PHILIPPINES: READY OR NOT?

Laarni P. Zamora

Philippines is our country. But in the midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic, is our country really ready?

It started way back in January this year, when the first COVID case was reported. It was from a Chinese National who was in a vacation. The said national went to Cebu, and contaminated the other people living there. It was the warning sign of this pandemic, but President Duterte hasn’t issued a quick travel ban to the country, therefore the cases started to go up as days pass by. With the current situation that we are facing right now, huge amount of money are borrowed from different countries that is supposedly to be used for the emergency health care of the country, and the rising of unemployment rate, poverty, and the cases that are more than 300,000 people who are infected with this disease. I can say that the country is not ready for these new challenges that we have right now. With the lack of learning materials that are needed suited in the new normal school year, students dropping out of school because they can’t afford to attend online classes, the call of the medical front liners for a 2-week ECQ so they can handle the situation better. The government hasn’t done any proper action to provide solution to stop the disease from spreading and the economy of the country has gone down the drain, people are dying out of hunger, disease, or poverty.

I think the country is not that ready for the challenges of this pandemic. They made impulsive decisions for the people and now, one of the most affected area is the education system.

The author is SST

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lll at Dr. Clemente N. Dayrit Sr. Memorial High School