rin daw importante ang malawakang testing para sa bawat empleyado, ipinapasa pa sa pribadong sektor ang responsibilidad na ito. Nais ng gobyernong muling mabuhay ang ekonomiya ng bansa— bahala nang kumalat ang virus, mamamayan na lang ang sisihin

DISENYO NG PAHINA • JOEL ANDREI RAMIREZ

kung mangyari man ito.

Disiplina sa lenggwahe ng militar, na may malawak na kasaysayan ng karahasan sa mamamayan, ang primaryang isinasaalang-alang ng buong pwersa ng estado sa Pilipinas.

Ang curfew ay di makapipigil ng pagkalat ng virus, di posible ang selfat communityquarantine kung hindi idudulog sa mamamayan ang kanilang batayang pangangailangan.

Wala sa pagbili ng labis-labis, pagbebenta’t pagpapatubo; hindi kaguluhan at dahas ang lunas sa karamdaman ng lipunan. Pakikipagkapwa at pakikipagkaisa sa panahon ng krisis ang kailangan, ngunit ang kawalan ng aksyon ng gobyerno ang nagtutulak sa ating matakot, mangamba bawat minuto, maging makasarili.

Taliwas sa pinalalabas ng pamahalaan, karapatan ang mamuhi at magpanagot, hindi mali ang magtanong sa dapat na nangangalaga at nagbibigay ng solusyon sa suliraning panlipunan. Dahil walang nararapat manginig at mamili ng kakampi, kwestiyunin ang pagkatao sa bawat pagkakataong lalampasan lamang ang mga may pamilya sa lansangan, walang kakayahang mag-ingat, walang tahanan. •

DIBUHO • JAMES ATILLO

EDITORYAL

@phkule

SERBISYO PUBLIKO Kung nagawang pwersahang maipasara ang ABSCBN na siyang pinakamalaking media outfit sa bansa, mas madali para sa administrasyong dahasin ang mas maliliit na pahayagan at mga mamamahayag.

Kasabay ng pagdilim ng bawat telebisyon, pwersahang ipinasara ang ABS-CBN. Tuluyang gumuho ang ilusyong sa ilalim ng rehimen ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte, buhay ang demokrasya at may tunay na kalayaan sa pamamahayag.

Sa pagbaba ng ceaseand-desist order ng National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) laban sa istasyon, pilit na inaabswelto ng administrasyon ang sarili nito mula sa anumang sisi kahit na, sa katunayan, ang pangulo ang nag-udyok sa mga kaalyado niyang manatiling kimi sa usapin ng prangkisa ng istasyon.

Matagal ding isinawalangbahala ng Kongreso ang pagdinig sa mga panukalang nagsusulong na i-renew ang prangkisa ng kumpanya, kung kaya malinaw na paghuhugas-kamay lang ang pahayag ni House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano na wala itong intensyon o kinalaman sa pagpapasara ng istasyon.

Kalakip ng desisyong ito ang pagkawala ng kabuhayan ng hindi bababa sa 11,000 empleyado ng kumpanya— dagdag-pasakit sa marami habang nananatiling walang kasiguruhan ang pangekonomikong kondisyon ng bansa.

Walang pagkilala ang desisyong ito sa hirap na dinaranas ng mga mamamahayag at manggagawa—silang naiipit at tunay na nagdurusa sa gulong likha ng mga naghaharing-iilan.

Kung kaya ilang beses mang itanggi at pagtakpan, malinaw ang layon ng kasalukuyang administrasyon sa pagpapasara sa ABS-CBN—ang konsolidahin ang kanyang kapangyarihan, patahimikin ang mga bumabatikos, at iligtas ang sarili sa mga kapabayaan nito sa bayan.

Tila babala sa lahat ng nagtatangkang sumalungat sa gobyerno ang pwersahang

pagpapasara sa ABS-CBN. Sa kumpas ng mala-kamay na bakal ni Duterte na may kontrol sa lahat ng sangay ng pamahalaan, hayagang binubusalan at pinatatahimik ang mga mamamahayag upang takutin ang sinumang mangangahas maghayag ng anumang kontra sa estado.

Habang nabubulid ang daigdig sa krisis na dala ng pandemya, ang midya ang isa sa mga institusyong naaasahan ng mamamayan na maghatid ng mga impormasyong mahalaga sa kanilang kaalaman ukol sa sakit. At kung pagkakaitan ang mga pahayagang malayang gampanan ang kanilang mandato, manganganib ang buhay ng mga Pilipinong pangunahing nakaasa sa telebisyon upang makakuha ng balita, partikular ang mga nakatira sa probinsya.

Nagiging pribilehiyo ang akses sa impormasyon, dahilan upang magamit ng kasalukuyang administrasyon bilang makinarya upang kontrolin ang naratibo pabor sa interes nito.

Walang dudang sa ilang panahon ng nakaraan, madaling kinasangkapan ang plataporma ng ABS-CBN upang isulong ang interes ng iilan. Negosyo itong pagaari ng isang pamilyang may interes ding pinangangalagaan.

Ngunit ang pagpapanagot sa institusyong naghahatid ng serbisyo sa publiko katulad ng ABS-CBN ay higit na mas epektibo kung ang mamamayan ang siyang mananawagan para rito. Lalo’t higit, may mahalagang ambag ang kumpanya sa ekonomiya ng bansa, at ang mabilisang pagpapasara rito ay pagkitil sa kabuhayan ng mga manggagawa sa loob nito.

DISENYO NG PAHINA • JOEL ANDREI RAMIREZ

Pinatutunayan lamang ng mga pangyayaring ito na walang ligtas sa mapaniil na kumpas ng mala-diktadurang pamamalakad ng rehimeng Duterte, kahit simpleng mamamayang nagsisiwalat ng katotohanan sa gitna ng pandemya. Kung nagawa nitong ipasara ang ABSCBN, wala itong pag-iimbot na habulin silang “hadlang sa pagunlad ng bayan.”

Ngunit kasaysayan din ang patunay na saanman dalhin, ang midyang tunay na nagsisilbi ay patuloy na maghahatid ng serbisyo sa bayan, pagkat opisina lamang ang

DIBUHO • KIMBERLY ANNE YUTUC

naipasasara, hindi ang tinig ng mamamayan.

Bagaman higit isang buwan nang nakatigil ang operasyon ng ABS-CBN, hindi rito natatapos ang laban; gaano man kasigasig ang estado sa pagpapatahimik sa katotohanan, ito’y tatapatan, kung hindi lalagpasan pa, sa pamamagitan ng paglaban ng mamamayan para sa tunay na malaya at mapagpalayang pamamahayag. •

Ngunit kasaysayan din ang patunay na saanman dalhin, ang midyang tunay na nagsisilbi ay patuloy na maghahatid ng serbisyo sa bayan, pagkat opisina lamang ang naipasasara, hindi ang tinig ng mamamayan.

