(Editorial Cartoon by Josua Cabrera)
(Editorial Cartoon by Josua Cabrera)

Editorial: Protect democracy from the virus

“Democracy...demands of every citizen to participate in the solution of community problems, not merely to do as he is told.” -- Ramon Magsaysay, speech at the opening of the World Confederation of Organizations of the Teaching Professions Assembly, House of Representatives, Aug. 1, 1956

That proposition for everyone to “stop complaining, just cooperate” in the time of Covid-19 comes from a rather unschooled view in the ways of civilizations. Solidarity is just as important as dissent, a zealous marketplace of ideas must function in the service of truth.

It is, in fact, in crisis times that a healthy exchange of ideas is most crucial because the assumption is that no one has the monopoly of the best ideas, not even government. Reinforcing this notion is the fact that we live in a time of open systems and outsourcing. Clam up and you will be left behind in the fast train to the future.

We do appreciate President Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration of putting the whole country under a state of calamity. This will activate mechanisms of fund release that the citizens direly need in the time of crisis.

We also take note of the Department of Labor and Employment’s request for additional funding to infuse into its Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Program, an emergency employment program for workers who, in this case, are displaced by the effects of community quarantines and lockdowns.

However, we also set our eyes on how the budget cut on health in the time of the universal health care, at the time when supposedly the Sin Tax reform could have substantially infused more resources for public health, has rendered our health department feeble in the face of a bio-emergency. It doesn’t help, as well, that government has been obvious in tilting the balance towards the intelligence sector with exorbitant privileging.

We’d also randomly point out that per National Capital Region experience, the men and women who are manning the checkpoints are not wearing the prescribed Personal Protective Equipment, and are therefore vulnerable to infection and pose potential danger as mobile carriers of Covid-19. Remember, patients are asymptomatic for about 14 days.

This for that and that for this, it is incumbent upon citizens to point out where the shortcomings are, to speak up against potential excesses, to dish out informed discourse because these are all part of making our democracy and institutions stronger in the face of this emergency. Taxpayers have all the right to pry over the shoulders of government officials because the latter has custody of the country’s biggest resource.

Now that government is about to deploy our taxes in the service of the people in the time of Covid-19, vigilance is all the more needed. Funds must be properly spent, in most efficient ways.

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