The Quarantine Agenda

Filipinos have been living in the (dis)comfort of their own homes since March 2020.

With the continuous surge of cases, now reaching a million since the year of quarantine, the country has yet to see the light inside the tunnel, as vaccines continue to satisfy the needs of 1.44% of the population (on their first dose). The implementation of quarantine has been very chaotic as well, with the latest being a hybrid of GCQ-MECQ that was enforced in the now known “NCR plus” bubble.

The Philippines’ Quarantine/Lockdown agenda. A satire post by Twitter User @dumidyeypee.

In this “stricter version” of the quarantine, allowing transportation was a change imposed by the government from MECQ. Those who can leave and enter the ‘NCR Plus’ bubble include persons who are traveling for medical and humanitarian reasons, going abroad, crossing boundaries for work or business, and for the medical frontliners, government officials, and authorized humanitarian assistance persons as well.Other implementations include, but are not limited to, the prohibition of mass gathering, going to schools, cinemas, arcades, or any closed-room recreational places and a curfew time of 10PM to 5AM. The effects of such restrictions has put some citizens to post criticisms, particularly on Twitter, setting #DutertePalpak as a trend every time they see the government being incompetent in dealing this pandemic. The Palace, of course, has yet to admit this, saying that the recent surge of cases (along with their other decisions, probably), is not due to their incompetence.

As privileged as it sounds, not everyone is affected by this implementation. Many of us have the comfort of dealing with the surge of requirements of online classes, whereas some of our fellow countrymen try to deal with the surge of their affected relatives, be it because of the pandemic or because of the virus itself. Even UP does not feel its effect, since it continuously pushes through the online classes, leaving the decision of “academic ease” to its professors to implement.

Even if not affected, however, we really should feel something this time around.

It’s saddening, the way the poor are affected in this pandemic. With the circus play that the government is showing us, more and more people are exposed, with some right at death’s door, no one to see right before they close their eyes. Not only that, the amount of poor (below the poverty line) would most likely increase, pushing 1.5 million people to the line, according to an August 2020 study. The country’s poverty rate is projected to average between 15.5% and 17.5% this year, with joblessness at 7% to 9% by 2022. We should really feel something this time around.

It’s maddening, the way we question ourselves with the faint light that we see in the tunnel. Where is it? Despite the health sector falling in front of our eyes, the government even helps make things a failure. The audacity of the politicians to dispense Ivermectin--despite the continuous clamor of the FDA and the Filipino citizens--has been the poor’s only hope of not contracting the virus, as things do not seem to get better on their part. Kabastusan sa taumbayan. We should really feel something this time around.

It’s infuriating, to even see campaign posters and cars such as these below. For this to happen in so many cities in the middle of the pandemic--these people (or are they even?) really had their agenda set straight--straight on having a position this coming election. #DutertePalpak na nga, #PulitikongTumatalak pa. We should really feel something this time around.

Some absurd political photos you see.

One year into different versions of quarantine, and the government still has the face to blame the people for their negligence. For what reason are we to be blamed, if they are acting like clowns traveling in a circus in the first place? The amount of gaslighting in this interaction is so obvious and so calculated, that people don’t have the time to clamor; they just want their problems to be over and done with it. Despite the questionable approval ratings during pandemic along with the culture of kill, kill, kill-- people, do you not feel something this time around?