The mandatory orders on self-quarantine, social distancing, and isolation at this time of pandemic do not seem to discourage most people from gallivanting and from limiting close contacts. We have for example a legislator who, despite awareness of the admonitions and even the law, attended a party and roamed the premises of a hospital. Not lost in the narrative is that the legislator already manifested symptoms of COVID-19. Apparently, a group of lawyers are now readying cases against him, including one for criminal liability under Republic Act No 11332. 

Criminal violation nevertheless requires a higher standard of proof for conviction. Also, criminal statutes tend to push people to go underground. In our example, one can hide the symptoms and later argue lack of knowledge of being afflicted with an infectious disease. Criminal convictions moreover require the cooperation of the prosecutorial arm of the government. What if the prosecutors treat transgressions with “human compassion?”

Would knowledge then of negligence liability rather encourage people to stay at home? One can make an argument that a person with suspicion of having COVID-19, and who exposed others to the infectious disease by failing to abide by self-quarantine protocols, has committed a harm. Those harmed then have the right to be compensated by the perpetrator. Here, suspicion of having the disease encompasses whether one is asymptomatic but exposed to a positive, or symptomatic but untested or awaiting the results of the test. This is not to mention factors such as the wide-ranging societal effect of the person’s action – exposing the greater populace to risk of infection, and the complacency and moral reprehensibility of unreasonably risking other people’s lives, especially those of our front liners and health care workers. (READ: Duterte extends Luzon lockdown until April 30)

A plethora of cases supports the argument that “[o]ne who negligently exposes another to an infectious or contagious disease, which such other person thereby contracts, can be held liable in damages for his actions” (Duke v Housen). One case for example upheld a claim for damages by a family infected with smallpox (Hendricks v Butcher). Other cases involve the infectious disease of tuberculosis (Earle v Kuklo), typhoid fever (Kliegel v Aitken), and whooping-cough (Smith v Baker). Another further goes on to state that “[a] person has a duty to exercise reasonable care to avoid injury to others whenever he/she is ‘placed in such a position with regard to another that it is obvious that if he does not use due care in his own conduct he will cause injury to that person’” (R.A.P. v B.J.P.). While these cases were decided in the United States, they hold persuasive effect in decisions of Philippine courts.

We then have the legal and the moral duty during this pandemic to keep away from others, not only to protect ourselves, but also and more so to protect them from infection in the event that we are carriers of COVID-19. Our breach of that duty, and a finding that our breach is the proximate cause of the harm, will make us liable for damages to the one who sustained same. In our example, losses suffered by the hospital or by the health care workers forced to quarantine or treat themselves, if infected due to the breach of the duty, may then be claimed from the legislator. This is not to mention claim for the mental stress brought to the doctors, nurses, or other patients. (READ: Braving a pandemic: Frontliners battle fear to confront the novel coronavirus)

Whether the cause of action for damages are to be based on Articles 20, 21, or 2176 of the Civil Code calls for a separate discussion. Whether a damages claim may successfully be proven in court, especially considering the challenge of proving proximate causation, is also another issue. Suffice it to say at this point that Article 19 of the said code, notwithstanding any imperative dictated by any penal statute, provides the general rule governing the conduct of human relations. Thus, “[e]very person must, in the exercise of his rights and in the performance of his duties, act with justice, give everyone his due, and observe honesty and good faith.” Violating quarantine protocols, concealing presence of symptoms, or lying about travel history, gathering in groups, and going around unnecessarily at this crucial time of the pandemic do not seem to be in accord with this principle.

Indeed, while we may have our own personal reasons for being out and about even if we are carriers of COVID-19, such as accompanying someone about to give birth, we need to balance this with what will be beneficial in the long run for everyone, including ourselves. Certainly, we do not want to arrive at a situation in which our health care workers have significantly dwindled because they have been quarantined; or worse, have abandoned their posts, such as what happened in Africa during the Ebola outbreak, for fear of dying from infection.

So, will you stay home? – Rappler.com

Pelagio Palma Jr is a lawyer in the Philippines and in Australia. He has clerked for two justices of the Supreme Court, and is now in the private sector and in the academe.

It's a first in world history: an online Holy Week for millions of people, even in Vatican City, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Rappler presents a series of reflections to help you, our reader, enter the spirit of Holy Week even in quarantine.

At one point almost breaking into tears, Archbishop Socrates Villegas delivered a homily on Good Friday, April 10, reflecting on the virtues of silence and simplicity as the world battles the COVID-19 pandemic. Here is our transcript of Villegas’ Good Friday homily. The video is also embedded here.

Mga minamahal kong kapatid kay Kristo, tahimik ang simbahan. Tahimik din ang Dagupan. Hindi naman ito pangkaraniwan, sapagkat ang katahimikan ay kasama sa Biyernes Santo. Subalit hindi pangkaraniwan ang katahimikang ito sapagkat tatlong linggo na tayong ganito, at maghihintay pa uli ng dalawa pang linggo na ganito ang katahimikan. Napakahabang Biyernes Santo.

Ang katahimikan ay kasama sa pag-alala ng Biyernes Santo, kaya minsan ay binabanggit natin sa kaibigan, “Bakit ka tahimik, para kang Biyernes Santo?” Iba’t ibang uri ang katahimikan. Mayroong katahimikan ng walang pakialam – tikom ang bibig, walang pakiramdam. Katahimikan 'yon. Mayroong katahimikan ng duwag, parang aso, bahag ang buntot. Tahimik, nanginginig sa takot. Mayroong katahimikan ng pagtatago. Iba’t ibang uri ang katahimikan. Subalit ang mga katahimikang ito ay hindi katahimikan ng Biyernes Santo. 

Sana ang katahimikang pinagdaraanan natin ngayon ay hindi katahimikang walang pakialam, hindi katahimikan ng takot. Sana ito ay katahimikan na bumubukal sa pagmamahal, sa pag-ibig. Sapagkat ang mga tunay na nagmamahalan ay sa katahimikan nag-uusap.

There is a certain depth of love that the words “I love you” cannot contain. Because the because language of love is silence. You say it best when you are silent. And you look at your loved one, and words aren’t adequate to express the depth of your love. Silence is the language of love. Silence is the language of lovers. Because silence is the language of God. 

At 'yung katahimikan ng Biyernes Santo ay hindi katahimikan ng walang pakialam, hindi katahimikan ng takot, kundi katahimikan ng buong pagmamahal. Kaya walang salita sa ibabaw ng lupa na maaaring maglaman ng pagmamahal na gusto nating ipahayag. Kaya katahimikan na lamang ang gagamitin natin, sapagkat walang salitang lalabas upang ipahayag ang lalim ng ating pagmamahal. 

At 'yung katahimikan ng Biyernes Santo ay hindi katahimikan ng walang pakialam, hindi katahimikan ng takot, kundi katahimikan ng buong pagmamahal. Kaya walang salita sa ibabaw ng lupa na maaaring maglaman ng pagmamahal na gusto nating ipahayag. Kaya katahimikan na lamang ang gagamitin natin, sapagkat walang salitang lalabas upang ipahayag ang lalim ng ating pagmamahal. 

Ang katahimikan ng ating quarantine, ang katahimikan ng ating isolation sa bahay – “stay home” – anong uri ito? Kung tayo ay tahimik at hindi nagsasalita, sana ay hindi dahil takot mahawa, kundi dahil nagmamahal sa kapwa. Sapagkat ang katahimikan ay hindi lamang galing sa takot. Ang katahimikan ang tuktok ng pagpapahayag ng tunay na pag-ibig. I say it again: There is a certain depth and height of love that the words “I love you” will not be able to express. But silence has the capacity to express that. And that is the silence of Good Friday.

Hindi lamang tahimik. Kapag tiningnan natin ang altar, hubad. Walang takip, walang bulaklak, walang kandila. Hubad. May iba’t ibang uri ng kahubaran. Ang sanggol ay hubad subalit nakakatuwang tingnan, pero mayroon ding hubad katulad ni Bathsheba na nakita ni Haring David, at ang hubad na ito ay tukso, kahalayan, malaswa. Mayroon ding hubad na dulot ng pag-inda ng sakit – mga pasyente sa ospital, hubad sa pangkaraniwang damit. Ang Panginoon ay hinubaran. Hindi katulad ng sanggol na ipinanganak ng birhen at kanyang hinalikan nang buong pagmamahal, at sinabing, “My Child, my Lord.” Hubad ang Panginoon, hubad ang altar, at ang hubad na ito ay hubad ng katotohanan.

Anong ibig sabihin? Kailangang maghubad sapagkat mali ang damit. Kailangang maghubad sapagkat sobra-sobra ang damit. Kailangang tanggalin ang damit sapagkat sa paglipas ng panahon ay hindi na nagdadamit para takpan ang katawan. Ang damit ay naging dahilan na para palakihin ang ulo, para maging tukso sa kapwa-tao, para makalimutang ang katawan ay templo ng Diyos. 

Stripped naked

My dear brothers and sisters, COVID-19 quarantine has also stripped us naked. Sapagkat ang damit na sinusuot natin ay hindi na damit para sa tao kundi damit para sa ating kayabangan, damit para palakihin ang ating ulo, damit na upang maging mas maganda ako kaysa sa iba. Dinamitan tayo ng Panginoon ng kabanalan, subalit dinadamitan natin ang ating sarili ng kasalanan. Dinamitan tayo ng Panginoon at hinugasan sa kasalanan, at dinamitan ng puti, subalit isinasaintabi natin ang puti: “Hindi bagay sa akin.” At ano na ang aking suot? Kung ano ang gusto ko.

Ang pagsusuot ng damit ay sumasagisag sa pagsusuot ng kabanalang tinanggap natin nang tayo ay binyagan. At ngayon, para tayong nahubaran. 'Yung ating kinakapitan, lumuwag sa ating kapit. Wala na tayong makapitan. Para tayong nalulunod sa gitna ng dagat; wala na tayong makapitan. At kapag dumating ang pagkakataong 'yon, kapit lang sa Panginoon, at siya uli ang magdadamit sa ‘yo nang tama. Upang ma-realize natin na kabanalan lamang ang dapat naging isuot. Hindi dekorasyon.

Our body was not meant for vanity. It was given to us for holiness. Our body is not ours. Our body belongs to God. Our body is temporary. There is something more important than your beautiful body, and it should be the beauty of your soul. Take care of your soul, take care of your body. Darating ang panahon, dadamitan tayo ng embalsamador, o baka hindi na tayo puwedeng damitan sapagkat dadalhin na lamang tayo para sa cremation upang maging abo. Kapag dumating ang pagkakataong 'yon, ano ang damit na isusuot natin pagharap natin sa Diyos?

There is only one vestment that we need: it is the vestment of righteousness, it is the vestment of holiness. Ang araw na ito ay tahimik, ang araw na ito ay hubad sa dekorasyon. Ang araw na ito, dahil hubad sa dekorasyon at tahimik, ay araw na malungkot. Malungkot. Libo-libo na ang patay sa buong mundo, at sana huwag nang tumaas ang bilang ng patay na Pilipino dahil sa COVID-19. Sana tumaas na ang bilang ng gumagaling na Pilipino mula sa pandemyang ito.

Beyond COVID-19

Maraming dahilan para malungkot – malungkot dahil namatayan, malungkot dahil may problema. Meron ding lungkot 'yung mga inggitero. Meron ding lungkot 'yung seloso at selosa. Subalit merong isang lungkot na nagpapabanal. At the sunset of our lives, our only regret should be that we have not loved enough. Our only sadness should be that we have not loved enough. 

