UPDATE: On Covid-19 + Government Incompetence in the Philippines
We started an initial lockdown on March 14 which was said to last a month. In the first half of the this lockdown, the National Government said it will provide relief for Filipino families who could not afford a lockdown. As per the Philippine Statistics Authority’s survey in 2018, there are 17 Million Filipinos who are below the poverty line and cannot make meets end. Not included here are the many middle class families who are barely above the said poverty line. So to say, the prompt action of the government to provide food and even shelter for these people to guard against the virus is much needed.
But for the longest time, since the eve of these various reports back in January, the President and his constituents simply brushed it off, told people that they could just boost their immune system, that it was not a big deal and that we are not banning flights with Chinese mainlanders or other foreigners from places where the virus has spread. His supporters said they felt his heartfelt compassion but his actions really just showed how much he reveres China to the point that he would endanger 100 Million Filipinos. The President did not listen and continued to act as if nothing had happened, that there is no war in Ba Sing Se, until people from exposed areas began pouring in and we could do nothing but quarantine.
But it doesn’t stop there. The compassion he has, it seems, is limited only to certain people, those of power and those of China. When the people cried because of hunger, their pleas fell on deaf ears. When the frontliners were asking for government aide because of the lack in supplies, the President prompted to focus on Military action instead. When the WHO said to test, test test and the people pleaded for mass testing, the Department of Health said there was no need for mass testing. A shelter for the homeless was raided because they allegedly do not follow social distancing while homeless people were taken to Jail because they were outside during quarantine. A rally of people who went on to demand the food the government promised after two fucking weeks of waiting were then raided by soldiers because they violated quarantine protocols.
But after using force on the masses and doing warrantless arrest as granted by the Department of Justice, the same national government who so strictly applied the quarantine rules before a hungry and desperate people, called for human compassion when a Senator who had tested positive brought his pregnant wife to a hospital, endangering the lives of many healthworkers and further depleting the little workforce we have when the healthworkers he interacted with were sent to quarantine.
To make the matters all the more worse, the moment Local Government (Mayors) and the Office of the Vice President (note: the Pres and the VP are not from the same political party) step up with innovative ideas and medical supplies like PPEs (as the people have asked for time and again), the President’s constituents then point fingers, saying they have allegedly violated jackshit when these people, you know, have actively done something. They were accused of stealing the limelight and competing with the executive branch of the government, aka the president and his constituents.
Like, I don’t know. It is a time of crisis. People aren’t paid if they can’t WFH. They are going hungry and going sick, with so many PUIs but no mass testing and after all these bs things happening, what gets the national government going is that the people who are showing competence are cOMpeTinG wITh thEM.
Now, granted, for the most part, the people calling the shots in the Executive branch of Philippine Government have always kinda been incompetent and for the longest time, the Filipinos have been resilient about it but in a time of crisis, we at least hoped they would step up. But they did not so the people started speaking.
Many people who previously were apolitical starting vocalizing their points, and together with those who had always been political, they began watching the news like hawks and pointing out when certain provisions are not working out or when the focus is misguided or when laws seemingly have dual standards, with strict enforcement to the masses and leniency to the rich an the powerful.
They were able to stop the plans for mass sale on malls which could cause an outbreak because every time there is sale in malls, I shit you not, it’s like Black Friday in USA. They were able to overturn the DOH’s plans to change the head of the testing center for COVID-19 because this hero refused to continue doing VIP testing for government officials. The restricted medical supplies treated as case evidences were sent to be used by hospitals. The politicians who were eager to cry about how hard they worked that they even got the virus earned the people’s ire instead for getting VIP testing. (They asked for a fucking 24 hour deadline, the fucking audacity of these people.) Recently, the National Bureau of Investigation finally called for the senator who violated quarantine protocols but there is no action against him, for now.
The last cord that struck had been when the president’s constituents decided to go after a local Mayor, Vico Sotto, who refused to curry favor with the national government and quite frankly, is an upstanding and competent individual. So to say, it is a classic case of incompetent boomer tries to cut off the path of a competent millennial out of jealousy. But the thing is, Vico Sitto isn’t just any normal millennial, he is a privileged one, with parents in the acting industry and an uncle who is a Senator himself, he isn’t that easy to touch. In hindsight, had he been a normal upstanding millennial without backing, he would have probably be dead today. But it still struck a cord, especially with the younger generation who see how incompetent the government is and isn’t afraid to vocalize it.
That is when “People Power” and #ProtectVico started trending. And you know, in response, instead of finally stepping up and doing his job, the president makes a shitshow of himself in national TV and tells the soldiers of the Philippines, you know the ones who should be protecting the Filipino, to Shoot us dead for being in the opposition, for asking for food and asking for transparency on the budget that was given to him. That’s 270 Billion. According to law, he is supposed to give a weekly transparency report every monday about where all that money is going but there is none. We were given nothing, zero, zilch. And the complete lunacy that he would say “Shoot them dead.” at the very people who make up this country. Fuck that.
After that shitshow, around 10 PM, #OustDuterteNow trended worldwide and it continued trending up until 4 in the morning, only dying out at 6AM but still trending locally.
After that, idk, maybe his constituents got scared that the people would really bring the revolution to the doorsteps of Malacañang and they are trying to make an effort.
The Chief of Police said that the police will not follow Duterte’s order to shoot the populace dead. They finally pushed for Mass Testing and it is to start on April 14. Some PPEs have been sent to the hospitals and there is more coming around April 4. Around 5,000-8,000 Php will be given as aid on a family to family basis for the Filipinos who cannot earn anything rn. But for now, these are all just empty promises. They will have to prove themselves and I hope they do. Oh how I wish that they’d be so impeccable that there would be no room for criticism.
I want my government to succeed and I want them to help and save the people. But I refuse to stand for failure. I refuse to tolerate incompetence. And for one who has failed us time and again, for one who had remained incompetent for too long, regaining the trust of the people can only be achieved by continued competence and endless improvement.
But until then, we should hold off.