Lunes, 8 Hunyo 2020

37

EDITOR’S NOTE

The Philippine Collegian Special COVID-19 Issue

MUTUAL AID SHOULD BE THE NEW NORMAL* Editor’s note on the arrest of 18 relief volunteers, including a Collegian Writer

A militarist mindset in policymaking seems successful at containing not the coronavirus but the very altruistic groups and individuals who make it a little less hard for the poor to ride out the lockdown.

We, editors of the Philippine Collegian, express our utmost alarm over the illegal arrest of one of our staff writers, along with two other UP Diliman students and over ten civilians, who joined as a volunteer in a relief effort. We condemn in the strongest terms such baseless persecution at a time of “new normal,” during the pandemic, punctuated by deepening woes about public welfare and safety.

The irony doesn’t escape us that, on Labor Day, the local authorities deemed a community’s show of strength and solidarity as illogically malicious.

In tandem with youth relief volunteers, the residents of Barangay Central, Quezon

38

City had set up Kusinang Kabataan, a soup kitchen, to serve urban-poor households whose cash and food dried up and are hard to replenish.

Daily wage earners, like jeepney drivers and contractual workers in construction and manufacturing, support many of these families and have found themselves in even more dire straits since the start of the island-wide lockdown.

Still, barangay officials called in several residents to question them about their alleged motives for launching the food drive and other related relief activities that the former believed had been particularly carried out to mark Labor Day. Four of the youth volunteers arrived at the residents’ request, but then plainclothes police

#SolusyongMedikalHindiMilitar

personnel later took them in, too, for questioning at Camp Karingal. There they remain detained, for allegedly violating the national government’s enhanced community quarantine guidelines, among other charges.

Amid eroding civil and political rights across the country, today’s mass arrests are far from trivial. Neither the volunteers nor the vulnerable sectors they are serving are to blame for when the authorities fall short of providing muchneeded assistance throughout this ordeal.

Among the arrested volunteers is Jim Bagano, a features writer for the Collegian who, in his writings and otherwise, disproves the convenient fiction of journalism’s supposed neutrality in the face of

crises. In fact, Bagano decided to volunteer in an impoverished community that he wished to write an article about for the paper. In no way did we, at the editorial board, chastise his involvement in such advocacy on the ground.

Where activism ends and where journalism begins is beside the point, especially at this pivotal moment where our work should shine an even more unrelenting spotlight on the dispossessed, the vulnerable and sidelined. Often, it is a fraught line to straddle, but also better positions writers and artists in their larger mandate to expose and oppose the power brokers who exploit the pandemic for power and profit.

We thus support the calls for the immediate release of the youth

volunteers and residents, and for an end to what appears to be politically motivated attacks on truth-tellers and activists behind the smokescreen of severe lockdown measures. We also laud all the groups and individuals who go out of their way to help communities wrestling with these tough times.

Such is the commitment to justice that is no more criminal than serving the people—the credo on which the University of the Philippines prides itself. There is no timelier opportunity to strive to uphold our values beyond their mere catchphrases. •

*arrested volunteers were released on May 3 due to insufficient evidence of violating the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act

DIBUHO • RANIELLA GRAZELL MARTINEZ

EDITORYAL

@phkule

PETSA DE PELIGRO Higit na mapaminsala ang hambalos ng lockdown sa mga karaniwang manggagawa pagkat nananatiling pangako ang mga programang dapat sana’y tumutulong sa kanila sa panahon ng pandemya.

Hindi na maikukubli pa ang masalimuot na realidad ng mga manggagawa sa ating bansa. Sa gitna ng pandemya, higit pang nailantad ang epekto ng pagkikibit-balikat ng mga nagdaang administrasyon hanggang kay Pangulong Duterte sa kanilang mga panawagan.

Bagaman nasa ilalim na ng General Community Quarantine ang Metro Manila at iba pang probinsya, nananatili sa alanganin ang buhay ng milyunmilyong mahihirap sa bansa dahil sa malabong quarantine protocols at kawalan ng maaasahang serbisyo mula sa pamahalaan. Tinatayang 14 milyong manggagawa ang nawalan ng kabuhayan matapos limitahan ang paggalaw ng mga tao dahil sa COVID-19, ayon sa tala ng IBON Foundation.

Karamihan sa kanila ay nakadepende sa mababang arawang sahod at walang natatanggap na benepisyo, gaya ng mga tsuper at manininda.

Nangako ang pamahalaang magbibigay ito ng ayuda sa higit 18 milyong mahihirap na pamilya matapos ihayag ang P200-bilyong pondo para sa emergency subsidy. Mayroon ding Small Business Wage Subsidy (SBWS) Program na magbibigay ng tulong sa mahigit 3.4 milyong empleyado sa mga maliliit na negosyo, at iba pang programa para sa 135,000 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW). May inilaan din para sa 300,000 mga pormal na manggagawa.

Bagaman kalakhan ng ayuda ay naipamahagi na, ilusyon pa rin para sa maraming pamilya ang tulong ng pamahalaan.

Maraming nalaktawan ng ayuda, lalo ngayong hindi na mabibigyan sa pangalawang pagkakataon ang mga residenteng malaya na sa lockdown, kahit wala pa

ring kasiguruhan sa kanilang kabuhayan.

Naging mabagal din ang pamamahagi ng ayuda sa mga manggagawa, habang sa Mayo 1 ang itinakdang simula sa pagbibigay ng ayuda sa ilalim ng SBWS, na nagpataw ng mahigpit na rekisito at mga pamantayan para makapasok sa programa.

Malawak na pang-unawa ang hinihingi ng administrasyon sa taumbayan kasunod ng mga naging problema sa ayuda. Ngunit sa bawat araw na hindi ito nakukuha ng mga nangangailangan, gutom ang kanilang hinaharap na singdelikado ng pandemyang kumitil sa buhay ng daan-daang libo sa mundo.

Kung tutuusin, doble ang pinapasang hirap ng mga manggagawa sa ilalim ng krisis.

Hindi pa man nagsisimula ang pandemya, matagal na silang lugmok sa mukha ng kontraktwalisasyon at mababang minimum na sahod na bigong aksyunan ng administrasyong Duterte.

Napako ang pangako ng pangulo para sa regularisasyon ng mga manggagawang hindi nakatatanggap ng mga benepisyong para sa kanila.

Kahit ang mga m a n g g a g a w a n g pangkalusugan, iniinda ang mga pagkukulang ng pamahalaan pagdating sa sektor ng kalusugan.

Nagkukumahog ang gobyernong maghanap ng magtatrabahong doktor o nars, at bumili ng Personal Protective Equipment at testing kits nang mahigit 1,000 mula sa kanilang sektor ang nahawa sa COVID-19.

