RPH

Research about the current issues in Society, Politics, Economic, and Culture within the Philippines

Society

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

On 31 December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) was alerted to a cluster of pneumonia patients in
Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. One week later, on 7 January 2020, Chinese authorities confirmed that they
had identified a novel (new) coronavirus (COVID-19) as the cause of the pneumonia. Epidemiological evidence
shows that COVID-19 can be transmitted from one individual to another. During previous outbreaks due to other
coronaviruses, including Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and the Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), human-to-human transmission most occurred through droplets,
personal contact, and contaminated objects (fomites). The modes of transmission of COVID-19 are likely to be
similar. The precise zoonotic (animal) origin of the COVID-19 is still uncertain. The virus has been identified in
environmental samples from a live animal market in Wuhan, and some human cases have been epidemiologically
linked to this market. Other coronavirus, such as SARS and MERS, are also zoonotic, and can be transmitted from
animals (civet cats and dromedary camels, respectively) to humans. On 12 January 2020, the Event-based
Surveillance and Response (ESR) Unit of DOH’s Epidemiology Bureau established surveillance for Patients Under
Investigation (PUI) and Persons Under Monitoring (PUM). Case definitions for COVID-19 are regularly updated
based on latest developments.

Economic

Economic impact of Coronavirus – in the Philippines

Philippine economy may lose between P276.3 billion and P2.5 trillion, depending on how the coronavirus pandemic
develops in the next few months according to government think-tanks. Over 2 million employees were displaced
during the first five weeks of the Luzon-wide ECQ wherein about 70% of this were affected by temporary business
closures and 30% employees were subject to alternative work arrangements such as reduced working days and
hours; forced leave; and work-from-home. Metro Manila accounted for the greatest number of displaced workers.
The Government’s infrastructure program is facing further delays due to the quarantines (COVID-19) outbreak, as
well as the repurposing of funds to contain the pandemic. While slower construction industry growth is seen this
year as most activity is concentrated in areas affected by the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ). With strict
ECQ measures imposed on Luzon, a large proportion of projects would have experienced stop work orders, leading
to an unfavorable outlook for the Philippine buildings sector for 2020. Post-ECQ, construction activity will still face
challenges such as supply chain especially if sourced from foreign markets and logistics and shortages due to the
business activities disruption.
Culture

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

The Philippine Congress failed to pass pending legislation prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation
and gender identity in employment, education, health care, housing, and other domains. It also has not passed
legislation recognizing same-sex partnerships and extending benefits to same-sex couples. The State also fails to
address the overwhelming amount of hate crimes and murders of LGBT individuals in the Philippines and the
number of hate crimes against LGBT people in the Philippines is increasing. State-actor violence against LGBT
Filipinos is pervasive. Police raids on LGBT venues occur regularly and without warrants. During these raids, police
regularly illegally detain, verbally abuse, and extort money from clients. Police will also frequently charge LGBT
individuals with violating the “Public scandal” provision of the Revised Penal Code which is a broadly worded
public morality law discriminatorily applied against the LGBT community. There are glaring instances of
discrimination, marginalization and exclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity issues from various
legislative bills. The President of the Philippines removed sexual orientation as a protected category from a
congressional bill on sexual and reproductive health after after Congress attempted to include it. The Philippines
also intends to pass legislation that will make changing one is first name and sex on a birth certificate illegal for
transsexual and intersex individuals.

Politics

Student Activism

The second week of November saw several student protests in the Philippines. The demonstrations began when a
group of students from Ateneo de Manila threatened to hold an academic strike to protest the government’s
inadequate preparation for and response to the series of typhoons that struck the country this month, as well as its
poor record in handling the COVID-19 pandemic. Garnering more than five hundred signatures as of writing, the
students pledged to withdraw all academic submissions until the government acts on their demands. In a matter of
days, other universities and student groups showed support for the movement and made more context-specific
demands. More radical demands from other student groups include calls for an academic freeze, and even the ouster
of President Rodrigo Duterte. Students from the country’s oldest university, the University of Santo Tomas in
Manila, garnered more than 1,400 signatures calling for the president’s resignation, accusing him of incompetence
and negligence. Despite some differences in specific demands, the striking students have all asked for the same
thing: accountability. The protests are reflective of the growing student discontent with the government’s
performance, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the Duterte administration’s inability to control the
spread of the virus, most of the Philippines has been in various states of lockdown since mid-March. This failure had
a serious effect on education. The opening of public schools was delayed twice, and all educational institutions have
had to adopt some form of distance learning. This has given rise to a range of challenges, including sporadic access
to the internet, the uneven availability of gadgets, and the lack of opportunities for guided instruction, especially for
students who belong to the lower socioeconomic bracket. The two devastating typhoons that hit the Philippines in
November have compounded these access problems and made government negligence more pronounced.

References

“Philippines confirms first case of new coronavirus". ABS-CBN News. January 30, 2020. Retrieved January 30,

2020.

Silverio, Frederick (March 12, 2020). "DOH confirms 3 Covid-19 cases in Central Luzon". The Manila Times.

Retrieved April 11, 2020.

“DOH recommends declaration of public health emergency after COVID-19 local transmission". GMA News.

March 7, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2020.

"Number of COVID-19 Cases Among Filipinos Abroad". Department of Foreign Affairs (Philippines). Facebook.

December 6, 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2020.

Martin, Fran (2020). AsiaPacifiQueer: Rethinking Genders and Sexualities. Illinois: University of Illinois Press.

UNDP, USAID (2020). Being LGBT in Asia: The Philippines Country Report. Bangkok.

Compare Global Views of Moral Issues". Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project. Retrieved September 8,

2020.

Santos, Franz Jan. “Students on the Frontlines: Student Activism in the Disaster-hit Philippines”. The Diplomat.

November 30,2020. Retrieved November 30,2020.