THE Covid-19 pandemic will not end soon. It is not bound to follow the deadlines set by local government units for their lockdowns or enhanced community quarantine (ECQ). At best these deadlines found in executive orders are our wishes. These are times where a blend of hope and realism is needed. And unless we know when to be hopeful and when to be realistic, we will have difficulty moving on in this practically unfamiliar situation.
Precisely why people have to check their thoughts every now and then. Locked in our rooms and depending on what we are practically facing, we write disquisitions about the world all in favor of our biases. This is specifically true when boredom and anxiety sink in. And if this is the case now that we are just over a month since this all started, how much with some extensions in the future.
On another issue but still related to Covid-19, I would like to say something about “frontliners.” The brouhaha over the billions in budget and where it goes has stolen the spotlight away from them. But perhaps some words should be said to be fair to them. And by this we just don’t mean some simple congratulatory praises but also critical points that need to be said if only to highlight their significance and value in our society.
The thing is we are people so fond of “euphemisms” that cover up the many rotten parts of our system. The term “frontliner” is now a runner-up for the word of the year in 2020. Referring to physicians, nurses, and all kinds of hospital workers among others, the term connotes being made to do something so important and thus essential to the survival of people in difficult situations. Being in such a situation is now considered heroism.
I do agree that frontliners are our heroes but our pronouncements close to endorsing them for canonization are no substitutes for the justice they deserve. They have been laboring hard in and for our country but little attention if any was given to them. Nurses are not well paid and we all know that. Some of them have even preferred to work in call centers practically making the things they’ve studied in college–useless.
If not for the noise in social media, our healthcare professionals would not get the praises and gratitude they’re getting now. Plans to increase the pay of nurses have been set aside a number of times. Healthcare professionals have been living like second-class citizens in comparison for example to lawyers. Worse is the situation of our blue-collar workers: utility, baggers, sales ladies and cashiers among others. Ironically, we realize that this country cannot run without them. And now we try to pay them with the consolation by calling their services “essential.”
The use of symbolic terms as an anesthesia of people’s pain is not new. Previous administrations started the popularization of political rhetoric to console overseas Filipinos who earned for their families with sweat, tears and blood. In the 80s and 90s overseas Filipino workers (OFW) were called “bagong bayani.” This was in the wake of the increase of deaths and murders experienced by domestic helpers and construction workers in foreign lands. Such a title became more popular after the death of Flor Contemplacion in Singapore. However, was the government really serious with the honor it gave to the OFWs in the face of its expanding labor export policy? We can ask of the same with all these praises for our frontliners today.
Sadly, we are, up to now, in denial that our problems are systemic in nature. Unless something is changed in the way many things are arranged in our country no euphemism will save people from their hellish condition.