Dalawang landas ang maaaring tahakin ng bansa sa panahon ng krisis: panatilihin

DISENYO NG MGA PAHINA • JOEL ANDREI RAMIREZ

ang namamayaning kaayusan ng mga bagay, o baguhin ang sistemang nagpapahirap sa mga manggagawa’t naghihirap na mamamayan. Sa pagkakalantad ng mga kakulangan at kamalian ng mga nakaupo, marapat lamang nilang sagutin ang matagal nang panawagan ng mamamayan.

Sa halip na pagbantaan ang mga mahihirap na napilitang lumabas para sa kabuhayan, dapat sigurihin ng administrasyong naibibigay sa kanila ang tulong at ang kita nila sa mga buwang tumigil sila sa trabaho. Marapat ding ituon ang pondo sa proteksyon at tamang sahod ng mga empleyadong nagbubuwis ng buhay, kaysa sa mga sandatang ginagamit ng awtoridad para labagin ang karapatang pantao ng mamamayan.

Hindi sapat ang lockdown upang tuluyang masugpo

DIBUHO • NIKKI TENG

ang pandemya. Kaakibat nito ay mga konkretong medikal na hakbang tulad ng mass testing, pagbibigay ng prayoridad sa pagtugon sa pandemya, at paglalaan ng pondo sa mga ospital upang mapalakas ang sistemang pangkalusugan ng bansa.

Higit isang buwan na’ng lumipas nang ipagdiwang ang Araw ng Paggawa, subalit patuloy na hamon sa mga kabataang makiisa sa panawagan ng mga manggagawa.

Limitado pa man ang pagkakataon para sa isang kolektibong pagkilos sa mga lansangan, maaari pa ring kalampagin ang mga nakaupo gamit ang social media at iba pang plataporma.

Dahil higit sa banta ng sakit ay patuloy na pagdurusa ng bansa kung hahayaang magutom silang mga nagpapatakbo ng ekonomiya. •

Hindi sapat ang lockdown upang tuluyang masugpo ang pandemya. Kaakibat nito ay mga konkretong medikal na hakbang tulad ng mass testing, pagbibigay ng prayoridad sa pagtugon sa pandemya, at paglalaan ng pondo sa mga ospital upang mapalakas ang sistemang pangkalusugan ng bansa.

Lunes, 8 Hunyo 2020

39

EDITORYAL

The Philippine Collegian Special COVID-19 Issue

HUNGKAG NA KAPANGYARIHAN Sa halip na tugunan ang mga batayang pangangailangan ng mamamayan sa gitna ng krisis, karagdagang kapangyarihan pa ang hiling ng pamahalaan upang lalong lumawak at umigting ang kapangyarihan nito.

Sa nag-aalsang manggagawa, nagugutom na pamilya, tumatabong bilang ng positibo sa virus, sa halip na humingi ng dispensa, kapangyarihan pang dagdag ang hiling.

Kritikal ang kondisyon ng bansa dahil sa kapalpakan ng administrasyong tugunan ang pangangailangan ng bayan sa gitna ng COVID-19. Inilantad ng pag-iral ng lockdown sa Luzon at iba pang lugar na palyado ang militaristikong tugon sa krisis, pagkat hindi ang sakit ang sinusugpo nito, hindi lipunan ang pinalalakas.

Iisa ang layunin ng bawat proklamasyong inilalabas ng pamahalaan—limitahan ang kalayaan, lumikha ng kalituhan, at lubos na

40

pabayaan ang publiko. Ganito rin ang motibo ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte sa paghingi ng karagdagang kapangyarihan gamit ang batas. Nais niyang gawing lehitimo ang pagiging hari sa lipunang salat sa atensyong medikal at batayang pangangailangan.

Gayon mismong ang Kongreso na ang nagsuko ng kapangyarihan nito sa pangulo, patunay itong wala silang pagkilala sa Konstitusyon—na ang batas, para sa kanila, ay anumang naisin ni Duterte. Ang paglipat ng kapangyarihan sa kamay ng pangulo ay tahasang pag-alis sa balanse ng mga

#SolusyongMedikalHindiMilitar

sangay ng pamahalaan, malinaw na pagyurak sa demokrasyang dapat tinatamasa ng bansa.

Sinasabihan ng mga mambabatas ang mamamayang magtiwala.

Hayaan umano natin ang pangulong hawakan ang parte ng kaban ng bayan at magdesisyon kung saan ito ilalaan. Malabo man ang plano, pabibilisin naman daw nito ang proseso ng pagbili ng kagamitan kaya hindi na dapat mag-alala.

Subalit ang katwirang ito ay tahasang pagtalikod sa kanilang sinumpaang tungkulin.

Ang pagkakaroon ng “oversight committee” ay wala ring silbi kung ang bubuo rito ay mga kongresistang kaalyado ng pangulo—sunud-sunuran, hindi kritikal.

Nais ni Duterte na siya ang tanging sundin kaya maging ang lokal na pamahalaan ay nais niyang kontrolin. Ang talumpati niya sa bayan ay tila naging serye na lamang ng parinigan. Kung hindi man palpak ang direktiba, hindi ito naibababa nang maayos at tama; bahala na ang mga taong

magsiksikan sa checkpoint at magdusa sa kawalan ng pampublikong transportasyon.

Ipasa na lang sa mamamayan at lokal na pamahalaan ang sisi— silang matitigas ang ulo at hindi marunong sumunod.

Sinumang sumubok bumalikwas ay haharap sa parusang ipalalaganap ng pulis at militar, ang pangunahing pwersa ng pamahalaan laban sa krisis. Wala naman daw tayong dapat ipag-alala dahil hindi umano aabusuhin ng pangulo ang kapangyarihang iginawad sa kanya. Ngunit ang kasaysayan ng marahas niyang pagpatay ang patunay na hindi siya dapat paniwalaan.

Mahirap panghawakan ang pangakong saad sa batas kung magpapatuloy ang sistema ng kapabayaan, karahasan, at katiwalian. Wala tayong aasahan dahil bulag sa komprehensibong suri at detalyadong plano ang batas at mismong tagapagpatupad nito.

Ang kailangan ng mamamayan ay kasiguraduhan sa libre at dekalidad na serbisyong medikal ngunit hindi ito ang prayoridad ng pamahalaan.

Kung tunay ang pagnanais ng gobyernong solusyunan ang pandemya, hindi kakailanganin ng pangulo ng dagdag na kapangyarihan. Bilang pangulo, kaya niyang pakilusin ang mga ahensya upang bigyan ng sapat na kagamitan ang mga ospital na matagal nang pinilay ng kanilang kapabayaan.

Walang saysay ang dagdag na bayad sa manggagawang pangkalusugan kung walang balak ang pamahalaang bigyan sila ng proteksyon, kung hahayaan silang mamatay sa pagbibigay ng serbisyo sa bayan. Ang paninigurong sapat ang mga test kit sa bansa ay mahalaga ring bantayan upang masigurong ilalaan ito sa tunay na nangangailangan, hindi sa mapang-abusong iilan.

