SONNY BOY A.

SAJONIA
BSBA 1B

1. Cite concrete positive and negative effects of the ECQ in your local community along the following
dimensions:

a. Public Health

There are positive and negative effects of the Enhanced Community Quarantine in our local
community along the public health. Here are the positive effects of Enhanced Community Quarantine to
our public health. Due to Enhanced Community Quarantine, the health of the people are secured. If
people doesn't go outside, people will not be affected by the said virus. People will not get sick and will
stay safe and healthy as always. All individuals have time to have enough rest. "Prevention is better than
cure," we must instill in our minds this saying. We must prevent ourselves from getting sick because
"health is wealth." If there are positive effects of ECQ to public health, there are also negative effects.
Because of ECQ, some people's health are at risk. Some people doesn’t have enough food supplies and
can't eat enough food and are experiencing hunger or starving. People who are experiencing hunger are
the less fortunate who are not getting or receiving enough food supplies. Because of lack of food
supplies, people are experiencing hunger which can lead to malnutrition especially among children. The
mental health of people is also at risk because of stress, overthinking, fear, and worrying about the virus
and what’s happening outside.

b. Social

The social life of all the people is also affected. Here are the positive effects of Enhanced
Community Quarantine along with the social life of people. It is the time where families can bond
together, having meals together and the time to communicate to each other. It is also the time to unite,
to help one another, to be a volunteer and become a frontliner and to give some donations. While the
negative effects of ECQ to the social life of people are the following: people can't go outside and hang
out or bond with friends, can't attend some parties, can't meet or deal with people of their social life
and have social distance between people.

c. Political

In political, because of the Enhanced Community Quarantine, you can see all the efforts of
officials that they are doing something for the good of all the people residing in a place. Officials are
being alert all the time by doing all the means to protect and provide the needs of every individuals.
Politicians are more active in this time of crisis. However, there are also negative effects. There are
abusive use of power. Some politicians are not following orders just like staying at home even if the
government had given orders about it. Some political leaders blatantly breached quarantine and
checkpoint protocols. Other politicians also doesn't fulfill their duties for example, they don't give equal
treatment or equal giving of assistance to the needs of people. It’s not that I suspect politicians but
there is also a possibility of corruption from donations and funds. Also, the government and political
leaders are carrying a lot of burden in managing the people during the ECQ but are still being criticized,
blamed, or bashed for their judgments and decisions like in distributing financial assistance.

d. Economic

Economic life of people is at risk. There are also positive and negative effects of ECQ into
economic life. These are the positive effects. A great way to distribute funds properly. Assistance from
the government is a positive effect of ECQ because government provides the needs of everyone like
SONNY BOY A. SAJONIA
BSBA 1B

goods and also financial assistance which is really a great help to everyone. In our barangay, businesses
like food stalls and stores are selling a lot because people tend to buy inside the barangay rather than
going out because movement and travel is limited. Also, a positive effect is the redevelopment of
natural resources (because businesses and factories stopped their operations) and also the safety of the
people which are human resources and both of these resources are important in our economy. If there
is positive, there is also a negative effect. Because of the ECQ, there are stock decrease and effects of
panic buying. There are many people who are affected just like those who have jobs, they can't work
and because of that they cannot provide the needs of their family. A lot of people lost their job and
some businesses stopped their operations or closed down. Those who earns income on a per-trip or
daily basis like bus, jeepney, and tricycle drivers suddenly found themselves without any means of
livelihood. Also, the prices of foods, commodities and necessities suddenly increased.

e. Cultural

Cultural is very essential. The positive effects of the Enhanced Community Quarantine are the
following: you can have a quality time with family, you can do many household chores, you have time to
relax and also do things like gardening, you can sing, dance, read and listen to music. You can write
poems and songs. And most of all, strengthen our faith to God and develop our culture of "bayanihan"
or unity to one another. While the negative effects of ECQ to cultural life are you cannot attend
activities, programs, cultural shows, movies and you can't go out to go to school, churches and other
places. Cultural practices, traditions, and celebrations like the celebration of fiestas may not happen and
the Holy Week or Semana Santa will be celebrated differently. Traditions like Visita Iglesia and
Processions will not happen and masses will be celebrated online or through live streaming because you
can’t go to the church for mass.

2. Should the government prioritize economy or public safety during this time of COVID-19 pandemic?
Justify your choice by weighing the benefits and drawbacks of each option.