Kung sa dapit-hapon ng ating buhay ay wala tayong lungkot, wala tayong panghihinayang, sapagkat alam natin, katulad ng ating mga frontliners na nahawa at sumakabilang-buhay na naglilingkod, alam natin na sa bawat sandali na ibinigay sa atin ng Diyos ay wala tayong inaksaya para sa ating sarili, na bawat sandaling ibinigay sa atin ng Diyos ay ibinigay ko para sa aking kapwa-tao, wala kang dahilang malungkot.

Malungkot kayang namatay si Hesus? Tiyak na tiyak akong hindi. Sapagkat alam ni Hesus na lahat ng ibinigay na kapangyarihan sa kanya ng Ama ay ginamit niya para sa ating kaligtasan. That should be our death – when we will not regret that we spent a moment for ourselves, we will not be sorry that we have not loved enough. Sana ang kalungkutan na maramdaman natin ay 'yun lamang kalungkutan na nagkulang ako sa pagmamahal, at kung meron pang panahon ay magmamamahal ako ng dagdag pa hanggang sa aking huling hininga.

My dear brothers and sisters, it is Good Friday. It is a sad day. But be sad only because you have not loved enough. It is Good Friday. The altar is stripped, and the church has no decoration. Remember you don’t need any decoration, because the only crown that you need is the reward of heaven. The church is quiet. Let us relish this silence, because there is only the language of silence that can best express our love for the Lord, which the Lord also uses to express his love for us. 

Beyond COVID-19, beyond Good Friday, may we appreciate silence. Beyond COVID-19, beyond Holy Week, may we learn simplicity of life. Beyond this pandemic and unto life everlasting, may our only regret and sadness be that we have not loved enough. If you love like Jesus, if you serve like Jesus, if you live like Jesus, what is there to be sad about? 

Lord, thank you for speaking to us in silence. Thank you for teaching us the greatness of simplicity. Thank you for dying happy because you have loved us. Thank you, dear Lord, thank you so very much. – Rappler.com

“Ihr Test auf Corona-Virus war positiv.” 

Those were the words of the German doctor who called me last March 19. Alone in my apartment in Berlin, I learned that I was positive for COVID-19.

March 14

Five days earlier, I told myself, “It was just a sore throat.” I thought it was normal since I was fond of eating sweets and drinking soda, so I ignored it. To ease the pain, I just drank lots of water. The next day, however, it was worse. Aside from the sore throat, I also experienced a persistent headache the entire day. I slept early, hoping that it was just because of stress or fatigue, having just arrived from a trip to Brussels with my classmates.

March 16

But two days passed, and the symptoms did not subside. On March 16, at around 3 am, I woke up feeling feverish and cold at the same time. My head was throbbing painfully. I managed to get up and check my temperature. It read 38.1.

My mind raced through the symptoms of COVID-19: sore throat, headaches, fever, chills. And with my recent travel history, I started to panic. Back home, in the Philippines, it was just around 10 am. So I immediately called my family, informing them of my symptoms. They tried to calm me down. Get some more rest, they said. We hoped that it was just the flu. (READ: 'COVID-19 Patient No. 4' shares a story of strength and faith)

I woke up feeling a bit better, but still with fever. Since I was anxious about my situation, I decided to go to the nearest coronavirus testing center in Berlin, which was around 20 minutes away from my apartment. I went there protected, wearing a face mask, even carrying a small bottle of sanitizer in my bag. 

After 8 hours of waiting, I finally found myself being interviewed by the doctors at the testing center. I did not withhold information about my symptoms and travel history. I told the doctors everything that they needed to know – that I was in Brussels for 5 days, from March 9 to 13; that I took the train from Berlin to Brussels via Cologne on the 9th and took the flight from Brussels to Berlin on the 13th; and that I’ve been experiencing some of the symptoms of COVID-19. 

Right there and then, I was tested, with the doctors taking a deep nasal swab and a throat swab from me. I was told that the results may take a maximum of 7 days. In the meantime, I should stay at home, monitor my symptoms, and if my symptoms worsen, call 116117, a 24/7 medical service hotline, or 112, if I needed an ambulance. I followed the doctors’ advice, went back to my apartment, and never went out again.

March 17

On March 17, a day after I got tested, my fever broke. My temperature was back to 36.5. I was not sure if it was because of the paracetamol I’d been taking or because I wasn't getting enough rest. I was just thankful that I no longer had a fever. The sore throat was still there, though. It was increasingly becoming difficult for me to swallow or even drink water. I also noticed that my senses of taste and smell were a bit faint. 

Even if everything tasted bland, I decided to eat more to gain my strength back. I drank my vitamins and lots of water. I busied myself by reading journal articles for term papers that I had yet to draft. I watched Netflix and happily distracted myself with Crash Landing on You. I was in constant communication with my family and friends, updating them on my health. I even started monitoring my symptoms with a chart my sister got from the University Health Service of UP Los Baños. Day by day, I felt better. I thought – no cough, no colds, no more fever. Just the sore throat. Everything will be ok.

March 19

Just 3 days after the test, though, on March 19, I received the call from the Berlin-Mitte Gesundheitsamt (Central Berlin Health Office) and got my answer. I was COVID-19 positive. I was not prepared to hear those words; I was in denial. "But I’m getting better," I thought. Holding back tears, I listened carefully to the doctor explaining what I should and should not do. (READ: [FIRST PERSON] I became PH253)

The doctor’s first advice was for me not to panic. She did not sugarcoat the details and told me that I was young, I didn't have any underlying respiratory condition, and because of that, I would recover from this disease. “You will not die,” she bluntly said. The doctor instructed me to continue my self-quarantine for the next 14 to 16 days. She reminded me to continue monitoring my symptoms and that in case of any severe pain or intolerable difficulty in breathing, I should immediately call an ambulance. 

There were no medicines prescribed to me. Instead, the doctor advised that I should boost my immune system by taking vitamins and getting enough rest and exercise. The doctor also assured me that health officers would call me every day to check up on my progress, which they did. 

Finally, the doctor explained to me the contact tracing that must be done as part of the protocol for COVID-19 cases. On the same day, I received an email from the Berlin-Mitte Health Office, with a contact tracing form I should forward to people I have been in contact with 2 days before I felt the symptoms. I immediately sent the forms to my Master’s cohort and program coordinator, who were with me in Brussels.

Immediately after the call, I updated my family in the Philippines on the results of the test. I sent messages informing my close friends, Master’s cohort, program and scholarship coordinator, and the Philippine Embassy in Berlin. As expected, everyone was worried. As if I was also reassuring myself, I repeated to my family and friends what the German doctor told me – that I should remain calm and level-headed, and that I would fully recover because compared to others infected, I was young and without any pre-existing illness. 

I took to heart what the doctor told me and found solace from my family and friends. I convinced myself every single day that I would get better. I had to get better. The following days, however, were not easy. There were times when I would find myself gripped by anxiety and fear, overwhelmed with thoughts of what would happen to me in the coming days. While I slowly recovered from my sore throat, there were still instances when I could not breathe well. I noticed that I would catch my breath even if I was not doing any physical activity. 

During my self-quarantine period, I reminded myself that I should exert all efforts to make myself get better. I had to be my own cheerleader. As with any illness, I realized that the struggle with having COVID-19 was both physical and psychological. And I had to conquer both. 

Aside from keeping myself healthy, I remained optimistic and found encouragement from my family and friends who prayed and regularly checked up on me. I was motivated by unexpected messages of support on social media and from acts of kindness from the Philippine Embassy and the Filipino community in Berlin, some of whom I hadn’t even personally met.

March 29

I am writing this today with a grateful heart, having recovered fully and having been cleared officially from COVID-19. On March 27, I completed my 14 days of self-quarantine. Two days later, I was informed by my doctor that I was no longer infectious and that I may already leave my apartment. She said that another test to confirm if I was negative for COVID-19 was not necessary, following the protocols set by German health authorities. 

Having COVID-19 made me realize that this virus may infect anyone, including young people in their early 20’s, millennials like myself. Young people, who are presumably healthy and with stronger immune systems, are not invincible to this disease. No one is. 

The difference is that while the young are likely to recover, the same might not be the case for the elderly or for those with pre-existing conditions. That frightening thought of me possibly infecting others who may be unable to recover was enough to keep myself isolated, as soon as I got tested. It was the responsible thing to do. 

During my self-quarantine, I watched, from the admittedly comforts of my apartment in Berlin, how different countries responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a Filipino student learning about public policy in Germany, I couldn’t help but notice that despite the various challenges and strategies of countries, a common thread is on the critical importance of equipped health workers and efficient health care systems in fighting this global crisis. I am humbled and grateful that I was given immediate medical assistance in Germany. My hope and prayer is that Filipinos back home could be afforded the same attention, care, and fighting chance to survive this illness. – Rappler.com

Racquel Helena “Kelly” Dicolen Abagat is a 24-year-old Filipina currently taking her Master’s Degree in Public Management major in Global Public Policy at the University of Potsdam, Germany. She is a graduate of BS Human Ecology major in Human Settlements Planning at the University of the Philippines Los Baños.

(A piece dedicated to all those bearing the unspeakable pain of losing loved ones – particularly, those in the front lines during this time – without having the opportunity and the consolation of being at their side because of the coronavirus quarantine.)

Scores of stories abound, in the most unlikely places, of people facing death alone as the scourge of a pandemic continues to ravage disparate regions. Front line doctors and nurses in China and the United States, priests and religious nuns in Italy and Spain, mothers and fathers in Mexico and Colombia, academics and researchers in India and the Philippines, and elsewhere who have fallen victim to the virus have all had to face their last hours alone – as the fear of contagion and the strict quarantine rules have made it nearly impossible for loved ones to assist their dying.

Passion, death, and resurrection

It is perhaps no coincidence that this phenomenon of staring death unassisted is taking place in the season of Lent when Christians all over the world commemorate the passion, death, and resurrection of the God-become-Man. (In fact, the word quarantine derives from the Latin and Italian words – quadragina and quarantina—and in Spanish “Cuaresma” that denotes the forty days of Lent.)

Betrayed, forsaken, nearly alone while crucified between two thieves, He went through his passion, confronted death as he cried out loud “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me!”; and, with greater anguish, “My God, why have you abandoned me?”.

Some of us may recall sitting by the bedside of someone in the last throes of life, reflecting perhaps how death can be the moment when one feels most alone. Yet, I recall the solace in my mother’s face when my brothers and sisters took turns holding her hand, stroking her hair, clasping her lovely face and frame, cuddling her into our arms as mute and nearly-futile filial signs of farewell. Being there for one who is near and dear at the last moments seems so comforting for the person departing but more so for those left behind.

Near-total isolation

What a difference this period of near total lockdown means, when even the last rites become almost impossible to observe. To be alone completely, in the moment when one needs others most and for those left behind made desolate and despondent in their feeling of helplessness and anguish!

It is difficult to imagine any form of consolation sufficient in situations such as these. Yet, there perhaps may be another dimension to this unimaginable tragedy if one cares to ponder and meditate.

For those who have faith, death is not the end of life but marks the beginning of another journey. It is when life is transformed, and all of life’s sorrows are converted into a passage into another realm.

Easter hope

“He is risen!” The heart of the Christian message lies in the fact that He conquered death; it is founded in the unflinching hope that “He is risen from the dead!”

He pitched His tent among us, lived as we did and gave us hope – that all of life which is a gift is entrusted back to Him who is the Giver of life. And, death, if one truly believes is the threshold of one’s journey home.

