WE ARE in an uncharted territory and so it’s understandable that local government units (LGUs) grapple on how to keep their respective jurisdiction safe from this pandemic. As LGUs implement stricter measures like curfews and home quarantine, we also hear sighs and frustrations especially from those who exerted so much effort because a significant number in the population seem to never get it. Then the blame game begins, pointing all hands to the “stubborn” public.
“St*pid people!” We hear them curse loud and clear at all platforms and in all dialects.
But effective governance puts premium on accountability. It rarely engages in the blame game. It always starts with recognizing the given situation and then forge change despite the limitations.
Perhaps our frustrations sprout from barking up the wrong tree. The most prudent move is to go back to the problem, look again, and then strategize.
The goal is to flatten the curve so that health facilities don’t get overwhelmed by an escalating number of infections and therefore they can properly attend to the sick, otherwise the whole system would collapse.
The basic question therefore is, did it reach your place yet? Is there any confirmed case already? If none yet then it would be best to identify possible entry points then close it by all means necessary. Close your borders if you must. The soonest the better. Then you will not have to worry on how to lock people in their houses. Come to think of it, we would not have this problem if the national government had decided to close borders at the onset of its spread.
Closure of course is not absolute. Flow of goods and commodities had to be regulated or more people will die of hunger. Be as strict as you can at checkpoints rather than caging those who violate curfew, or penalize poor PUV drivers for taking in passengers. I am not saying we don’t have to do all those precautionary measure, what I’m simply pointing out is to hit the problem where it counts the most. After all, we do not have infinite resources. Besides, we cannot expect everyone to unlearn overnight a closely-knit culture we acquired from generations before us. In fact, in Philippine context social distancing is next to impossible because we were brought up in tight homes for as long as we could remember.
Given that we strictly follow the rules of staying home and abiding by the curfew set, it will just be a band aid on a gunshot wound. If the virus gets in to one of our borders, no social distancing in our small homes can ever stop it from spreading. Consider for instance how houses of typical Filipinos are built; rooms, comfort rooms, kitchen and dining all are shared and our grandparents live with us too. When the virus gets in it gets in.
If a confirmed case exists already, the most urgent move is to focus on containing the spread, i.e., contact tracing and isolation of concern individuals followed by disinfecting a certain radius where the infection was found. Not all LGUs can afford to disinfect the whole city regularly while sporadic disinfection on the other hand without basis is also a waste of resources. We have seen LGUs doing such acrobats with all their protective gadgets; grand but fleeting and mostly a waste.
It’s also impossible to trace all contacts of whoever was found positive so the next best thing is to paralyze mobility on a specific area while stricter regulation on the neighboring areas apply. We call that a “lockdown.”
In solving crisis even on this magnitude, we always go back to the formula of disaster, i.e., hazard plus vulnerability. Hazards without vulnerability will never be disaster. So the goal is to separate hazard from the vulnerable people.
Generally, there are only three aspects of a solution, these are prevention, mitigation, and quick response. The question now is have the LGUs had programs in place for each of those? Just because the mayor is noisy and grand with his flying gadgets and powerful entourage that look good in social media doesn’t mean he already got the right solution. The ultimate success indicator is zero infection.