Ang atensyon ngayon ay dapat nakatuon sa pagprotekta sa pinakabulnerable, ang

Pagkat ang tunay na kapangyarihan ay hawak ng mamamayan, silang mga siyentista’t manggagawa, silang handang magserbisyo sa panahong kailangan— sakripisyong hindi kailanman maaasahan mula sa palpak at ganid na pamahalaan.

mahihirap.

Hindi madaraan sa kakarampot na ayuda ang pagligtas sa kanila mula sa sakit kung hindi pa rin aksesible ang serbisyong medikal; kung mismong ang karapatan sa disenteng sahod at libreng pabahay ay hindi nila nakukuha.

Imposible ang paghilom nang sama-sama dahil matagal nang pinapatay ng sistema ang marhinalisado sa lipunan.

Ngunit sa gitna ng pagpapabaya, hindi magdadalawang-isip ang mga siyentista at manggagawang pangkalusugang tanganan ang kontrol. Gaano man kahirap, patuloy silang magsisilbi hindi lamang dahil ito ang kanilang sinumpaan kundi dahil ito ang tama, makatwiran, nararapat.

Pagkat ang tunay na kapangyarihan ay hawak ng mamamayan, silang mga siyentista’t manggagawa, silang handang magserbisyo sa panahong kailangan— sakripisyong hindi kailanman maaasahan mula sa palpak at ganid na pamahalaan. •

DIBUHO • JAMES ATILLO

EDITORYAL

@phkule

PAMANTAYAN NG PANININDIGAN Kahit sa kabila ng krisis katulad ng pandemya, patuloy ang pagkiling ng administrasyon ng pamantasan sa mga atrasadong pamantayan ng pagkatuto gayong hindi lahat ay inaasahang makatutugon dito.

Higit na masusukat ang mandato at liderato ng isang institusyon sa paraan nito ng pagtugon sa hamon. Subalit sa pagkakataong ito, binigo tayo ng UP. Pagkat habang sadlak ang lahat sa krisis na dala ng COVID-19, ang prayoridad ng administrasyon ay ang mga rekisito, ang pagpapanatili ng atrasadong pamantayan upang sukatin ang pagkatuto. Sa kabila ng panawagan ng mga sektor, pinili ng UP Board of Regents (BOR) na ipatupad ang rekomendasyon ng President’s Advisory Council (PAC) na bigyan ng “deferred” na marka ang bawat mag-aaral habang hindi pa nila nakukumpleto ang mga rekisito ng kurso sa loob ng isang taon.

Hindi ito maituturing na solusyon, kundi tahasang pagbitiw ng administrasyon sa kanilang pananagutan, at pagpasa ng responsibilidad sa mga estudyante at guro ng pamantasan.

Gaano man kahaba ang palugit na ibigay, ang sapilitang pagpapatuloy ng mga akademikong gawain sa ganitong panahon ay hindi pagpapakita ng katatagan, kundi pagpapahayag ng kawalan ng habag at pangunawa. Walang saysay ang sinasabing pagtatapos ng semestre kung mananatili ang pag-aalala ng mga mag-aaral sa kanilang pang-akademikong tungkulin habang patuloy na nananalasa ang pandemya o habang bumabangon sa krisis na dulot nito.

Kabalintunaang maituturing ang pasya, pagkat wala itong pagkilala sa kinasasadlakan ng mahihirap, walang konsiderasyon sa kalagayan ng mga mag-aaral

at kaguruan sa kani-kanilang komunidad—taliwas sa dapat sana’y makataong oryentasyon ng pamantasan.

Isang bagay sana ang maaaring ihatid ng pamunuan ng UP sa mga mag-aaral, guro, at kawani sa ganitong pagkakataon: katiyakan. Ngunit baog sa holistikong tugon ang plano na higit na kailangan sana ngayon upang bigyang-linaw ang tutunguhin natin sa hinaharap.

Bagaman ipinangako ng administrasyon ang pagkakaroon ng mga bridging program pagdating ng susunod na semestre, walang malinaw na direktiba kung paano ito idaraos. Hindi dapat biglaan at mabilisan ang transisyon patungo sa kasunod na semestre pagkat ang kailangan ng mga mag-aaral ay makakuha ng tunay na pagkatutong banayad at praktikal—edukasyong mapagkalinga at mapang-unawa.

Ang magiging pagbabago sa mga kurikulum lalo na sa mga klase sa laboratoryo ay hindi lang dapat ibatay sa parehong sistemang tali sa dami ng rekisito ang pagpasa. Kalakip ng pagpapahalaga sa edukasyon ay ang paninigurong ang mga pundasyon ay nakatuon sa pagpapaunlad ng kalinangan, hindi sa lalong paglugmok ng mga mag-aaral.

Gayundin, ang mga magsisipagtapos ay hindi dapat bastang pabayaan; bagkus, kailangang lumikha ang pamunuan ng mga kongkretong hakbangin upang tulungan silang makausad paglabas ng pamantasan.

Higit sa lahat, tangan ng administrasyon ang responsibilidad na alamin ang kalagayan ng mga mag-aaral, guro, at kawani nito. Mahigpit

DISENYO NG MGA PAHINA • JOEL ANDREI RAMIREZ

na pag-agapay ang kailangan ng lahat upang makabangon, upang magkaroon ng pagkakataong likhain ang sistematikong pagbabagong hindi nagpapahirap o nagpapabaya.

Kahiya-hiyang ikinukulong pa rin sa mga rekisito at numero ang pamantayan ng edukasyon sa UP, gayong itinatampok ng krisis na ito na hindi grado ang pinakamainam na insentibo ng pagkatuto, kundi ang mismong kahingian ng panahon. Patuloy ang mga pag-aaral at diskusyon ng mga propesor at kanilang mag-aaral tungkol sa pagkalat ng pandemya. Aktibo ang mga organisasyon sa pagresponde sa mga komunidad, sa pagtulong sa mga ospital at lokal na pamahalaan, sa pagkalinga sa mga biktima ng pandemya.

Walang maliw ang paghingi ng pananagutan at maayos na tugon mula sa pamahalaan.

Pagkakataon ito upang baguhin hindi lamang ang takbo ng isang semestre kundi maging ang kabuuang pagtanaw sa edukasyon—makamasa, may pagkilala sa pangangailangan ng mga mag-aaral at mamamayan.

Dahil sa huli, ang tunay na pagkatuto’y higit na masusukat sa panahon ng krisis, sa panahon kung kailan kailangan ng bayan ang talino at husay ng mga iskolar ng bayan para sa pagbangon ng sambayanan. Ito ang batayan ng ating husay at dangal. Ito ang pamantayan ng ating paninindigan. •

Kabalintunaang maituturing ang pasya, pagkat wala itong pagkilala sa kinasasadlakan ng mahihirap, walang konsiderasyon sa kalagayan ng mga magaaral at kaguruan sa kani-kanilang komunidad— taliwas sa dapat sana’y makataong oryentasyon ng pamantasan.