I realize that when one loses a loved one such thoughts are rarely relevant for grief is great and almost always nearly overwhelms us. But, it is good to think about life and death in this period of quarantine in this Lenten season – who would have thought that the coronavirus quarantine would take place in such an ironic convergence.

It was while I was walking alone back and forth on the rooftop of our apartment building that these thoughts came rushing to me begging that I put them down in writing. And, thus I did thinking perhaps that if it could provide even a measure of modest solace to someone out there witnessing a tragedy unfolding right before one’s eyes – then, it would have been worth the effort.

And, so to someone out there; though you may be one or just a few, I believe that it is the least one can do: proclaim the Easter message that there is hope, and that even in death there is life! – Rappler.com

Ed Garcia is a teacher, and a former student of philosophy and theology.

Here are other Reflections:

• [REFLECTIONS] Glimpses of God’s presence amid a pandemic
• [REFLECTIONS] Turning the coronavirus crisis into opportunity
• [REFLECTIONS] Don’t get tired of waving your palms 
• [REFLECTIONS] Look out for the loneliest amid the pandemic – Pope Francis 
• [REFLECTIONS] When no one will say 'I am sick'
• [REFLECTIONS] Faith in the risen Jesus amid the coronavirus 
• [REFLECTIONS] Business temporarily closed: Jesus, what now? 
• [REFLECTIONS] Why do we suffer? 
• [REFLECTIONS] We need to think and re-think our theology 
• [REFLECTIONS] Holy Week and COVID-19: Embracing uncertainty 
• [REFLECTIONS] Do it best by doing nothing 
• [REFLECTIONS] A lot of good will come out of this period
• [REFLECTIONS] Panlaban sa virus
• [REFLECTIONS] Silence is the language of love

On March 7, I gave a talk to an audience of professional and aspirant journalists and college teachers in various disciplines on the role of the press as watchdog on government. The talk had been scheduled months before, when no signs were yet sensible of the pandemic that we and the rest of the world are now fighting with, and for, our lives. And, although around the time of my talk the virus had begun to spread and inspired grave portents for us, it did not seem relevant to my assignment still.

The talk was basic and general and short – I got by with mental notes. But I have reconstructed and expounded it for the record, and I’m reprinting parts of it here in light precisely of cases – two in particular – arising from the pandemic and involving the press.

One is the commandeering of private broadcast networks by the government. Every day  the press secretary anchors an hour-long simulcast across the networks, presiding from one of the studios of the government’s own network and taking reports from its propaganda troops, now operating as pseudo-journalists.

The other is the harassment of a college editor for reports and opinion he posted online about flaws in the government’s relief drive. Teachers in his hometown high school and grade school who read his posts betrayed him to the police, who picked him up and forced him to apologize and take down his posts. They also threatened him with arrest if he persisted in exercising his rights and freedoms, not necessarily in violation of any legal limitations, but simply in ways that did not agree with them – even as he has been freed under threat, he is branded a leftist, itself enough characterization to get one into the worst trouble, especially under this regime.

A mere hour of free broadcasting taken away and one solitary person prevented speaking his mind may not seem much of a loss by quantitative reckoning, but democratic freedoms are not reckoned in those terms. It is in the nature of freedom that it has to be fought for, as it is in the nature of power to suppress it. It is a conflict that from the very beginning proceeds lopsidedly in favor of power and finds stark illustrations in the relationship between government and the press.

My hope is that the following excerpts from my pre-pandemic talk be a help somehow to the public in understanding its own stake in a free press, so that it may be inspired to support the press more actively and that the press in turn may not be so overmatched as it is.

Meet the press

Everyone must have some idea, if purely instinctive for many, of what news is – an occurrence just now becoming known in which they would be interested for all sorts of reason, from mere curiosity to a sense of some potential impact on their lives. What is scarcely known is why it is the press they should rely on to get the news for them.

The plain answer is that it is all part of the democracy deal. The Constitution not only assigns the press a singular freedom but guarantees it protection in the exercise of that freedom, to wit: “No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of the press.” Those eleven words pack the unequivocal warning that the press is to be left alone.

But why the special mention? Because press freedom, for all the romantic notions of great potentiality woven around it, is no match to the official power it is meant to watch and check. The potential for collusion and conspiracy among people holding official power is so richly evident they need no further help, and especially not in the law. On the other hand, not even a vaguely comparable potential exists for the press. Its very nature precludes it: news organizations are in competition with one another both professionally and business-wise.

As for power – real power – the news person has only words for resource, which he also shares with everyone else. Where freedom of expression is intended as an individual freedom, the government seizes it collectively – for concentrated power and for itself. In our own case, it has the biggest radio and television network and tends to deploy it more for its own political advantage than for the people’s benefit. Moreover, apart from the internal revenue and other hugely persuasive agencies, it has the military and the police to do its ultimate bidding. Indeed, for the press to have any chance at all against officialdom, an active and vigorous backing is required of the people, for whom, after all, it exists.

For its own part of that deal, the press has instituted an editorial system of multilayered checks to ensure that it gets its facts right and offers unbiased and well-founded and well-studied opinion. (It is called editorial to distinguish it from the purely mechanical process of printing.) That system operates in two phases: first, hounding the news; second, editing it. How it works is naturally best illustrated where it originated – in the newspapers.

In the first phase, an editor runs his reporters as a commander runs his troops. He sends them out on a news hunt, but stays constantly connected to each of them, giving them guidance and instructions as they require. At the end of the phase he has his harvest of news for the day, each piece written as a story and checked for errors and crosschecked for verification before it is turned over to another editor, who presides in the next phase.

He farms the news stories to his crew of copyeditors for a more minute review or, if necessary, for reworking. A copyeditor brings to his job his own broad experience as a reporter and certain disciplinary specializations. The editor himself takes a last look before sending it to the printer. The process is more or less duplicated for broadcast news and online news.

News being a business of snap judgments, still mistakes are bound to slip through. A prompt correction of any mistake is expected; if a news organization ignores it collegial pressure comes down on it as a matter of course. A news organization rises and fall on its credibility, and owning to shortcomings – so long as not too many of them are committed – can only enhance it.

At any rate, no more suitable watchdog than the press has been found for democracy. – Rappler.com

It's a first in world history: an online Holy Week for millions of people, even in Vatican City, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Rappler presents a series of reflections to help you, our reader, enter the spirit of Holy Week even in quarantine.

One of the recollections that I shared last week was entitled “Finding Jesus in the Midst of this Pandemic Crisis.” I have decided to draw my thoughts from that recollection for this Easter Vigil homily. This will be a bit long, but we have all the time now, remember? So please, bear with me.

We are like Mary Magdalene and the other women who saw an empty tomb and went about looking for Jesus. He was missing. We look for people when they are absent. Where is Jesus in these times when we need him most? I have heard this being expressed many times in the laments of people in the past few weeks since we went on community quarantine because of this pandemic.

I wouldn’t blame them, it is not easy to answer this question but let me try anyway. Where indeed is Jesus? Where can we find him?

In the version of Saint Luke 24:5, we get an answer from the angels at the tomb: “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” Meaning – there is no way you can find him, even if you keep looking, because you’re looking in the wrong places.

Maybe that is why we associate Easter with a hunt or a search, such as the Easter egg hunt rituals in the west. Easter is indeed a quest. You have to know how and where to find what you are looking for. Ang why eggs? Well, obviously because an egg is alive! That is, if it is not yet cooked. The symbolism is spoiled if we use boiled eggs for our Easter hunt. Can you still expect life to come out of a boiled egg?

Back to the question, what does it take to find what we are looking for? It is not easy to find what we look for when one is enveloped in grief and despair like Mary Magdalene, or in guilt, like Peter. At least the youngest disciple, John, who was with Peter, knew how to look for signs. The Lord usually gives clues, or the angel would usually guide you where you are supposed to look.

When we are disoriented, when we lack focus, we are bound to miss him or pass him by even if we may have already bumped on him. Isn’t this the common motif in the stories about the Easter apparitions of the Risen Christ?

Did not Magdalene mistake him for the gardener? Did not the disciples by the lakeshore think he was an old beggar who was asking for fish? Did not the two disciples walk and talk with him all the way to Emmaus and still failed to recognize him?

'Sleepless on Good Friday'

Where should we look? Yesterday, my brother passed on to me a prayer that was shared to him by Chichi Fajardo Robles. Chichi, by the way, is a fellow radio broadcaster at Radyo Veritas. She wrote a prayer which she entitled, “Sleepless on Good Friday.” It is in English so let me read it to you in English.

Lord, I gaze at your lifeless body on the cross disfigured by wounds and sores. A picture of unimaginable pain and suffering. I am moved, dear God, by the thought that the victims of coronavirus seemed to have taken on some of the agonies of your Passion.

It is said that those who are stricken by the disease experience high fevers and excruciating headaches. My Lord, aren't these the thorns that pierced through your head so deep that blood oozed from every cavity? They thrust on your head a mockery of a crown which, instead of having gems, had deadly spikes that cut flesh. What a strange coincidence that this virus should be named a "corona," meaning, a crown.

Those who are critically ill of COVID-19 have difficulty breathing causing them to depend on oxygen masks and in worst cases to be intubated and attached to a ventilator. The virus attacks the lungs and causes the victim to gasp for air. Dear Jesus, isn’t this reminiscent of the terrible torture of hanging on the cross, hanging by your nailed hands and feet; consequently causing your chest, your lungs, to collapse? Moving your head, even uttering words must have been extremely painful. But even from up there you were teaching us.

The saddest part of the COVID-19 patient's journey is the separation from family and loved ones. From the moment a sick person tests positive, s/he is isolated and enters a cruel but necessary sort of incarceration which allows no visitors, no healing touch, no comforting words from people they love most. My Savior, how did you bear that undeserved sentence of death on the cross, the separation from your Beloved Mother, the betrayal of those you taught and trusted, and the abandonment by those you called friends? Alone, naked, despised, dying like a criminal – how can you still love us and forgive us after that?

I pray that in your great mercy these lives claimed by this virulent tragedy will not be in vain. Reward them, Lord, with eternal peace in your kingdom where they will be untouched by thorns and tortures. Comfort their families and friends with the thought that their loved ones shared in your suffering in a humanly heroic and divinely pleasing way. It was not a curse but a call to come home.

Tonight and moving forward, I choose to focus on Christ Jesus on the Cross and not coronavirus.”

That was the conclusion of Chichi’s prayer.

In short, it came as a striking realization for Chichi that the sufferings of the COVID-19 patients so closely resemble the sufferings of Jesus, as well as his death. I wish to complete Chichi’s reflection by relating it also to the resurrection. Did we not hear from the reading a while ago from Romans 6,8: “If we are one with the death of Christ, we shall also be one with his resurrection”?

The key word is COMMUNION or PARTICIPATION. If we still think of Christ as apart from us, if we still look at him only as savior, and ourselves as the objects of salvation, we will probably never find him no matter how desperately we search for him. We would be like stupid fools looking up to heaven waiting for a superman to come down and save us from COVID-19.

Participating in Christ's resurrection

Brothers and sisters, being a Christian is not about just looking up to heaven and waiting. It is a participation; it is communion. Maybe that is the reason why he disappears again after he appears to his disciples. He does not appear only to save us but to get us to participate in his saving mission. If we have entered into communion with him in body and spirit, his suffering and death become our suffering and death as well. And his resurrection becomes our resurrection.

