A Question of trust

(Part of an ongoing account started on March 13, 2020 of how the spread of COVID-19 in our country and our government’s response has affected our lives.)

I do not trust Government so I am leery of Malacañang’s request for Congress to grant the President emergency powers.

I do not see the big picture or the basis for the request. I know the needs are many, particularly from healthcare institutions and workers attending to an increasing number of COVID-19 infected persons, persons under investigation and persons under monitoring on top of those suffering from illnesses that will simply not disappear because there is a pandemic.

I know that as we deepen into the lockdown, barangays and local government units will find it increasingly hard to provide for their constituents, particularly the daily wage earners who can no longer feed their families.

I know that giving the President access to and control of more funds and privately-held resources mean more access to goods and services that can help our country minimize the negative impact of this pandemic.

But I do not know if we can trust a presidency where leaders have themselves and their families prioritized for testing, above those who really need it.

This is the same presidency which has broken so many promises regarding the drug war, the traffic situation and the endo, to name a few.

The is the presidency whose immediate act to flatten the curve is to limit the contagion via a lockdown, without provisions for the health sector – the ones who will be attending to those infected and monitoring those who are suspected of having contracted it -  so that transmission can be effectively monitored, treated and contained.

I do not see the big picture because none has been presented. All I am seeing is a day-to-day response and an Inter-agency Task Force on the management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) that is visible not only during the day, but also late into the night because it is when the President likes to work.

There will be no corruption or abuse, say the sponsors of House Bill 6166 or An Act to Declare the Existence of a National Emergency Arising from the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) Situation. The said bill will be limited in scope and duration, they say.

They say it like they can predict how long we will be under a state of calamity.  They say it like they can speak for the President.  They speak for neither.

DoH update: As of this writing, the Philippines has reported 396 confirmed corona virus cases, including 18 recoveries and 33 deaths.