Lunes, 8 Hunyo 2020

41

KONTRA-AGOS ATHENA SOBERANO

HANGGANG TAKIPSILIM • IKA-16 NG DISYEMBRE 2019, STA. ROSA, NUEVA

LOCKDOWN DIARIES Para sa maraming katulad kong relatibong maalwan ang buhay, pagkakataon ang lockdown upang ilaan ang oras kasama ang pamilya, o tapusin ang mga nakabinbing trabaho sa eskwela, o di kaya’y bumawi sa tulog. Ngunit sa higit dalawang buwang pag-iral ng enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), wala akong ibang maisip kundi ang kalagayan ng karamihan sa aming mga trabahador na sapilitang nawalan ng kabuhayan dahil sa banta ng sakit.

Mula nang ipataw ang lockdown sa buong bansa, natigil din ang operasyon ng aming negosyo, dahilan upang pauwiin ni Papa ang mga trabahador namin sa kanikanilang probinsya. Bagaman karamihan sa kanila’y nakiusap na manatili, hindi naman sila magagawang kupkupin ng maliit naming warehouse kaya minabuti niyang ihatid ang mga ito sa kani-kanilang pamilya.

“Pagkatapos nito, babalik pa rin kayo rito,” pagsiguro ni Papa, habang karamihan sa kanila’y nakapangalumbaba, marahil pilit iniisip kung saan kukuha ng panustos sa pamilya sa kakarampot na sahod. Bago sila bumiyahe, niyakap pa ako ni Kuya Fred, at sinabing magpakabait daw ako.

Sa kabuuan yata ng ECQ, hindi nawawalan ng balita tungkol sa mga taong nagugutom dahil sa kakulangan ng

BALA ANG BATAS* SAM DEL CASTILLO

Hindi man maibabalik ng pagmartsa at pagsunog sa mga gusali ang buhay ni Floyd at ng libu-libong biktima ng karahasan ng pulis, hindi na rin sasapat ang kawalang-kibo sa harap ng matinding kawalan ng katarungan.

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suporta ng pamahalaan sa mga nawalan ng trabaho. Higit na nakaranas nito ay ang mga magsasaka at mga mangingisdang walang mapagbentahan ng kanilang mga ani dahil limitado ang paggalaw sa ilang lugar, pati ang papunta’t pabalik sa Maynila.

Ayon sa datos ng Pamalakaya, bumagsak ng 3.2 porsiyento ang produksyon ng mga mangingisda sa kabila ng pag-iral ng ECQ, habang 3.4 porsiyento naman sa municipal fisheries subsector, na bumubuo sa 26.5 porsiyento ng kabuuang produksyon ng pangingisda sa bansa. Ngunit sa kabila nito, kimi ang gobyerno sa pagtulong sa kanila.

Kung tunay na may pagkilala ang pamahalaan sa ambag nilang tunay na lumilikha ng pagkain, marapat lamang na tulungan sila sa pamamagitan ng ayuda, o di kaya’y pagbili ng kanilang mga ani. Ganito ang ginawa sa ilang siyudad at munisipalidad sa bansa, at makikitang parehong nakikinabang ang gobyerno’t mamamayan dito.

Sa ngayon, wala pang katiyakan kung kailan makakabalik sina Kuya Fred. Nang huling kamustahin namin sila, pabiro nilang sinabing “nakakalakad pa naman, kahit patagilid.” Kung kaya mahalagang sa panahong ito, tuluy-tuloy ang suporta ng gobyerno sa mamamayan.

Pagkat kung wala sila, tiyak na gutom ang aabutin natin, may banta man ng pandemya o wala. •

Nang natamaan ako ng baril mo, agad akong dumapa sa sahig—nahuli mo na naman ako, ako ulit ang talo. Sa dinami-raming pwedeng gawing pampalipas-oras, makipagbarilbarilan ang pinakapaborito mo, dahil dito naisasabuhay mo ang mga pulis sa pelikula, na laging nililigtas ang bida at sinusugpo ang krimen.

Pero hindi na natin kailangang pag-usapan na hindi na tayo dapat maglaro, sapat na ang ilang taong lumipas upang maunawaang malayo sa totoong buhay ang mga nasa pelikula. Ilang tao na rin ang namatay gawa ng karahasan ng pulis, na kung hindi binaril ay niluhuran sa leeg hanggang sa hindi na makahinga. Ito ang sinapit ng Afrikano-Amerikanong si George Floyd sa kamay ng pulis ng Minnesota.

Kumpara sa mga puti, tatlong beses na mas mataas ang tsansang mamatay ng mga Afrikano-Amerikano dala ng karahasan ng mga pulis kada taon.

Noong 2019 lamang, tinatayang 1,099 katao ang napaslang sa engkwentrong sangkot ang kapulisan, at 259 dito ay mga Afrikano-Amerikano.

Bagaman 24 na porsyento lamang ito ng kabuuang datos, 13 porsyento lang din ang binubuo nila sa populasyon ng Amerika, ayon sa

#SolusyongMedikalHindiMilitar

tala ng research collaborative na Mapping Police Violence.

Malayo man ang Amerika sa Pilipinas, iisa’t pamilyar ang abusong nararanasan ng mga Pilipino sa mga pulis.

At inaasahang titindi pa ito ngayong nakalusot na sa ikatlo at huling pagbasa sa Kongreso ang Anti-Terrorism Bill na magbibigay ng mas malawak na kapangyarihan sa kapulisan upang makapanamantala.

Naturingang tagapagprotekta ng ordinaryong mamamayan, ang mga pulis ang nangungunang mang-abuso sa mga sibilyan, silang pumapaslang sa mga inosenteng tulad ni Kian Delos Santos. Taliwas sa bansag nila sa sarili, ang tunay na ginagampanan nilang tungkulin ay ang ipagtanggol ang iilang makapangyarihan.

Sila ang nanghahampas ng baton at nananagasa ng mga rallyista, ang mga nagpapaulan ng bala sa mahihirap at walang kalabanlaban.

Walang kalaban-laban ang mamamayan, lalo na ang mga progresibo, kung tuluyang maisabatas ang Anti-Terrorism Bill.

Sa ilalim ng mapaniil na panukala, krimen ang magpahayag ng pagtutol sa gobyerno at pagsali sa mga lehitimong organisasyon.

Ilang pesante at lider ng

progresibong grupo na rin kagaya ni Carlito Badion ang napaslang buhat ng aktibong red-tagging ng gobyerno.