Economy and public safety are very essential to everyone. But if I have to choose between the two, I
would rather choose the public safety of people to be prioritize by the government. Safety is what we
need because life is very important. Many people died because of the corona virus that's why if we have
the chance to still protect our life, we must instill public safety if we all want to live. We need to value
our life first because God give us life. The government can secondly prioritize economy because it is not
new to us. Economy is one of the problem of our country before the crisis happened. But if our
government or leaders will work on it and be responsible enough to fulfill their duties then our country
will cope up with the losses. If the government will prioritize economy, economic losses will be lower or
in best-case-scenario our economic status will be stable or improve but its drawbacks is that the life of
people or workers will be at risk since they will work and will be exposed to the virus. If the government
will prioritize public safety, the spread of the virus will be slowed down and a lot of lives will be saved
but its drawbacks is the recession of the economy. In prioritizing public safety, economic losses will be
higher as the government are using and cutting a lot of funds in giving assistance to people for their
health and safety. In the end, I still think that the government should prioritize the public safety because
the health and life of people are more important than the economy. Prioritizing the public safety will
protect and save the lives of many people and the recovery of economic losses will be faster. People are
important and the greatest resources in any economy and losing a lot of lives will lessen our chances of
any quick recovery. “Life first, economy later.”
SONNY BOY A. SAJONIA
BSBA 1B

3. What policies or programs should be amended or new ones to be passed and implemented to
address the negative effects you cited in number 1?

Policies or programs that can be implemented to address the negative effects cited in number 1 is a
great help. Implementing Stress Management is a great help to all people especially now that we're
suffering from a crisis that is really affecting our mental health. We are all stressed out about the
problems that we are facing from day to day. We are worrying when will we get food and the basic
necessities in our lives and this is a great factor of becoming stressed. So, we need to know how to
manage our stress. A convenient giving of food and faster operations of providing needs of people is
needed too. We all know that we have different status in life, there are poor and rich. Not all people are
rich and can't provide their needs. We must prioritize the needs of people equally. If we say equally, it
should be fair in giving necessities to all people and financial assistance. Both rich and poor should be
given assistance but there should be a program wherein the government should provide a safety net,
give faster and additional assistance to those who are really poor, marginalized, and those who lost their
livelihood. The government should strictly impose quarantine protocols and policies wherein there
should be no favoritism. There should be just treatment and that politicians should not be favored and
exempted. There should also be a policy wherein political leaders should be monitored so that they will
not abuse their power.

4. Do you think the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) should be extended beyond April 14?
Why or why not?

I think Enhanced Community Quarantine should be extended beyond April 14. Corona virus is really
dangerous because many people died in this pandemic. We don't even know when will the virus will
end. We are not sure if the virus is gone by April 14. It is true that the enhanced community quarantine
slowed down the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases but the number of cases are still increasing day
by day. Lifting the ECQ will only make the spread of the disease faster (if this happens, hospitals cannot
accommodate us all) and risks us in getting back to square one in terms of our progress in fighting this
disease. As Salceda stated, there are a lot of studies which say that you have to do at least 49 days in
order to ensure that you have already more or less cleansed or at least isolated or prevented this virus
from essentially in terms of its infection intensity. The ECQ should be extended because otherwise,
there will be a relapse because we have not yet reached the point where we can completely contain the
disease if the quarantine is relaxed. The enhanced community quarantine should be extended to
prevent the further spread of the COVID-19 and it will allow the government to protect many lives and
recover economic losses faster because the people are the greatest and most important resources in
our economy. Although a lot of people wants the ECQ to be lifted already especially those who are less
fortunate and needs to work in order to feed their family or provide their needs, I still think that the ECQ
should be extended because our health and safety is more important and the government are doing all
they can to provide the basic needs of people by giving reliefs and financial assistance. So, if extending
the Enhanced Community Quarantine beyond April 14 is for the goodness of all people then we should
follow orders because it is for our own safety. If we want to live normally without the pandemic, then as
a citizen we must obey the policies implemented. We must refrain from going outside if it is not
necessary. We must stay at home so that the virus will not spread anymore and to save our lives. Also,
SONNY BOY A. SAJONIA
BSBA 1B

we need to pray and have a strong faith with God that all the people and our land will heal because
prayer is the most powerful weapon we have.