He himself will guide us in our search for him, so that when we have found him, he can disappear already, because we are already in communion with him. Like I said in the recollection, we have been called not just to be Christians but TO BE CHRIST. We receive the Body of Christ in the Eucharist so that we can change and grow and become truly part of the body of Christ. If by the one Spirit that we have received as gift we become one with him, his voice should be heard in our voice, his touch should be felt through our touch, his face would become visible in our faces. Why? Because he lives in us and we in him.

Isn’t this also what Saint Paul has said? According to Paul, every disciple and apostle of Christ should learn to say, “My life no longer belongs to me. It belongs to Christ who lives in me.” This is the resurrection that we celebrate today!

We are not yet participating in the resurrection of Christ if we just look up to heaven, if all we can do is wait for a savior to save us. We participate in his resurrection if we desire not just to be saved from COVID-19 but to help in saving people from this disease, perhaps even at the cost of our own lives.

I read one reaction to the word “frontliner.” He said he refused to call doctors, nurses, and other health workers as the frontliners. He said perhaps it would be better to call them second liners in this battle, because we should think of ourselves, yes, all of us, as the real frontliners. If we don’t want our health workers to fall and get wiped out, we must not leave the job to them alone. Neither should we add up to their already huge task. Before we ask to be taken care of by them, let us first take care of ourselves and of each other.

I wonder if you’ll agree that this COVID-19 crisis is teaching us a most unique kind of Easter Hunt. What the scientists who are burning the midnight oil to study and understand this virus are doing should also be called an Easter hunt. What the epidemiologists who are trying to come up with a vaccine in order to fight this disease are doing is also an Easter hunt. And what about the discovery that those who have been infected of the virus and have recovered, develop a natural immunity and their blood becomes a good agent that could counteract COVID-19 through convalescent plasma transfusion? Wow. That is also the product of an Easter hunt!

So please take care, especially the paranoid ones who discriminate against health workers as if they were lepers. You better watch out, not just because they’ll be the ones who will also look after you in case you get infected by this virus. More than that, you might end up needing these very people whom you once drove away from their homes. You might end up needing not just their service but also their blood which is capable of healing you.

Happy Easter hunt! May our Easter hunt in this unforgettable year 2020 be truly an experience of seeking and finding Jesus where we truly can find him!

Happy Easter to all of you! – Rappler.com

Bishop Pablo Virgilio David heads the Diocese of Caloocan. A renowned Bible scholar, he is also vice-president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

Here are other Reflections:

• [REFLECTIONS] Glimpses of God’s presence amid a pandemic
• [REFLECTIONS] Turning the coronavirus crisis into opportunity
• [REFLECTIONS] Don’t get tired of waving your palms 
• [REFLECTIONS] Look out for the loneliest amid the pandemic – Pope Francis 
• [REFLECTIONS] When no one will say 'I am sick'
• [REFLECTIONS] Faith in the risen Jesus amid the coronavirus 
• [REFLECTIONS] Business temporarily closed: Jesus, what now? 
• [REFLECTIONS] Why do we suffer? 
• [REFLECTIONS] We need to think and re-think our theology 
• [REFLECTIONS] Holy Week and COVID-19: Embracing uncertainty 
• [REFLECTIONS] Do it best by doing nothing 
• [REFLECTIONS] A lot of good will come out of this period
• [REFLECTIONS] Panlaban sa virus

It’s a first in world history: an online Holy Week for millions of people, even in Vatican City, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Rappler presents a series of reflections to help you, our reader, enter the spirit of Holy Week even in quarantine.

Happy Easter! Today we celebrate the triumph of Christ over sin and death. Today we celebrate Jesus’ rising again after going through the worst that human cruelty can inflict on one person in their time. Today we celebrate Christ victorious, and with his victory, the promise of our own salvation.

But how can we even speak of Easter in our current situation? How can we even celebrate Christ’s rising from the dead when we all still seem to be stuck in the dark tomb?

We have all been dreaming of an end to the quarantine, and to this pandemic – we have all been counting days, painfully and patiently waiting. People have been suffering because of the lack of jobs, and lack of income. People are becoming restless because of hunger. We are exhausting our resources in helping the poor, though we can only do so much. And yet, the quarantine was even extended. 

How can we speak of Easter when people have been suffering the loss of loved ones without even the chance to mourn them and to grieve for them properly? We have lost so many of our good doctors, self-giving medical staff who have willingly served the sick even when it meant that thay have to put their own lives on the line.

How can we speak of Easter when people have been suffering because of this abnormal life, some more than others; when all we want is to get back up and running, and not just stuck in our houses.

AND YET TODAY WE PROCLAIM, “ALLELUIA! HE IS RISEN!” Christ has triumphed, and we have eternal life!

How can we even speak of Easter now? Now more than ever, we can speak of Easter as a sign of hope, and promise of new life. Jesus suffered and died with us, and remains with us in our suffering – promising us that this will not end with suffering alone. That he will bring us to his glory, and that by his power and our cooperation, all these will end well. In his love and mercy, he will not leave us in the dark tomb – and all will be well again.

Many of us pray that we all return to the normal course of things – when we can to go to work again, when we can go out for work and leisure without the danger of getting sick, when we can all gather in church again and celebrate the mysteries of our faith and our lives together. We all long to be free of our face masks, of the quarantine passes, of the curfew, and of the threat of asymptomatic carriers. We just want to live again, and not just survive.

But while many pray for this abnormal time to end, and for life to return to normal, I dare pray not. I pray that we do not just return to normal.

Dare we not speak of Easter at all if we will just return to the normal – if the normal that we will return to is the same way of life that brought us all to the suffering we experience today. When you take a second look at the things that make us suffer in this world, they are really caused by our own doing.

I believe that what we suffer now is not God’s punishment. They are the consequences of the greed and exploitation of those who have trod this earth before us, if not the fruits of our own abuse of other people and of ourselves, in our generation. What we suffer now is the consequence of generations of abuse and exploitation of the earth. These are the fruits of wanting more and more at the expense of others, now depriving this generation of the good life that it deserves. This is not God’s punishment – we impose it upon ourselves.

Believing in God who suffers with and for us, who loves us unconditionally and loves us even while we are sinners, surely God did not want this for us. All he ever desires is to take us out of the misery, out of the pit that we dig for ourselves, again and again. If there’s anyone to blame – let it not be God. It’s us, collectively us.

New ways of living

So dare we not speak of Easter at all if all we want is a return to normal, as if nothing happened to us, and we return to business as usual.

DARE WE NOT SPEAK OF EASTER AT ALL if we return to a life of just fending for oneself, of being selfish and greedy. We saw, with the hoarding of food and resources, that the well-to-do can outbuy the daily wager, especially in a time of crisis. We saw how hoarding of medical supplies actually left hospitals in need – the very ones who should have been the priority were the ones who beg for supplies. We saw how, in times of crisis, we are in fact at the mercy of each other.

DARE WE NOT SPEAK OF EASTER AT ALL if we will not begin to give priority and attention those who produce our food – our farmers, fisherfolk, and market vendors, and those who transport their produce. Now, more than ever, we realize that the very people we take for granted, the very people society often marginalizes are the very people keeping us alive, in and out of crisis.

DARE WE NOT SPEAK OF EASTER AT ALL if we will continue to give more priority to wherever else than to the basic needs of people, especially the poor: for health and shelter, and for food security for everyone.

DARE WE NOT SPEAK OF EASTER AT ALL if political interest will take the better part of the argument, than the people who cry out for help in the streets; if imposing the law, whatever it takes, takes priority over addressing the reason why the law seems unreasonable for people.

DARE WE NOT SPEAK OF EASTER AT ALL if we do not give due attention to health workers, doctors, and nurses – our so-called frontliners, often overworked and underappreciated; if medical supplies are not sufficiently stocked – especially now that we realize a pandemic of this magnitude is possible.

DARE WE NOT SPEAK OF EASTER AT ALL if we will not learn to care for our environment – and realize that we can actually live comfortably without producing much pollution; if we will not promise to take care of the earth for future generations.

DARE WE NOT SPEAK OF EASTER AT ALL if we will not begin to live knowing that our lives are interconnected – that what can kill another person may also kill me, or what sickness I may have may also cause others to be sick, and so I have to take care of others as much as I am taking care of myself.

We can surely speak of Easter even in the midst of this crisis, but dare we not speak of Easter if our experience of suffering and death, this pandemic that we are all surviving, does not change us.

We can only speak of Easter if its message of persistent hope, even in the midst of uncertainty, difficulty, and even despair, can bring us to new life and new ways of living. Christ did not just go back to normal after he suffered and died. When he resurrected, his risen body is glorified. May we all be given new life, and new ways of living and being, when we rise again from this tomb. – Rappler.com

Father Benjamin B. Espiritu III is a newly ordained priest serving the Archdiocese of San Fernando, Pampanga. A graduate of the Jesuit-run San Jose Seminary, he is currently assigned as Parochial Vicar of the Parroquia de la Inmaculada Concepcion in Guagua, Pampanga.

Here are other Reflections:

• [REFLECTIONS] Glimpses of God’s presence amid a pandemic
• [REFLECTIONS] Turning the coronavirus crisis into opportunity
• [REFLECTIONS] Don’t get tired of waving your palms 
• [REFLECTIONS] Look out for the loneliest amid the pandemic – Pope Francis 
• [REFLECTIONS] When no one will say 'I am sick'
• [REFLECTIONS] Faith in the risen Jesus amid the coronavirus 
• [REFLECTIONS] Business temporarily closed: Jesus, what now? 
• [REFLECTIONS] Why do we suffer? 
• [REFLECTIONS] We need to think and re-think our theology 
• [REFLECTIONS] Holy Week and COVID-19: Embracing uncertainty 
• [REFLECTIONS] Do it best by doing nothing 
• [REFLECTIONS] A lot of good will come out of this period
• [REFLECTIONS] Panlaban sa virus

It’s a first in world history: an online Holy Week for millions of people, even in Vatican City, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Rappler presents a series of reflections to help you, our reader, enter the spirit of Holy Week even in quarantine.

Editor's Note: Father Jett Villarin, SJ, delivered this homily in the live online Easter Vigil Mass by Radyo Katipunan on Saturday evening, April 11. Rappler is publishing a copy of his homily as provided by Father Emmanuel Alfonso, SJ, executive director of Jesuit Communications.

A toxic wind has been blowing into our world for several months now. This poison has kept us shuttered in our homes and hospitals. Death is in the air. We are afraid. We are anxious about the uncertainty of it all. We can only keep vigil and wait for this messenger of death to pass us over. As it was with the ancient Israelites in Egypt awaiting their deliverance, as it was with the disciples after Calvary, whose doors and hearts were bolted out of fear, so it is with us now.

Tonight then let us keep vigil. We shall ask for the grace of patience in this time of waiting. We will gather around the fire of this Easter candle to do two things: tell stories and share dreams with each other. Stories from the past and present. Dreams for the future. We’ve been telling stories and sharing dreams for centuries, every year, on this night of nights. And so tonight and for many more nights after this, we will come around this Easter fire to be warmed by stories and dreams.

The stories we’ve heard tonight are stories of creation and recreation. In between there is temptation and defeat, exile and frustration. They are ancient stories but they come to life in books we have read and even in movies we have seen. They are stories that have been played out in history; they are stories we’ve seen in our own lives. They are stories about beginnings and endings, creation and redemption, and all manner of trials and failures in between.

My own father likes to tell the story of how I got out of my mother’s womb. Apparently, my mother was in labor from Thursday to Saturday. I just couldn’t get out because of my big head. I had to be “forcepped” out. And he would show this graphically to us, imitating the posture of the doctor who was pulling and pulling (like he was pulling a horse) while he leveraged himself against the delivery table.

