Mic Drop
By Bea Jenine Endaya
With more or less 10, 000 reported COVID-19 cases in the country since the start of the month, the government proposed a ‘quarantine bubble’ in Metro Manila and its neighboring provinces, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal, and was called the “NCR plus bubble.” The mentioned places were first set into an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) last March 29 to April 04 with the OCTA Research Group’s aim to prevent the transmission of virus to other places outside the NCR plus. Unfortunately, the average daily cases of COVID-19 are uncontrollably increasing making the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) extend the supposed-to-be one week ECQ in the NCR plus for another week.
The bubble is now under the Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) until the 30th of April and the Province of Cavite is consistently the 3rd province in the NCR plus bubble to report a high number of cases daily. With the continuous rise of cases, despite the implementation of ECQ, MECQ and ‘quarantine bubble’, one can ponder: were all of these really helpful? I do not think so.
It has been over a year since the first implementation of ECQ in the country and the only thing that changes are the number of COVID-19 cases. Filipinos might have a part on why the progress to fight COVID-19 in the country is slow because they keep on going out instead of staying indoors. I would like to set the blame for the citizens aside and put the spotlight on the government’s action towards this crisis. The incompetence, the lack of concrete plans, and the undervalue of virus during the first quarter of 2020 are solely the main problems why we are still here.
Furthermore, the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) reported that within the two-week enhanced community quarantine in the NCR plus, the bubble had a household income loss of approximately P30 billion paired with an increase in the unemployment rate. In addition, NEDA stated in one interview that the extension of quarantine in the NCR plus will greatly affect not only the residents living in the provinces inside the bubble but the economy of the country as well. This counts as one point to why I do not think the ECQ, MECQ or the bubble thing is effective because if it is, then our country could have been COVID-free since last year.
Aside from the government’s incompetence, the Filipino citizens themselves have been blaming one another, reminding everyone not to go out if not needed, scolding those who continue to go out and seek provisions to give their family. But, can we blame them? No. Do they have a choice? None. I would like to emphasize that not everyone has the same privilege in life. The people who lost their jobs in the pandemic do their best to provide something for their family which is the main reason they go out. This point will still lead me talking about how our government is still lacking. For instance, the distribution of quarantine supplies and cash assistance here in our city has been selective. To have an organized distribution of assistance, the officials provided a list of names of residents from different barangays that can claim on a scheduled date. Unfortunately, not everyone is on the list which is why a lot of residents have been complaining. Was there any criteria? Were there rules applied that’s why people were not included in the list? If only they were able to provide fair and equal amounts of quarantine supplies, safety kits, and cash assistance in exchange for the citizens not being able to work for their family, I believe a more cooperative relationship will be established between the Filipinos and the government themselves.
Summing up, I really do not think going back to ECQ was of any help. A notable change in the implementation of enhanced community quarantine this year, 2021, in comparison to that of last year is the use of Quarantine Pass that now became Authorized Persons Outside Residence (APOR) to be able to go out for jobs, groceries, and medical-related concerns.
Overall, the 2021 ECQ is a lot lighter than the strict ECQ the previous year from which we can say why the ECQ is ineffective even with the changes done. This will not easily reduce the rise of COVID cases, even after putting up a quarantine bubble. According to NEDA, the ECQ alone is not the solution. What the country needs is a better enhancement on the implementation of the Prevent Detect Isolate Treat Reintegrate (PDITR) strategy. Given that the government has enough funds to further strengthen the country’s strategy in fighting COVID-19, it is better to be allotted in providing better health services to people, in improving and implementing concrete plans in addressing the situation, in the fair distribution of supplies and assistance, and in supplying the country a better working and trustworthy vaccines for the people.
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