Tila handa na rin ang gobyerno sa pag-implementa nito ngayong nagkalat ang mga pulis at militar sa kalsada para umano’y makontrol ang sakit. Ngunit sa halip na maging katuwang sa panahong ito, nagbukas lang ito ng oportunidad para sa mas malalang pag-abuso sa kapangyarihan—walang pakundangang pagbugbog sa mga lumabag sa lockdown at pagsasamantala sa mga kababaihan.

Tuwang-tuwa pa ako noon sa mala-action star na pagbunot mo ng kamay mong baril sa tagiliran na nakuha mo sa mga pulis na bida’t tagapagligtas sa pelikula.

Pero sa totoong buhay, kapag may mistulang hinuhugot ka sa iyong bag, may baril ka man o wala, agad kang hahatulan ng pulis ng kamatayan tulad ni Winston Ragos.

Hindi rin tulad ng mga pulis sa pelikula, hindi lang sa pagtangan ng baril nanggagaling ang lakas ng loob ng pulis para mangabuso, kundi sa sistematikong karahasan at mahabang kasaysayan nila ng kawalangpananagutan.

Ang pagiging Afrikano-

Amerikano sa Amerika, at pagiging mahirap sa Pilipinas, ay tinuturing na pagiging kriminal na dapat tanggihan ng hustisya. Kung ito ang naglalagay sa marami sa mga AfrikanoAmerikano at Pilipino sa kabilang dulo ng baril, marapat lang na magkaisa ang mamamayan para tuligsain ito, tuldukan na ang karahasan ng kapulisan.

Hindi man maibabalik ng pagmartsa at pagsunog sa mga gusali ang buhay ni Floyd at ng libu-libong biktima ng karahasan ng pulis, hindi na rin sasapat ang kawalang-kibo sa harap ng matinding kawalan ng katarungan. Sapagkat ngayong karahasan at batas ang sandata ng makapangyarihan para gipitin ang mamamayan, sa masigasig na pakikibaka lang natin matatamo ang hustisya at karapatang mabuhay nang walang takot.

Kung gayon ang pagprotesta ay hindi krimen, ito’y makatarungang tugon sa ilang dekadang pandarahas ng gobyerno. Sapagkat ang pagprotesta sa nasawing buhay ng isa ay pagbibigay-halaga sa mga naunang nasawi, sa mga nabubuhay pa, at sa mga susunod pang mabubuhay. •

*Pasintabi kina BLKD at Calix

A ECIJA

NIKKI TENG

DEALING WITH DISTANCE ISAAC RAMOS

... physical distancing can only accomplish so much as a buffer before medical personnel and our health systems become overwhelmed by the contagion.

Distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic is both a prescription and a malady. The former is physical and involves individual spacing and community quarantines. The latter is social and manifests in the anarchy in the widening gap between the people’s concerns and the government’s responses.

Months after President Rodrigo Duterte placed Luzon on a lockdown to abate the spread of COVID-19, the pandemic shows no signs of waning, with cases rising exponentially.

While the national government has introduced stringent and punitive measures to reduce movement and has enjoined local government units (LGUs) to follow, it falls short of delivering medical and humanitarian solutions, let alone promoting much needed social solidarity and cooperation.

Vital for running the country’s everyday affairs, the national government’s delegation of powers and responsibilities to LGUs should gain more ground in the present public health crisis to engage people at the grassroots level, especially in medical and relief efforts, thus closing the distance between the government and its constituents.

But this efficiency can only be achieved if the national government can issue clear

and sound directives for LGUs based on the conditions on the ground. As it stands, however, the lockdown and other recommended measures, such as curfews and the suspension of public transport, seem ill-advised or could have been better prepared for, considering, for example, that essential workers need to get to their workplaces and ordinary Filipinos have to be able to bring food to their families’ tables.

To name just one of its many baffling decisions, the national government saw Pasig City’s proposal for limited tricycle use to help transport health workers and patients as a stubborn move against its distancing directives.

Duterte has castigated officials who tend to defy his government’s draconian prescriptions, but his fits appear to have come more from an insecure laggard than from an official committed to serve.

To talk about distancing amid the pandemic, then, is to ensure that efforts from individual to community quarantines must be coupled with efforts to close the distance between those who give orders and those who are made to follow.

In the absence of clear guidelines, LGUs are left adrift, especially because each one seems equipped with a different

roadmap. The disparity in people’s access to resources hinges greatly on the disparity in local leaders’ competence and political will. While some units have been more responsive, some are lagging far behind, dealing a devastating blow to the poor and the vulnerable.

When the national government could have capacitated and empowered LGUs to expand testing capacity, streamline relief efforts, and coordinate with local health units and institutions, the president, instead, strong-armed Congress into granting him emergency powers that are prone to abuse.

Meanwhile, so little has been done to strengthen our health system, which has long been deteriorating. While responsibility for field health and hospital services has been devolved to the LGU per the 1991 LGU Code, years of bureaucratic neglect have rendered this structure frail and in dire need of support.

It could cave in amid sudden tremors, such as the pandemic that has caught us unaware.

Centralized efforts must initiate inter-unit task forces and groups involving experts, to serve as repositories for ideas and initiatives, such as building testing centers and efficient food distribution. Should punitive measures remain, they must be

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reserved for officials who fail to bring their constituents’ health needs to the fore.

Any effort by the national government and LGUs to enforce physical distancing must be paired with actions to support national and local health centers.

After all, physical distancing can only accomplish so much as a buffer before medical personnel and our health systems become overwhelmed by the contagion.

Should physical distancing eventually prove inadequate, a health sector perpetually deprived of state support would have a slim chance of responding adequately until it collapses and plunges into the crevices exposed by the tremors of this crisis.

The two kinds of distancing in this pandemic-hit country occur in the space of fractured communities, of individualized efforts. But while the first is a medical prescription, the second is a social malady graver than any pandemic. It is in ordinary people’s hands, then, to demand that the government work as a strong, organized unit—not crazed in the paranoia of competition, but responsive to our needs.

In a crisis that widens social gaps, we can only succeed if the government closes the distance between itself and its people, else we protest so tirelessly that it does so. •

Monday, 8 June 2020

43

OPED-GRPX

The Philippine Collegian Special COVID-19 Issue

DIBUHO • MARCY LIOANAG

BUKAS NA LIHAM PARA SA ‘GITNANG-URI’ BEATRICE PUENTE

Kababayan,

Dahil sa isang lipunang pinamumunuan ng gobyernong may pagkiling sa pribadong interes at walang pagkalinga sa mamamayan, lahat ng pinagsasamantalahan ay naghihirap, walang panggitnang uri.

44

Sana ay nasa mabuti kang kalagayan.

Nabasa ko ang liham mo.

Gusto ko mang direktang tumugon, linya kada linya, palagay ko ay mas mainam kung mauunawaan mo kung saan ako nagmumula.

Pakiwari mo’y kilalangkilala mo na ako batay sa mga napapanood mo sa telebisyon o sa mga tambay na nakakasalamuha mo sa kanto.

