LATE NIGHT TALKS

Starting from March 19 to 24, President Rodrigo Duterte as well as certain government entities held a series of late-night sessions to decide on major countermeasures to cope with the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. However, the proceedings of these conferences were repetitive and ultimately trivial, leaving the public with questions still left unanswered. 

March 19, 1:00 am. The president held a press conference to remind the Local Government Authorities to abide by the orders of the Interagency Task Force for Infectious Diseases. This was coincidentally done immediately after Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto requested the National Government for consideration as regards the temporary operations of Tricycle units for the sake of practicality in transportation to and from hospitals. 

Unfortunately this suggestion was treated with animosity and government obtusely insists on following the orders of the IATF to the letter. Moreover, what made this event receive flak was its redundancy. The 14-minute conference should have already been sufficed by Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles held on March 20. The very summary of these conferences were basically rants and reprimands to the likes (as how it was made to appear) of Mayor Sotto regarding advanced initiatives that need considerate approval. What the statements failed to appreciate is Mayor Sotto's effort to base social work paradigms in the current and concrete social reality in Pasig City. Instead, these statements focused more on the robotic, empirical, mechanical and absolute coherence to the orders of the IATF deemed unassailable and is by far punishable by imprisonment of not more than two months or a fine of not less than P10,000 but not more that P1 million. 

March 23, past midnight. The president signs into law the "Bayanihan to Heal as One Act." As per the passed act, it aims to provide the president with special powers bound by constitutionality. This gives the president more conductive leeway in three major aspects: to assist the front liners, to enhance the government's crisis response through fast-tracking, and to maintain peace and order (Rappler, 2020). The means of doing so lies in budgetary control over government-owned and privately-owned establishments. The act also highlights the responsibility of the Executive branch to submit weekly reports to Congress for the sake of transparency. 

It is important to note that there are no provided responsibility measures that are bestowed to any government entity should the Executive branch's respective operations become anomalous. There are no criminal nor administrative sanctions aimed at the Executive branch should there be any form of malpractice and abuse of absolute power coming from the president. Furthermore, there are no specific limitations expressed in the law, much less a set of guidelines to be followed. The scope of these special powers were the only things provided in the document. In the end, this very ambiguity makes the act all too dangerous. 

The president's address last March 24, 10:00 pm, highlights the reinforcement of and celebrates the administration's absolute dominance as well as what is yet to come. 

Within the 12-minute time frame President Duterte had to address the nation. He started off with the expression of sentiments, gratitude, and salute to professionals, volunteers, doctors and others that member the front-line of the battle against COVID - 19. 

Afterwards, he proceeded to the main agenda of the conference. The "National Action Plan," to be chaired by Sec. Delfin Lorenzana of the Department of National Defense (DND), with Sec. Eduardo Año of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) as Vice-Chair, is the very manifestation of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Law. The president highlighted that the said law will be able to define parameters for the distribution of supplies as well as the enhancement of financial assistance programs like the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), which was said to be enjoyed by "almost everyone."

Surely enough, this will not put citizens at ease and instead will continue to be kept in the dark. What needs to be realized is that the said law would make all funds and resources collected will be absolutely controlled by the president. This would leave most of the resources collected to be more vulnerable to corruption, instead of actually being distributed to the respective constituents. 

Furthermore, most LGUs including the consistently-criticized operations of Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte among others do not exhibit coherence to the need for transparency of funds, much less are they required by the very same law to report back the received funds. The very fact that there are varying degrees of the form of aid received by the constituents of the LGUs already proves the possibility of these aids to be reduced to mediocre standards. It begs the question why there are only a few cities and municipalities that are able to develop laboratory testing centers, mobile markets, complete sanitation kits and others while others make do with the usual relief goods: a packet of noodles, cans of sardines, and a kilo of rice. Again, this reason alone proves just how unreliable the LGU will be when tasked with the distribution of said aid. 

The very fact that the government's discourse relies solely on material and monetary funding reduces the quality of public service to the lowest of standards. As how it is practiced in most developed countries, there are other forms of aid that would indeed be beneficial to how the country will effectively battle the COVID-19 outbreak. Research, Comprehensive and Inclusive Healthcare, Work security, Food security, and others are focal game-changers of the crisis. But instead, government intentionally strays from the path towards advanced forms of the war against the contagion. Ultimately, the crisis is only reshaped by government as a greener pasture for the corruption of funds and unquestioned rule.

The administration is too complacent and has no shame compared to the simplest of citizens, helping one another in the smallest ways. Market vendors still insist on selling fish, meat, and other consumables in lower prices despite the imposed price increases. Local and small businesses along with both public and private Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are taking the initiative of providing the front liners with food, water, hygiene kits, and financial support. Concerned personages and celebrities are starting to chip in to garner funds to be of use to the volunteers and health workers as well as for the communities that until now are still waiting for their Barangay officials to distribute aid.

The Duterte administration has nothing to be thankful about. Instead, it should be ashamed of how much these noble citizens silently loathe the likes of politicians that work in air-conditioned halls and offices. The administration has nothing to be proud of even if they report to work every single day of the pandemic, even if they take even longer nights of announcements and meetings and under-the-table discussions undetected by the slumbering public eye. 

As long as government ignores opportunities for more efficient ways to combat the COVID-19 outbreak, the conditions will remain much worse. And when that moment comes, only then would the state reckon the scarcity of competent doctors, health workers, scientists, and other unsung heroes that will surely haunt them and leave them in extreme regret.

###

*Photos taken from Google

**Photos edited on Photopea