COVID-19 splashed down on the global village like an invader from outer space. It attacked the entire village; hence the only way to fight it is together as one and not separately.
There are, however, unmistakable signs that such a united move is not exactly happening. Some are just doing their thing while others play the blame game which usually does not solve but only worsens a problem.
In the Philippines, Covid-19 came as a veritable foreign invader attacking us for the mere fact that we are the inhabitants of this corner of the village. Yet it gets clearer by the day that we are not fighting it as one village but as affiliates of this or that economic group, of this or that political party or as an island to ourselves.
Pundits have also been unanimous in concluding that the principal lesson for earthlings to learn from Covid-19 is that we can no longer continue on the path of fierce and unrestricted competition for control of the earth’s natural resources. This iniquitous exploitation of earth not only cannot fight a virus effectively but also causes the emergence of perhaps even deadlier viruses.
Yet, there are enough indicators (the latest of which is the US and China being “on the brink of a Cold War”) that the global village is not veering away from its present course of unrestricted competition for the earth’s resources. Moreover, I don’t know in what other places but in the US frontline medical personnel of Asian descent are actually fighting on two fronts: against the virus and against racism.
In our corner of the village, the talk is of a new way of business, of education, of agriculture, etc. but not of politics. The committee chairman on charter change (to federalism) has instead reported that the virus has stopped it “dead in the water.” That puts in serious doubt the chances Philippines of being rid of an iniquitous socio-political order.
How else when medieval leaders treat fellow Filipinos as subordinates not as equals? How when one faction is not fighting the virus but the faction that is fighting it? How, and this is the real bombshell, when they continue to imbibe Marcos’ lesson that to get away with crime and corruption, you have to do it big, as in massacre or plunder or both?
So, will world leaders unite against the common enemy of hunger, disease, and ignorance or continue with even greater vigor to fight for control of the earth’s resources; and will Filipino leaders unite to provide all Filipinos with jobs, education, and a healthy and prosperous life or go on fighting for lucrative positions in government at any cost?
I hope I’m reading it wrong but a now hazy crystal ball tells me no real change is forthcoming just more of the same.