Ngunit higit pa ako rito. Mas kilala kita, at sanay na ako sa araw-araw nating pakikitungo sa isa’t isa. Madalas, ako ang naghahatid sa’yo papasok sa trabaho. Minsan kitang suki sa bangketa. Rumaraket din ako bilang labandera o tagalinis ng bahay, o di kaya’y dumarampot ng inyong basura—kahit marumi, marangal din naman.

Sinisikap kong pasukin ang tatlo o higit pang trabaho, masiguro lang na makakakain ng tatlong beses sa isang araw ang mga anak ko; swerte na rin kahit isa. Nagsisikap din ako gaya mo, ngunit kahit gaano karaming trabaho ang aming pagsabaysabayin, lagi pa ring kulang, kakarampot pa rin ang kita.

#SolusyongMedikalHindiMilitar

Pero dahil impormal at madalas ay kontraktwal ang trabahong kinabibilangan ko, maraming hindi nakakaalam kung anong gampanin ko at ng mga manggagawang gaya ko sa lipunan.

Nakakapagod mamuhay nang ganito: Normal na walang makain, normal na walang pampaaral, normal na hindi makapagpatingin sa doktor kapag nagkakasakit.

Kung may kalayaan lang akong pumili, hinding-hindi ako mananatili sa ganitong kalagayan.

Sa pangangailangan ko ngang umalpas, hindi ko na iniisip kung mahahawa ako ng kung anuanong sakit—nagbabaka-sakali na lang ako sa posibilidad na nariyan lamang ang hinahanap kong susi sa maginhawang bukas.

Pinipili kong suungin ang panganib. Malay akong hindi ligtas ang sinuman sa kasalukuyan, ngunit hindi ko masisikmurang mamatay nang dilat ang aking pamilya habang hinihintay ang tulong ng pamahalaan. Kailangan kong patuloy na kumayod dahil piliin ko mang maghintay, sigurado akong kulang pa rin ang ihahatid na ayuda, mananatili pa rin kaming gutom sa araw-araw.

Matagal na kaming naghihintay sa pangakong

ginhawa ng pamahalaan. Gayong kalam na mismo ng sikmura ang nagtutulak sa aming umaksyon, makatwiran ang pagrerehistro ng hinaing sa lansangan. Wala kaming ibang magawa, pagkat ganito kalupit ang pagpipilian kapag desperado kang mabuhay.

Kung mayroon mang pinatunayan ang pandemya, ito ay ang katotohanang mas marami tayong pagkakatulad kaysa pagkakaiba—bagaman relatibong komportable ang iyong buhay, pareho tayong humaharap sa napakaraming pangamba.

Maaaring tayo na ang susunod na dapuan ng sakit nang di natin nalalaman. Nariyan din ang takot na sa panahong kinakailangan, walang ospital na tatanggap sa atin, o dahil mas prayoridad ang mayayaman at makapangyarihan.

Higit sa lahat, binabagabag tayo ng pag-aalalang walang madalang pagkain sa mesa pagkat wala na tayong kinikita.

Dahil sa isang lipunang pinamumunuan ng gobyernong may pagkiling sa pribadong interes at walang pagkalinga sa mamamayan, lahat ng pinagsasamantalahan ay naghihirap, walang panggitnang uri.

Sa isang kumpas, maaari ka nilang tanggalan ng trabaho,

maaari nilang taasan ang bilihin at iba mo pang bayarin—madali para sa kanilang lumikha ng kondisyon upang ika’y maghirap.

Sa pagkakataong iyon, makikita mo ang sarili mong kabilang sa amin; malalaman mong simula’t sapul, wala tayong pinagkaiba.

Kung ikaw ay mamumulat, huwag kang mangmamata paibaba sa aming mga nakayuko’t nangangayupapa. Sa halip, sama-sama nating tanawin ang itaas—kung nasaan ang poder ng kapangyarihan, kung nasaan ang tunay na hati ng lipunan. Hindi natin hahayaang mamayani ang nais ng mga nasa kapangyarihan: mabulid ang mamamayan, tanggalin ang simpatya sa kapwa mahirap, at hayaan tayong magdusa.

Tama ka, ang pagkamit ng magandang buhay ay hindi nakukuha sa isang pitik lamang— pinagsisikapan itong isulong ng nagkakaisang mamamayan.

Hinihiling ko ang iyong kaligtasan, dahil sa sandaling maalpasan natin ang pandemya, sama-sama pa nating haharapin ang mas matitinding sakit ng lipunan. Hinihintay ka namin, kasama.

Nagmamahal, ‘Poorest of the Poor’ •

DISENYO NG PAHINA • JOEL ANDREI RAMIREZ

OPED-GRPX

@phkule

DISCIPLINING A DISEASE ISAAC RAMOS

Whatever disease it is that this government is intending to fight is no longer the pandemic that has brought the world to its knees, but one it sees threatening to its rule.

I remember celebrating New Year with high hopes for what lay ahead. But everything has gone downhill since then. Here I am, stuck in a slump, bogged down by backlogs, hurt from a heartbreak, anxious every time I ever so slightly hear myself coughing, wheezing. It’s hard to have weak lungs in the face of a pandemic.

To help myself get out of this sullen state, I’ve been watching Kingdom on Netflix. But the more intently I follow the plot, the more I am reminded of how disaster and disease can have no denouement when those who should be leading the way out of the crisis are focused elsewhere.

President Rodrigo Duterte began his series of televised coronavirus speeches last March 12, at a press conference where, late as usual, and in what could perhaps be the most presidential he could muster, he attempted to minimize his convoluted ramblings by reading from a script. This did little to lend him credence, however, for it was still Duterte’s militarist self, just quite less senile, flexing muscle when what the situation required was a leader avowed to treat the pandemic as a public

PAGBAGTAS • IKA-17 NG MAYO 2020, UP DILIMAN

health emergency rather than a matter of national security.

Duterte’s government is a mess. Before any local COVID-19 case was reported, Health secretary Francisco Duque III had called the Philippines a model country in the fight against the pandemic.

While hard to believe, then, after Duterte tried to assure the public that his government was doing its best without articulating any concrete, rational plan, you would wonder how they could have prepared for this since early February but focused instead on railroading several draconian policies.

Metro Manila was under an ill-conceived three-month lockdown. Plans for the health sector do not even get to be an afterthought. For ordinary people, dealing with an outbreak is a struggle with claustrophobia, with the feeling that one’s world is getting smaller until it no longer feels like one’s own. The incoherence and confusion only demoralize further those already swamped in the terror and isolation this pandemic brings.

There is, however, at least one thing coherent in Duterte’s world: the desire for discipline by

the gun. Police and military men in battle gear were deployed at checkpoints around the metropolis. Crises generate despair, and any tyrant would use this to slide their tactics into the mainstream. This regime responds to a health issue with what appears less an effort to control the disease than one to disallow the discontent brewing around the corner.