That’s one story of my creation. I could have remained in my mother’s womb and shriveled inside like a rotten mango were it not for the heroic pushing of my mother and the creative pulling of the doctor. We are born never alone. We are born from the risks taken by those who love us, from the pain and sacrifice of others. We are born out of love, a love that is patient and enduring.

Surely we have our own stories about beginnings and endings and all sorts of subject matter in between. We shall befriend our memory and retrieve our journal or photo or letter collections, digital or otherwise, if only to help us remember and retell our gospels to ourselves, to each other, and to the world. Tonight and for the coming days, we will share our stories as sequels to these grand stories of creation and re-creation and everything in between.

The Easter fire is here to remind us that people of faith have been telling these stories for centuries, remembering them for each other, to warm their hearts and ward off the darkness and keep close to God. The Easter fire is here to assure us of the presence of Christ in these stories of our lives, and how our stories will always be treasured by God.

Shared dreams

If there are stories to tell around this Easter fire, there are also dreams to be shared. If our stories are stories of creation and re-creation, our dreams are dreams of co-creation. Easter’s gift to us is the gift of shared power we wield with the Holy Spirit in renewing the face of the earth.

When I see videos of infants getting used to wearing masks, I tell myself this is not the kind of world we are supposed to leave them. When I hear of immunity passports being developed post-quarantine to allow people to move through checkpoints, I know this cannot be God’s dream for creation. Long before this pandemic struck us, we have already been turning inward and suspicious of the stranger and anyone not like us.

In this time of our prolonged Easter vigil, we will be humble enough to admit that we cannot just go back to the way things were before COVID-19. It cannot be just business as usual. These have been extraordinary times and so we will be small enough to ask for the extraordinary grace of personal and collective conversion.

Father Rene Javellana tells us that the iridescent blue of the kingfisher is now back here on campus. Even the dragonflies are back. The earth itself is going through some form of sabbath and is renewing itself. We can rebuild with nature again. Foolishly and dangerously, we have discarded creation in our desire for material prosperity and growth. If there is any lesson to be learned about biology, it is that we know so little. We do well therefore to rein in that Promethean pride and be more cautious about our double-edged tools, especially when it comes to the building blocks of life. In this new world, post-COVID-19, we will need to prescribe a more aggressive dose of reverence, reverence, reverence for life.

When we were asked to stay at home, we realized again that there were many of our own people who did not have homes. When we started to distribute food packs to communities, along with other groups, we discovered that there were countless others who were missed and not getting relief. We have numbered lists of drug addicts, we cannot even list those of us who are without homes. They are faceless and abandoned. We have discarded the social margins in our calculus of economic growth and progress. We can rebuild our economy again, with blueprints that include a new list this time of the faceless and nameless in our midst.

Rebuilding from the ruins

I look at our empty campus now and imagine what life will be like post-quarantine. It will not be the same. We can rebuild our institutions and systems to be more responsive and agile. We can do this especially for our health and social welfare and educational systems.

We can rebuild from the ruins. We can rebuild with one another, with our young ones who can see visions of this new future world, and with our old ones who can dream dreams from the wellspring of tradition and experience.

I invite you to dream of what this new world can and must be when we emerge from quarantine. Share these dreams with one another, with the world, and let these dreams be blessed by Easter fire, by the fire of the Holy Spirit.

Last of all, let us ask for courage. If there is one proof of the resurrection, it is in the transformation of the disciples from a pathetic band of cowardly men who ran away from Calvary to a group of brave followers who could look death in the eye. You would think such new defiance to be short-lived. Do we really know what we’re asking when we ask the Lord to send out His Spirit to “renew the face of the earth”? Do we think that the Spirit can do just that without wounds being inflicted and crosses being borne on our shoulders? Will the world and our hearts just renew themselves without resistance?

Let us pray for this Easter boldness so that with the poet John Donne we can look death in the eye and say:

Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so;
…
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth. – Rappler.com

Father Jose Ramon "Jett" Villarin, SJ, is president of the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Manila University.  

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic early this year, the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) has received and continues to receive donations of various kinds.

These include Personal Protective Equipment  (PPE) for our healthcare workers who serve as frontliners. PPEs are barriers that healthcare workers should wear on top of their scrub suits. These are needed to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 from the patients to the HCWs or healthcare workers. A “complete” PPE set typically includes a gown or coverall, gloves, mask, eye protection, head cap, and booties.

Forecasting PPE usage in a COVID-19 referral center

In February 2020, we started to see and admit patients who were suspected of having COVID-19, classified as Persons Under Investigation or PUIs. We put on or “don” these PPEs whenever we examine PUIs. After leaving the patient’s room, we would then remove or “doff” the PPEs.

Suppose a doctor and a nurse need to see a PUI at the emergency room, they would use a total of two PPE sets. Once admitted, this patient would be monitored at least once every work shift, with 3 shifts in 24 hours. Thus, 6 to 8 PPE sets are needed each day, for doctors and nurses alone.

When additional tests are needed (e.g., blood test, EKG, and X-ray), each healthcare worker who performs a procedure will need to don PPE. Easily, the usage would be about 12 sets of PPEs per day for each patient. Multiply that by 14 days, which is the usual duration of hospital stay of COVID-19 patients, and we would therefore need at least 168 PPE sets from admission to discharge.

The cost of providing adequate PPE for healthcare workers also needs to be considered. The Department of Health (DOH) recently procured one million PPE sets worth P1.8 billion. Using these figures, the total cost of PPE for just one patient will be about P300,000. Even if the cost were halved, the amount is still staggering.

As the number of PUIs in PGH started to increase, we saw the need to procure more PPEs. When we initially projected treating 20 COVID-19 patients for March 2020, we estimated that we would need almost 8,000 sets for the whole month.

But on March 22, the DOH announced on national TV that PGH was chosen to be a COVID-19 referral center, and that we committed to have 130 patients. Based on the prevailing PPE usage, we would need to build a stockpile of 46,800 PPE sets, and do so quickly. This was clearly ambitious if not impossible. Hence, together with the PGH community, we have been developing ways to conserve our PPEs.

PPE conservation strategies at the PGH

Here, we outline the ways through which we have managed to streamline our PPE use and reduce wastage, while at the same time ensuring the safety of our healthcare workers.

1. Cohorting of COVID-19 patients

Cohorting means patients with the same diagnosis are placed together in a common area. It is a great, feasible strategy for hospitals that manage a large number of patients. Since all the patients in this set-up are COVID+, the issue of transmissibility between patients is eliminated.

In PGH, we have designated 4 COVID wards to safely accommodate 22 COVID+ patients each, maintaining a reasonable distance of 2 meters between beds of intubated patients (i.e., on a mechanical ventilator) and one meter between beds of non-intubated patients. We currently have 4 such big cohort wards, which can accommodate up to 88 COVID patients altogether. In the private floors of the hospital’s central block, a similar strategy was used, in which all COVID+ patients are admitted in assigned wings of the 5^th and 6^th floors.

Cohorting all confirmed COVID-19 patients in wards leads to a significant reduction in the required number of PPEs per shift. Nurses and doctors on duty can move efficiently from one bed to the next, just by changing their outer gloves after each patient (Note: healthcare workers wear two layers of gloves) and performing hand hygiene frequently. It is an acceptable way of patient bed allocation, as long as good ventilation is assured, necessary bed distance is allotted, and precautions are observed during usage of common toilet facilities and daily interaction between patients.

In the old system, if we don one PPE set per COVID+ patient, we would have needed 264 PPEs per day in this 22-bed ward alone or 7,920 sets per month. In this new cohort system, we allocate based on the number of staff per ward. We now use only about 60 PPE sets per day or 1,800 sets per month per ward. This translates to a 75% reduction in PPE usage.

PUIs are more resource-intensive and more difficult to manage from the PPE perspective.

While awaiting their COVID-19 diagnostic test results, they need to be protected using fresh PPE because of the possibility that they are not COVID+ after all. To solve this, we have designated PUI wards, and in these areas, healthcare workers are given outer gowns that they put on top of their PPE, every time they interact with a patient. Each PUI is allocated 3 to 5 outer gowns per day. The total number of PPE sets used by healthcare workers remains the same, since only the outer gown and gloves are shed with each patient interaction.

2. Zoning of COVID and non-COVID areas

At the outset, the Hospital Infection Control Unit of PGH divided the hospital into COVID and non-COVID areas. The COVID areas were further divided into Red, Orange, and Green zones.

We have created a PPE scheme (now casually known to all PGH employees and volunteers as PPE Levels 1, 2, 3, 4) to determine risk categorization and appropriate PPEs for every role, every department, every staff, every area, hopefully distinguishing exactly what PPE is needed for all. Nothing can be left to chance. Everybody is afraid, but we cannot operate on fear and PPEs are finite resources. All need to be protected but in a reasonable, science-based manner, adhering to sound principles of infection control.

A creative group of physicians work on producing easy-to-understand posters to educate staff on the proper use of PPEs. These materials are disseminated through social media, Viber groups, and displayed in tarpaulins at relevant areas in the hospital. These guidelines have reduced unnecessary use, for example, of N95 masks when medical masks would suffice.

3. Assigning dedicated personnel for COVID wards

To perform its role as a COVID-19 referral center, PGH completely overhauled its human resource allocation. We don’t work by departments anymore. The COVID areas are staffed by physicians and nurses from the entire hospital, unified by a centralized mechanism under the lead of pulmonologists and infectious disease specialists.

The number of healthcare workers needed to care for each COVID-19 patient or PUI has not been reduced: patients are seen by two to 5 doctors per day, one nurse per shift, one nurse assistant, and paramedical support as necessary (phlebotomist, radiation technician, EKG technician, dialysis nurse, and others). Nurse:patient ratio is maintained at no lower than 1:2 in the intensive care units (ICUs) and 1:7 or 1:8 in the wards.

Non-COVID wards and ICUs of PGH continue to run with a skeleton workforce, managing a markedly reduced number of non-COVID patients since elective admissions have been put on hold. The staffing of COVID and non-COVID zones do not overlap.

Healthcare workers are assigned to work in only one area during their 8-hour shift. This means they could safely wear the same PPE for 8 hours, changing their outer gloves as often as needed and performing frequent hand hygiene. Staff in the COVID zones would come in for 7 consecutive days, followed by a rest period of two weeks, after which the duty cycle repeats itself. There are 3 teams in all.

4. Improving operational efficiency

To improve the efficiency of stocking PPEs and monitoring their usage, adjacent COVID wards, ICUs, and hospital wings have been grouped together, and each group has a centralized area where PPEs are supplied. These demarcated floor spaces or rooms are identified as donning zones. A separate doffing zone is also identified for each unit. Typically, two to 3 wards share donning and doffing zones.

Safety officers – volunteer doctors and staff from different departments – are present to guide and assist healthcare workers whenever they don their PPE just before entering a COVID zone, and once more, when they doff, after leaving the COVID ward or ICU. Once daily, the safety officers of all units accomplish a Google form to keep track of PPE usage and request for replenishment from the hospital’s supply division.

PGH set up a central command system to manage the hospital’s COVID-19 operations. A consultant is in charge of the distribution of PPEs to all sectors of the hospital, so that everyone gets just what they need, in both COVID and non-COVID zones. If we see a trend of overuse in one ward, we investigate and correct wastage. On the other hand if an area calls out for a need to augment specific PPEs, they are addressed immediately. Constant awareness of remaining hospital inventory is also crucial, considering that there may be delays in procurement of specific PPE, and the quantity and quality of PPE from donors have been variable.

5. Earning commitment of healthcare workers

Donors of PPE often ask: How many PPE sets are needed in a day? In PGH, healthcare workers in COVID areas are allocated two PPE sets when they go on duty, allowing them to take a break, if necessary, midway through their shift. Thus, to get a reasonable estimate, you need to know the number of healthcare workers in moderate to high-risk areas for 24 hours, then double that number.

Having said that, the need to conserve PPE is emphasized to staff during their orientation and training for donning and doffing. If each person would take a break on the 4th hour of duty, this would mean removing the entire PPE set and changing into new ones. And the usage will very easily double or triple. When we started off, the initial reaction of physician and nursing staff was that they could not possibly stay in their PPE suits for the eight-hour shift: “Impossible!”

We have asked our staff to prepare well, physically and mentally. They are encouraged to eat their meals before or after their shift, and to keep themselves hydrated. Before donning PPE, they are reminded once more to empty their bladders. Adequate ventilation of work stations is ensured to minimize perspiration and fatigue. At the rest station, water and snacks are readily available. We’ve observed that as healthcare workers get used to their work routine, more and more nurses and doctors are taking the extra effort to stay in their PPEs and sacrifice to the 8^th hour without changing. Staff who need to urinate frequently are encouraged to use diapers.

Perhaps the most difficult rule for staff is that no mobile phones are allowed inside COVID zones. Phones are left in lockers and staff are instructed to inform loved ones that there will be no means of communication for eight hours. Hospital communication is through landline, local hospital network, and walkie-talkie. Socializing and unnecessary talking are discouraged, and physical contact of PPEs is prohibited.

6. Assigning personnel to reprocess select PPE

We have been recycling goggles, which are decontaminated and cleaned after use. Specific nursing staff have been assigned to do this task. Cleaners and janitors also wear proper PPE. They are part of the allocation for N95 masks and eye protection. They use coveralls made of heavy-duty material, which allows for washing and safe reuse.

Projections and results

As PGH nears the end of its second week as a designated COVID-19 referral center, we have been able to reduce PPE usage to less than 350 PPE sets/day in our COVID zones, or an average of 3 PPE sets/day for every COVID+/PUI patient (See table). If we add PPE usage in areas that manage both COVID and non-COVID patients (e.g., emergency room, operating rooms, labor/delivery rooms), which ranges from 100 to 150 PPE sets/day depending on the number of patients seen, the entirety of PGH presently uses approximately 500 PPE sets daily.

As we admit more COVID+/PUI patients, we foresee that this figure may reach 700, but most probably no higher. We are monitoring the effects of these conservation strategies on our healthcare workers with vigilance.

The impact of our measures cannot be overstated, and we hope that by sharing our best practices, this may serve as a guide for other hospitals in the country who face the same dilemma of rational PPE allocation.

We continue to accept all PPE donations, and we would like to profusely thank all our donors. We also thank all PGH COVID-19 frontliners for cooperating despite challenging circumstances, and for adhering to hospital policies for the greater good and everyone’s safety.

Because of all of you, we are more certain there will always be enough PPEs to protect all healthcare workers with each new day, as PGH continues to serve and give hope to Filipino patients throughout this pandemic. – Rappler.com

Dr. Regina P. Berba is an associate professor at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine. She is head of the PGH Hospital Infection Control Unit. Dr. Ronnie E. Baticulon (@ronibats) is also an associate professor at the UPCM and a pediatric neurosurgeon in PGH. UP Press published his book of essays in 2019.

For comments and queries, please email rpberba@gmail.com.

“We’ll cross paths in our own spaces…. Let’s link hands through all the songs we sing. Let’s live and see each other again.”

This is how a few lines from the latest hit song in Japan roughly translates. And you can guess it’s about staying connected in spirit while the country – as in many parts of the world – is strongly urging residents to stay indoors to arrest the spread of the novel coronavirus.  

Musician and actor Gen Hoshino (originally of the Sakerock fame) wrote the song “Uchide Odorou (Dancing on the Inside)” and debuted it on Instagram and YouTube on April 5.  

It was the day before Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced he would soon declare a state of emergency in the metro areas of Tokyo and Osaka and 5 prefectures as cases of COVID-19 infection rose. 

A week before that, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike had asked her constituents to avoid restaurants, bars, and karaoke as the number of cases rose. On April 6, she told them to strictly stay home and keep a two-meter distance from other people.  

Many observers were worried, though, that since Japan’s state of emergency declaration doesn’t provide for punishment, people might just choose to ignore the call to stay home. 

And so the 56-second “Uchide Odorou” was born, with a “challenge” for celebrities to jam with him remotely or upload their own videos using the song. It has gained 2.14 million views on YouTube as of writing.  

“When I stayed home, I came up with this song,” he said in Japanese. “If you don’t play any instruments, you can sing or dance to this video.” 

To me, the phrase in English, dancing on the inside, is rich in meaning – having fun even without going out, not losing your joy and optimism even when alone. If we get through this, the song says, then we’ll truly get together again. 

I first came across the chain of collaboration through Naomi Watanabe’s Instagram post a day after Hoshino-san introduced the rhythmic number. The comedienne was airing her live series on YouTube where she would invite people to virtually join her for dinner.  

“For those of you who have been staying at home, you may be nervous, lonely, and having a tough time. I live alone too and am extremely lonely,” she said in Japanese. She couldn’t sing, she admitted, so she tried dancing to the song, hoping this would cheer up her fans. 

It turned out the likes of drummer Daniel Baeder and electone player Yuki Ishizawa had also lent their unique touch to “Uchide Odorou.”  

Daichi Miura, Mitsuki Takahata, Yuriko Ishida, Taiiku Okazaki, Yo Oizumi, among many others, have also joined the campaign, according to Billboard Japan, which also reported on April 8 that “Hoshino’s ‘Dancing on the Inside’ project…shot to No. 2 on Twitter this week and [debuted] at No. 21 on the Japan Hot 100.”  

On Sunday morning, April 12, the latest to join the campaign was Abe-san himself. The Office of the Prime Minister uploaded his collaboration video with Hoshino on its Instagram account, which was reposted by Abe’s own account.  

He doesn’t do any singing or dancing, though. The Primer Minister is shown doing routine activities at home (he’s wearing slippers!) – basically, being relaxed and comfortable staying home, as he has been urging the Japanese people.  

The left half of the screen shows Hoshino’s original video, while the right half captures Abe cuddling his dog, sipping tea, reading a book, and flipping channels with the remote.  

The state of emergency in Tokyo, Chiba, Saitama, Kanagawa, Osaka, Hyogo, and Fukuoka is expected to last for a month. Abe has said that should the number of cases continue to rise, the state of emergency might be expanded to cover other prefectures.  

“I can’t meet my friends. I can’t even have a drinking party. It’s just that a lot of lives are saved for sure by these actions…. Even though the former daily life is lost, we can feel the connection between people through social media and phone,” Prime Minister Abe said in his Instagram post.

“Someday again, it’s time for everyone to get together to smile. To create that tomorrow, stay at home today. Please help us with your cooperation,” he said. 

As of Sunday, Japan, with an estimated population of 126.48 million, has 6,005 coronavirus cases, 1,641 of which have tested positive and are awaiting further confirmation. It has a death rate of 1.5% and recovery rate of 12.7%. Three of every 10 cases are in the capital city of Tokyo. – Rappler.com

A new virus that has no definite cure to date, COVID-19 is a mystery and presently under study. Scientific research in medicine or biology is mobilized by different countries. Health, medicine, and natural science practitioners play crucial roles as governments are in a limbo figuring out how to cure, flatten the curve, and end this pandemic that hit us all in 2020. 

In the face of this global crisis, what is the role of divine knowledge? Specifically, what guidance and lessons can we learn from the Islamic faith in responding to this pandemic affecting all humanity? 

As a Muslim, I would like to turn to understanding this pandemic in the light of Islamic faith and in a non-secular view. This is not merely as an alternative source of knowledge, but central to Islamic faith is the belief that Islam is a complete way of life and that Allah Almighty’s knowledge is all-encompassing as our Creator, Sustainer, and Protector.

Divine knowledge is relevant not only in the ancient and medieval times, but it is perfect and important in the present times, in all places, and for all nations. 

However, while Islam teaches the importance of trust and faith in God in the form of tawakkul, this value doesn’t mean recklessness and not doing diligent precautions and steps to prevent or avoid illness or misfortunes. The discussion about Islamic teachings or acts during the pandemic are divided in sub-topics below and includes inspirational messages from Muslim healthcare practitioners.

Prevention is better than cure

Lockdown or community quarantine is ordained in Islam.

Quarantine has been ordained in Islam. Our predecessors in history showed that it is a crucial prevention, if not the overall solution, for a pandemic that crosses international boundaries. Islamic studies cite that Prophet Muhammad advised quarantine during the medieval times. "Those with contagious diseases should be kept away from those who are healthy."  

In early Islamic history in Damascus, it was mandatory to quarantine in hospital special groups of patients including those with leprosy. According to historical study, the first documented involuntary community quarantine was established by the Ottoman in 1838. Meanwhile, there were also voluntary community quarantines in those period. 

It may not be usually known in this current generation, but prominent Muslim scientists and philosophers had great contributions in the field of medicine. Abu `Ali al-Husayn ibn `Abd Allah Ibn Sina (980-1037) is regarded as a father of early modern medicine. In the study of Dr. Muhammad Obaidullah in 2007, he cited that Ibn Sina particularly discovered the contagious nature of infectious diseases and the introduction of quarantine to limit the spread of contagious diseases. And this early use of quarantine had been reflected in “The Canon of Medicine” which was a standard medical text in Europe and the Islamic world up until the 19th century. The Canon of Medicine was an encyclopedia of medicine in five books which were compiled by Persian Muslim physician-philospher Ibn Sina.

Islamic congregations are suspended. 

Mosques in Metro Manila had closed, including the Golden Mosque in Quiapo, Manila. This is in line with the enhanced community quarantine as well as with religious reasons of prevention through quarantine. 

In Religious Guideline No. 007 issued by the Darul-Ifta of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) on April 7, the body of Islamic scholars in the region ruled for the temporary suspension of the congregational Jum’ah (Friday) prayers all over the BARMM for an indefinite time in order to not compromise the safety of the people.

Similarly, Islamic scholars in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Egypt who are more “conversant” with the Quran and Sunnah (Islamic customs and practices) also earlier ordered the temporary stoppage of congregations in this times of pandemic. 

True enough, some areas in other countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, and India which were not able to prevent earlier the congregations of hundreds of Muslim locals or foreigners, had caused problems on the increase of transmission of the virus.

In the Philippines, the BARMM area is specifically tracing Filipinos who recently attended religious congregations abroad since they are considered as persons under investigation or monitoring (PUIs or PUMs). There has been a number of Muslims who are death victims of the COVID-19.

Self-quarantine as religious obedience

Indeed, Muslims may gain inspiration from Hadiths (record of the traditions or sayings of the Prophet Muhammad about staying at home as a form of obedience to quarantine as an Islamic guideline during a pandemic.  

Narrated `Aisha:

"The wife of Prophet Muhammad) I asked Allah's Messenger about the plague. He told me that it was a Punishment sent by Allah on whom he wished, and Allah made it a source of mercy for the believers, for if one in the time of an epidemic plague stays in his country patiently hoping for Allah's Reward and believing that nothing will befall him except what Allah has written for him, he will get the reward of a martyr." 

Narrated Saud:

"The Prophet Muhammad said, "If you hear of an outbreak of plague in a land, do not enter it; but if the plague breaks out in a place while you are in it, do not leave that place." 

Meanwhile, it is puzzling how the virus chooses its victims. A formidable invisible creation, the virus may be entering anyone at anytime. But Muslims believe that Allah does no injustice to anyone and to Him is our refuge and our return. 

Viewing pandemic in a non-secular lens, the Holy Quran has made reference to Divine intention to bring the faithful to perfection through adversities and that “No calamity befalls but by Allah’s permission.” Allah says in the Quran that “And We shall certainly try you with something of fear and hunger and loss of property and lives and fruits; and give good news to the patient, who when a misfortune befalls them, say: ‘Surely we are Allah’s and to Him we shall return.’ Those are they on whom are blessings and mercy from their Lord and those are the followers of the right course.”

Indeed, Muslims are taught never to despair of the mercy of God. 

Renowned Muslim scholar Mufti Ismael Menk has also said that, “Whenever you are alone, remember Allah has  sent the whole world away, so it’s only you and Him.” The Quran is filled with stories of the prophets regarding  gaining stronger faith  and link with God during isolation.

It was in the isolation in the belly of the whale that Yunus (Jonah) was forgiven by God. And it was in the isolation in a cave that Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. was given prophethood.

Funeral for Muslims during COVID-19 pandemic

As Muslims strive to practice Islam and treat others with Islamic ethics from cradle to grave, it is also important that Muslims who succumbed to death due to COVID-19 are able to be buried and have a funeral in the Islamic way, yet considerate of public health in the current context. 

In Religious Guideline No. 006 issued by the Darul-Ifta of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) on March 26, the body of Islamic scholars in the country had a ruling about funerals for Muslims who died of COVID-19. It says that “Considering that COVID-19 is a highly contaminant and contagious virus, if washing the (deceased) is very risky, then tayammum can do.” Tayammum is the Islamic act of dry religious ritual purification using clean sand in substitute to water. Hence, it substitutes the standard requirement of washing the cadaver with water.

However, due to the risk posed by touching a cadaver, protective facilities must be used for the funeral from deathbed to burial. The Darul-Ifta said that there should be a separate burial site for the said victims and the funeral process, from deathbed to burial, should not take more than 12 hours. 

It must be noted that cremation is forbidden in Islam, which is the reason that the Muslim from Lanao del Sur who died due to COVID-19, also known as Patient No. 40 as identified by DOH, was not cremated. And for further prevention of virus transmission, Patient 40’s family reportedly agreed to no longer conduct the traditional gathering of relatives and friends for the funeral.

The National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) offers burial assistance and relief operations for Muslim population in the Philippines.

Treatment

As narrated by Abu Huraira in Volume 7, Book 71, Nnumber 582: The Prophet said, “There is no disease that Allah has created, except that He also has created its treatment.”

It is also taught in Islam that one must do his best and leaves to Allah the rest, meaning the result of his diligent efforts. In this case, the cure for COVID-19 is a developing case and it is not intended that humanity merely sit down and wait for a miracle of a cure from the sky. 

However, all those who are endowed with expertise in medical and biological science and related scientific fields ought to be motivated by the fact that cure is there to be discovered to cure humanity.

Serving on the front line is a form of Jihad

While the concept of Jihad may have been commonly associated to holy war where Muslims take up weapons for a defensive war, Jihad means “to struggle in the way of Allah.” 

The greater Jihad – which is about fighting one’s own worldly desires for a noble cause or in obedience to Allah – could also mean sacrifices a Muslim make in service to others or for humanity for the pleasure of Allah. It means saving or preserving human lives.

In the Quran, Allah swt praises believers who sacrifices their energy, wealth, and time in order to obtain Allah’s favor in this world and in the hereafter. 

“And there are those who sacrifice themselves for seeking the pleasure of God alone, and Allah swt is very merciful to his servants.” As explained by Ustaz Dr. Muhamad Zuhaili, frontline personnel like doctors, nurses, and medical staff are performing an act of jihad by saving lives. 

Muslim medical practitioners: Jihad in public service

Here are some experiences and real stories of Muslim health or medical practitioners who are serving in the frontline during the COVID-19 outbreak whether in Metro Manila, in provinces, or abroad. 

They have common experiences of hardships in being frontliners in hospitals and clinics; difficulties in having supply of proper personal protective equipment (PPEs); and physical and emotional stress of handling patients. Notwithstanding, they shared what gives them strength and motivation amid this difficult and risky times, and what Islamic lessons serve as their guidance in fulfilling their profession. 

Dr. Madz Vincent Herrera Ibrahim 

A newly-sworn physician, Vincent Herrera Ibrahim works under the ENT-HNS department in a government hospital in Mandaluyong City. He is also a member of the Young Moro Professionals Network (YMPN). He shared that he never expected to serve on duty during pandemic early in his career. Nevertheless, he believes that: "Allah tells us that, 'If anyone saved a life it would be as if he saved the life of the whole humanity.' As physicians, we are given a special opportunity by Allah swt to serve Him by serving humanity. We definitely fear for our safety, but every day at work, we feel a sense of fulfillment seeing our patients somehow alleviated from their sickness and knowing that somehow, we may have saved a life."

Dr. Jasmin Diorka Suleik

A new physician, Jasmin Diorka Suleik reports in a hospital and in a clinic in Metro Manila. She is also a member of YMPN. She shared that she is honestly scared of contracting the virus and even bring it home to loved ones. Nevertheless, she conveyed what inspires her amid this pandemic:

"As shared by some in facebook, Muslim practices are now more being observed across the globe.. Always washing hands (ablution), staying away from bars, wearing PPEs that covers the awrat (and may pass as a prayer garment), spending time with family, giving to the poor, and ordering no interests on debts, more time to pray and so on. The world is now somehow practicing the Islamic way of life. 

Beyond all the fatigue and roller coaster of emotions - what stands out would be feeling BLESSED. Blessed to have the opportunity to serve. Blessed to be a doctor who will be Allah's instrument to heal His people. Blessed to spend Ramadan serving Allah, by applying what I have studied and spent most of my youthful years on. Blessed to be a frontliner in this situation - though sacrificial as some would say - but powerful enough to assist Allah in healing the world."

Dr. Fatimah Honeybee M. Camid-Ibrahim

A mother and doctor, Fatimah Honeybee M. Camid-Ibrahim reports at Buluan District Hospital, Maguindanao and at Sandig Medical Clinic and Hospital, Tacurong City. She shared:

"My conscience tells me that everyday frontliner needs help and I should not be selfish. COVID-19 is killing the world. It must be stopped. I have a group chat with fellow doctors where we all comfort each other. Everytime we finish a day, we feel grateful to go home. Masaya ka na makita your co-workers can smile at the end of the day and we look forward for tomorrow’s fight to an invisible enemy.

For me it’s the time we need to reflect that someone is above us. We become so modernized, we became so overwhelmed with what the world can offer and we set aside the practices we should be doing based in Islam. We maybe doctors who can diagnose or treat illnesses, but it is still Allah who can make the real cure for this. For me it is a wake-up call to look back and assess our faith to Him if we religiously practice our faith. We must go back and turn to Him."

Dr. Hannah A. Mamainte-Macarambon

A doctor in Cagayan de Oro City, Hannah A. Mamainte-Macarambon shared that she also worries for her health and her families’ health, nevertheless she continues to serve. 

"It is our sworn duty to protect and help people. The medical profession is a choice we made and we assumed these situations are rather normal than unusual.

From an Islamic perspective, being able to save a single person is equivalent to saving humanity. It is an act sacrifice that God rewards infinitely. With how people are reacting to the situation, it is important for us to step up and give them courage and hope that together, we could help defeat the virus."

Ms. Jasmeen Alih, RN

A registered nurse OFW in her 20s, Jasmeen Alih shares her story being a nurse in the United Kingdom this time of COVID-19 pandemic. She is also a YMPN member. She works as a nurse in one of the intensive care units in England where the most critical COVID-19 patients are treated with advanced medical interventions.

The UK has a total of 65,077 confirmed cases with 7,978 deaths at the time of writing. She said that witnessing that statistic climb up first hand as a frontliner can be very depressing.

She shared: "As a Muslim, whenever a calamity strikes, we say, 'Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un.' This is translated to, 'From Allah we came from, to Him we shall return.' This is the acknowledgment of our limited time here on earth. This is the course we all must take eventually and we must accept that our time in this world shall come to pass.

My colleague reminded me also that, “Our reward is from Allah, whether or not we are successful in saving their lives. In shaa Allah.” This was the meaning and purpose we devote ourselves into solely for Allah's sake. One verse from the Qur’an reminded us of how important our job as healthcare workers was:

'...وَمَنْأَحْيَاهَافَكَأَنَّمَاأَحْيَاالنَّاسَجَمِيعًا...'

'...And whoever saves a life -  it is as if he had saved mankind entirely.'"

Fight shall continue

We go forth with sincerity to do it for the Almighty. We can't give in now especially when Allah has promised that with hardship, comes ease. Our fight shall continue. We are hopeful and we are strong. 

Indeed, Muslims are taught to remain faithful even when they meet adversity or death while fulfilling their duties for they seek to please God. 

During this quarantine, may we all meaningfully make use of our time, knowledge, and efforts; may we remain strong physically, spiritually, and mentally. Let us include in our prayers the frontliners and those who are fighting to survive. Charity and good deeds can be possibly done while alone or together with loved ones in the comforts of our homes.

Truly, the doing of good and pleasing God, serving others whether a Muslim or non-Muslim or otherwise doing evil is a matter entirely of each human’s own choice. We are in need of moral uprightness of leaders and good judgment in these trying times.

We are truly in need of whatever good God sends and may He deliver us humanity from this distress and regain normalcy with gratitude and renewal. – Rappler.com

Tasneem C. AbdulRauf is the peace convenor of the Young Moro Professionals Network (YMPN), co-founder of Khadijah Center for Muslim Women Studies, and alumna of Chevening Scholarship 2015-2016. The story is co-researched with Ameroden D. Lao, Al-Hafiz. 

Nakakulong ka dahil sa pandemic. Tapos bigla mong mababalitaan mula sa isang kilalang website na wala ka na palang aasahang suweldo kahit regular kang empleyado. “Mandatory no work, no pay” na raw ngayon. Paano kakain ang pamilya mo? 

Nabasa mo rin sa internet na panlaban daw sa virus ang maasim. Sa dinami-dami ng calamansi juice na ininom mo, mahapdi na ang sikmura mo at ‘di malayong nagka-ulcer ka na. 

Dagdag pa diyan ang panginginig ng tuhod mo sa takot nang mapanood mo ang video ng mga katawang itinatambak sa mass graves sa Italy. Ibig sabihin, hindi malayong mangyari ‘yan sa Pilipinas! 

Pero ilang search lang sa internet at makakahinga ka nang maluwag dahil “disinformation” pala ang mga ito. Lahat ng 'yan ay HINDI TOTOO. May mga troll post pa ngang namemeke ng logo ng mga mapagkakatiwalaang website tulad ng unang ehemplo.

Ito ang konkretong halimbawa ng serbisyo publiko ng lehitimong pamamahayag. 

“Freedom of speech” at “press freedom” – ang kalayaan mong magpahayag ng opinyon at kalayaan ng mga mamamahayag na magbalita – ay garantisado ng ating Konstitusyon. Ang problema, sinabi mismo ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte na toilet paper ang Saligang Batas. May halaga ba 'yan sa panahon ng pandemic?

Higit kailanman, kailangan natin ang mga batayang kalayaan upang maigpawan ang krisis at hindi tayo masiraan ng ulo. At hindi ‘yan cliche. Sa harap ng disinformation na pinakulo ng maiitim na budhi at bayarang mersenaryo sa internet, ang mga kalayaang ‘yan ang magbubukas ng mata natin sa katotohan.

Bakit? Lagpas sa pagkilatis ng totoo at peke, higit kailanman, kailangang singilin ang mga nasa kapangyarihan.

Sa panahon kasi ng krisis nagkakalabasan ng baho. Nabubuking ang puro dada at walang gawa. Napaghahalata ang inutil at tumitingkad ang mahuhusay. Kaya't kritikal ang mga kritiko.

Ito rin ang dahilan kung bakit sa maraming sulok ng mundo, ginagamit na excuse ang krisis pangkalusugan upang busalan ang mga kritiko. 

Sa Hungary, binigyan ng “unli” na kapangyarihan si Premier Viktor Orban na magpatupad ng mga decree na 'di kailangang sang-ayunan ng mga Members of Parliament (MP).  Sa Jordan, binigyan ng isang “defense law” ng kapangyarihan ang Prime Minister na habulin ang mga umano’y “nagpapalaganap ng panic.” Ganoon din sa Thailand kung saan bawal ang media magbalita ng “pekeng balita” na “mananakot sa taumbayan.” Sa Chile, militar na ang nakatambay sa mga public squares na dating balwarte ng mga nagpoprotesta.

Ang problema, ang mga nasa kapangyarihan ang nagbibigay depenisyon sa taguring "maling balita." Kapag hindi natipuhan ang sinabi mo, babansagan ka lang na "fake news," puwede ka nang hulihin.

Ayon kay Fionnuala Ni Aolain, ang United Nations Special Rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights, maari tayong magkaroon ng “parallel epidemic” ng mapanupil na mga polisiya na sasabay sa pandemic.   

Kahit bago pa ang epidemic, hindi na maganda ang record ng Pilipinas sa press freedom. Isa tayo sa mga kulelat sa World Press Freedom Index– pang-134. 

Kaya't di na nakakagulat na ipinatawag ng National Bureau of Investigation ang higit sa sandosenang taong nag-post ng mga kuro-kuro na hindi ikinatuwa ng mga nasa-poder. Ayon kay Chel Diokno na abugado ng isa sa mga nag-post, nagpahayag lamang ang kanyang kliyente ng “concern” sa nagaganap sa bayan. Bakit balat-sibuyas ang gobyerno sa mga post na nag-uungkat ng paggamit ng pondo ng pamahalaan? (PANOORIN: Chel Diokno on the Rule of Law in a pandemic)

Sabi ng Department of Justice, nililimitahan ang free speech ng "greater interest of the public." At lahat naman daw ng hakbang nila ay alinsunod sa batas. Tanong kay Mr Menardo Guevarra, iiral ba ang “restraint” sa mga pulis, militar, at mga piskal kung mismong ang Pangulo ang nagsabing “shoot them dead?” 

Nakadidismaya rin na ang isang campus journalist ng University of the East ay napilitang humingi ng tawad matapos batikusin si Duterte sa social media. Mismong mga dating titser niya ang nagpasimuno ng pagsasampa ng reklamo sa kanya sa barangay. Hindi na namin tatalakayin ang pagtataksil sa propesyon ng mga gurong nam-bully na supporter pala ni Digong. Ang nakaaalarma ay umabot pa ito sa barangay at ginamit na panakot ang cyber libel sa pobreng estudyanteng naging kritikal sa gobyerno. 

May karapatan tayong lahat sa tumpak na balita. At lalong may karapatan tayong maglabas ng saloobin sa mga polisiyang nagbabago, at maaring sumira, ng buhay natin.

Sa panahong hindi abot-kamay ang hanap-buhay, laganap ang sakit na nakamamatay – buhay o kamatayan natin ang husay o kapalpakan ng gobyerno. Ang tanging panangga natin ay ang ating boses.

Sa totoo lang, bakuna ang malayang pamamahayag sa mga kasinungalingan at kapalpakan sa panahoon ng pandemic. Higit kailanman, dapat natin itong itaguyod at ipagtanggol. #DefendPressFreedom #CourageON– Rappler.com

In the past weeks, home has been a key idea in the government’s public policies and pronouncements. Speeches and articles online have been urging the public to stay home to save lives. But what is home? The word "home" tugs at the hearts of people, evokes feelings of safety and belongingness, and offers images of warmth and intimacy. At least, that’s what I presumed. 

This is one of the best times to rethink home.

The varying notions and imaginaries of "home" have been central to my current research. After becoming acquainted with the works of scholars on home and doing fieldwork in underprivileged areas, I realized that the pleasant feelings I once attached to my ideas and notions of home have been greatly influenced and shaped by my social class and relatively comfortable background. I took for granted the fact that the connection between the words "home" and "comfort" may not be easily discernible to the urban poor, survivors of domestic abuse, and of course, those who do not have a house to begin with. We do not experience "home" in the same ways. This is especially apparent in today’s global health crisis, and more so in the Philippine context. (READ: Duterte extends Luzon lockdown until April 30)

Crises, such as the one occasioned by the pandemic, highlights the realities and potentials of a situation. Is home a structure, a house? Or is it the sum of all our kinship ties and social relationships? Is it much more than that?

Home as/is a workplace

A deluge of articles and tips on how to efficiently work from home amid the pandemic has proliferated on the internet. But it’s important to ask: Even before this crisis, hasn’t home already been a workplace for women? For ages, women and mothers have been generally expected by society-at-large to fulfill home-making duties and care work. This has worked to the benefit of governments which fail in providing basic social services, and employers who give wages enough only for the barest minimum needs. 

Now that the crisis imposes on everyone the demand to stay home, women from middle class and poor families will most likely bear the brunt of this public health emergency. The Filipino middle class mother is likely to struggle with carrying out work tasks and attending Zoom meetings, all while tending to her children, worrying about lunch, or worse, getting laid off from work, and thinking about the next anxiety-inducing grocery trip. 

Meanwhile, the urban poor mother might be stuck in a downward spiral of restlessness. We can imagine her waiting for the delivery of long-delayed aid and food packs from local governments, and relying on community values of reciprocity and barter, and on civil society support to tide her over. This pandemic also allows for higher chances of domestic violence and abuse, as opined by Dr Nina Agrawal, writing for the New York Times. 

This crisis also lends the lenses to view how work-from-home (WFH) arrangements can also exploit. In ascribing to WFH conditions, employees work with a handicap while also paying a higher amount for their utility bills – overhead fees that should be shouldered by their employers in the first place. This is the curse of WFH schemes: employees bear more work, child care, and utility burdens all at the same time, and without social safety nets that should be provided by the government. (READ: What telecommuting requires)

The WFH scheme blurs the lines between work and home, between “public” and “private” spheres. This dualistic mode of thinking – that work and home are two opposite and opposed things, is a dangerous presumption. The non-recognition of home as a political site allows the non-recognition of unpaid reproductive work to continue, as well as the underreporting of domestic abuse cases. 

Scholars have since pointed out that boundaries between these two “spheres” are porous and that the two greatly rely on each other. We can see this in how our experiences at home shape our lives as political actors and citizens. Likewise, we see this in how our choice of consumer goods reflect cultural/class identities. It only takes a little bit of sociological imagination to understand that domestic issues such as violence against women, or consumer issues such as soaring electricity bills, are actually national, even global in scale, and therefore, political.

Home as a place of hope

There is a politics to home. This is most visible in the history and experience of the Philippine urban poor. 

The Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay), a national grassroots alliance of Filipino urban poor, spearheads mass campaigns that bridge the domestic and the public. They do this by calling for decent, livable, and affordable housing; for state support for basic social services; for state regulation of public utilities. All these highlights how home is both alive in a public and private sphere.

Just recently, the starved urban poor residents of Sitio San Roque went out of their homes and marched to EDSA because of news that a party-list group would distribute relief packs. As is well-known, the Quezon City local government has not been swift in providing food packs to its constituents. But instead of receiving food, they were met with violence. This incident went viral on social media and further angered the public, eventually resulting in viral posts and tweets calling for President Rodrigo Duterte’s ouster. (READ: Police storm Quezon City community kitchens, tear down protest posters)

In the thick of this crisis, we begin to see how domestic issues concerning food, hunger, access to water, abuse, and even homelessness, are indeed political and involve political actors including the highest position in the land.

Coming home

In the past weeks, fears and anxiety about our individual and collective futures have emerged: Do we have enough money to get through this lockdown? Will we lose our jobs? How can we put food on our table? Will we have enough to pay next month’s rent? 

These are valid questions which we may have asked ourselves the past days, but these queries have hounded the urban poor daily and will continue to do so in the coming weeks. Is it only now, when we are confronted with our shared precarity, that we understand that the calls of urban poor groups are right and just?  

Mass protests calling out the Philippine government amid a shoot-to-kill order from President Duterte have temporarily migrated from the streets to homes and the cyberworld. Across the country, families and groups of people constituting “home” are having important conversations about basic economic needs and the government’s lacking response. Indeed, the home may be a site of oppression, but it is also a site of struggle and resistance. 

The good news is, we now have time to rethink and re-make our homes (and world) into something that is genuinely worth “coming home” to. – Rappler.com

Noreen Sapalo is a college lecturer on culture and politics and a graduate student of anthropology at UP Diliman. She is also a PANTAO Human Rights Research Fellow for PhilRights and host for AlterMidya Network's ALAB Newscast. You can reach her at nhsapalo@up.edu.ph, or follow her adorable cats on Instagram: @yinyangkets.

When the 80-year-old man died in the early morning hours, was he alone? Or was he with his wife or perhaps a grandson to hold his hands? I suppose not. Hospitals are banning visits.

When the 51-year-old woman died late at night, how long had she been separated from family and friends? Imagine drawing your last breath with no loved one to feel its warmth. And in a haze of confusion and agony, did her family say reassuring words with the dread of goodbye, as they watched her disappear through the hospital doors?

This new coronavirus has upended our daily life. The trivial grocery trip is now momentous. The forgettable errand to the drugstore is now ceremonial. There is apparently a smart way to clean our evidently gross smartphones.

Almost 4 weeks into this quarantine, perhaps no issue has been turned on its end with such cruelty as dying in isolation. The virus has forced us to confront up close a difficult subject: what do we do when there’s nothing more to do?

We need to talk about death and dying. The virus is forcing us to do better at holding these conversations – and fast. 

In this extraordinary new normal, extraordinary infection control measures are for everybody’s protection. Limiting or outright barring hospital visits makes sense. Few would disagree.

But imagine the patient with no hand to hold, the loved one wishing to pull up a chair at bedside, the long-time friend desperate for clarity, and the health workers, many still young residents, with the profound responsibility of deciding who gets a ventilator. Is the psychological and emotional cost paying for the benefits of physical distancing? (READ: Grieving from a distance: Coping with loss due to coronavirus)

Philosophy and later medicine, as well as public health, have long debated what adds up to a good life. We talk less about what constitutes a good death.

The absence of clarity presents enormous challenges to health service delivery. Quality end-of-life care, including relief from unnecessary suffering as well as fostering of emotional and spiritual wellbeing, is critical to people-centered and integrated health services – pillars of universal health care.

How we face the end of our life is very much part of how we value living it. Life ends at death, not at dying. But our health care system and professional associations have struggled to hold genuine conversations about death and dying – or have kept silent about them.

This is unfortunate because these discussions can offer relief. