“A breath of sunshine for a Sun-loving Vampire”

With the threat of the global pandemic getting out of hand, the government had no choice but to
facilitate total lockdown and quarantine within the state. The people were furious, it took a few weeks for the
people to truly grasp the extent of the dangers that came along with freedom. During the implementation of the
community quarantine, many questions were raised. “Where will we get our food? How will I earn during these
times? How will I survive?” Questions which harbored threat towards the survival of those who rely on daily wage
and their miniscule savings. This resulted in chaos and disorder, further leading them to violate the laws of social
distancing and other safety procedures, risking their lives and rendering the quarantine useless in the process. But
what can we say? Looking at their perspective, they had no choice but to risk their lives in order to survive. It’s a
“damned if you do, damned if you don’t” kind of situation, with the choices being starve to death, or risk being
infected, and die. Luckily, the government responded with the problem by giving assistance. Households
throughout the Philippines were given financial assistance by the national government. Combining this with the
assistance of the Local Government Units through “Ayuda”, this course of action successfully prevented the people
from going out, or so it seems. Even with financial assistance, people couldn’t stay still. Which gives us the
impression that the people’s concern wasn’t fixated with survival alone, but then, what is it?

Apparently, aside from the essentials, one thing that the people are lacking during these trying times is
Unity. The existence of political propaganda during the pandemic only worsened the division of the society. Those
who support the interests of the Nation, and those who support the interests of the government. Those who
belong to the latter believes that everything the Government does is well thought and planned, a statement the
former cannot agree with. Social media platforms are filled with such arguments, creating a stigma of societal
division through the difference in political views. Arguments could be used to mend misunderstandings between
two opposing parties, but if done wrong, it could just worsen the situation and divide them even further. The
problem here is that rather than engaging in a healthy and factual arguments, people tend to result into shaming
and other fallacies. Preventing the people from meeting at one point, and separating them even more than they
were, and more than will they ever be. Just like the relationship between the government and the netizens. From
the social media platforms, it is visible that the Government are making poor decisions, decisions that are vague
and seemingly distant from what should be done. Ideas were proposed online, but I fear that it will not even see
the light of day. As from what I could see, the government doesn’t take note of ideas aside from theirs. Only
listening to the cries

The nation, to completely survive and recover from this crisis, needs full cooperation from the people and
the government.
 “A breath of sunshine for a Sun-loving Vampire”

With the threat of the global pandemic getting out of hand, the government had no choice but to
facilitate total lockdown and quarantine within the state. The people were furious, it took a few weeks for the
people to truly grasp the extent of the dangers that came along with freedom. During the implementation of the
community quarantine, many questions were raised. “Where will we get our food? How will I earn during these
times? How will I survive?” Questions which harbored threat towards the survival of those who rely on daily wage
and their miniscule savings. This resulted in chaos and disorder, further leading them to violate the laws of social
distancing and other safety procedures, risking their lives and rendering the quarantine useless in the process. But
what can we say? Looking at their perspective, they had no choice but to risk their lives in order to survive. It’s a
“damned if you do, damned if you don’t” kind of situation, with the choices being starve to death, or risk being
infected, and die. To ensure peace and order during these trying times, violators of the ECQ will be charged under
the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health
Concern Act, and Article 151 of the Revised Penal Code, which penalizes the act of resistance and disobedience to
a person in authority, and be immediately detained. These violations of law carry with it appropriate penalties and
fines, but what will be burdensome for the violators are the tedious judicial process and the implications of a
derogatory record to their personal criminal profile.

No One is above the law, but it seems there are some who dared to become the “No One”. From the past
few weeks, selective justice were observed. The iron first was brought upon the ordinary man, whilst missing its
mark when aimed towards affiliates. This is an incident best portrayed by the Tale of two ECQ Violators. The tale
revolves around two characters, one is an ordinary man who violated the laws of ECQ in hopes of making a living in
these trying times, whilst the other is a man who violated the laws to celebrate a milestone in life. There’s no
denying that they both violated the laws, but what separates them is the fact that the scale of justice only tipped
to one side. Mang Dodong, a fish vendor drew the shorter end of NCRPO Police Chief Maj. Gen. Sinas who violated
the law by holding a mass gathering for his 55 th birthday celebration was defended by the President, saying that
it’s not his fault, with Sinas urging critics to “move on”. Moving on would’ve been easier, had they dealt with the
other violators the same way.
Sources:

- https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/4/21/quarantine-violators-face-arrest-without-warning.html?
fbclid=IwAR3INuSLjxIe2SiXY-b8p51gxBq2aH6DBWm3VCDXaIDBKNIBt0fuWBO_bsI
- https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1100824
- https://www.onenews.ph/a-tale-of-two-ecq-violators-mang-dodong-out-of-detention-duterte-defends-
debold-sinas