Curfews and arrests are in the playbook, as if viruses could distinguish between guns and warm bodies. Whatever disease it is that this government is intending to fight is no longer the pandemic that has brought the world to its knees, but one it sees threatening to its rule.

Though, officially, the quarantine in Metro Manila has been lifted, the next weeks nonetheless demand vigilance.

A disease disrupts the making of a dictator, creates a lull that would have stood in the way of legalizing terror, tyranny. But a fog of anxiety is also a perfect storm beneath which rove the stealthy pawns of the iron fist.

The laws can be shelved for now; the tyrant has taken advantage of this country’s weakness.

Duterte will use this

opportunity to maneuver his way through this pandemic in rehearsal for militaristic rule.

His request for unquestioning obedience may gain much traction in a populace where his stooges actively muddle conversations and where an atomized, individual way of dealing with crises has long been the norm. Yet this is also an opportunity for those fighting for a better society to expose the shortcomings of this one.

It has taken a pandemic to strain to fracture point the ineptitude of this government and the cycle from which it was born.

It is incumbent upon anyone dreaming, striving for a better world, to situate this disease within the larger disaster of an egomaniacal presidency and start conversations of this type.

If we learn to survive this as a community, we would understand more how the greater disease that has kept the world suffering keeps us from valuing life as a matter of helping each other, beyond our own solitude.

Should we emerge on the other side of this pandemic, the days ahead must be dedicated to making strides so that all of us may have a breath of fresh air. •

LUCKY DELA ROSA

Monday, 8 June 2020

45

GRAPHICS

Mula rito hanggang kalayaan*

The Philippine Collegian Special COVID-19 Issue

MARVIN ANG

LUCKY DELA ROSA

Lansangan ang lunsaran ng diwang makabayan ng mamamayan. Bawat espasyo’y gagalugarin, bawat daan ay tatahakin upang ipagtanggol ang karapatan at ipaglaban ang kalayaan ng bayan.

Muling pinuno ng nagkakaisang mamamayan ang tarangkahan ng University Avenue sa UP Diliman—yabag ng nagkakaisang bayan ang yumanig sa daan, tinig ng nagngangalit na mga Pilipino ang bumalot sa makasaysayang pook ng paninindigan. Bitbit ng bawat isa ang panawagang itigil ang paniniil, gayong pinatitindi ng mga nanunungkulan ang krisis na dinaranas ng bayan.

Mayroon umanong banta sa pambansang seguridad—silang mga kritiko, hadlang sa pagunlad, terorista. Sa pakahulugan ng pamahalaan, ang sinumang may hinaing o opinyong taliwas sa kanilang pamamalakad ay subersibo, kaya marapat lamang na sila’y patahimikin.

Ngunit kasaysayan ang saksi na sa bawat pagkakataong gaya nito, hindi mapipigilan ninuman ang sambayanang mayroong iisang tinig at tindig. Hindi magagawa ng iilang makapangyarihang magpasya sa kapalaran ng bayan.

Hindi kailanman maitatakda ng iilang titik sa pahina ang esensya ng ating demokrasya, pagkat tayo ang siyang bumubuhay, nagbibigay-kahulugan dito.

Tanging silang mga nagbubungkal ng lupa, nagaapuhap ng ikabubuhay sa paggawa, ang siyang magdidikta ng kinabukasan ng bayan. Ang tunay na banta, kung gayon, sa seguridad ng bansa ay ang mga pulitikong pansariling interes lamang ang pinangangalagaan— silang isinasangkalan ang karapatan ng mamamayan para sa ganansyang sila-sila lang ang nakikinabang.

Sa pagkakasadlak, babangong muli ang sambayanan, mag-aalimpuyo ang galit at poot na siyang hahagupit sa pundasyon ng gobyernong pumapaslang. Sa panahong makamtan natin ang tagumpay, tayo mismo ang maghahawan ng landas patungo sa panlipunang hustisya, at ang hatol ng kasaysayan sa mga pahirap ay masalimuot, ngunit wasto at mapagpalaya. •

*Pasintabi kay Mon Espia at Giancarlo Abrahan

46

#SolusyongMedikalHindiMilitar

DISENYO NG PAHINA • DYLAN REYES

ABOUT THE COVER

@phkule

KIM YUTUC

sinapo mo ang nalalag na paghinga mula sa iyong dibdib kumbakit ba naman dis oras ng gabi ay napapanaginipan mo ang peryang may katatakutang tema e ang huli mo lang namang ginawa bago datnan ng antok ay mag-comment sa post ng friend mo. Walong minuto mahigit nang nakaluhod ang pulis, tumatawa, awat na po may exam pa ako kinabukasan, nasaan ang salamin ko kukuha akong tubig sa kusina hindi ako makahinga patlang ang pagitan namin ng mga naghahalakhakang pulis walang facemask tanging dugo na nagmula sa aking dibdib nalaglag ang aking paa sa paggising panaginip lang ang naghihiwalay sa amin ng katotohanang nilalaro lang ng makakapagyarihan ang batas at ang bangungot ay matagal na luma na ang perya, kailangan nang tumaya •

y A r e P AKDA • SHEILA ABARRA

DIBUHO • RANIELLA GRAZELL MARTINEZ

SHOT TO PIECES It is difficult to picture what constitutes the norm now.

The coronavirus crisis that caught the world off guard has forced milions of families to struggle to get by under the worsening conditions brought about by the pandemic.

Instead of resolving this problem, however, state officials seem to have taken it as an invitation to push through their political motives. The matters of public health and economic survival are relegated to the individual, while the opportunists scramble further for power.

Rather harshly and cruelly, the onslaught of the pandemic revealed the faulty cogs of an unsustainable system, one in which those at the top remain in power as the larger society crumbles. The prospects of the former remain whole and intact, while those of the rest are shot to pieces.

Unless a hinge moment happens, broad swaths of the population are left to pick up the pieces of what remains in the broken picture of the post-COVID world.

While it is puzzling and indefinite, one thing is certain—things cannot go back to what they once were.

STATUS QUOTES @TheRainBro Twitter, 29 May 2020

I’m sick of being asked to soften my anger, to stay respectful despite the state’s relentless offenses.

We do not owe our oppressors magnanimity. We are human and our rage is valid! Our rage has worth! Rage took this country from its captors then, it can do the same now!

JUAN MIGUEL SEVERO Actor and writer DIBUHO • JAMES ATILLO

PAGE DESIGN • DYLAN REYES

Monday, 8 June 2020

47

Rage, rage against the dying of the light!

*

KIMBERLY ANNE YUTUC

PHILIPPINECOLLEGIAN

The Official Weekly Student Publication of the University of the Philippines Diliman

*apologies to Dylan Thomas

Volume 97 • 48 pages Special COVID-19 Issue Monday, 8 June 2020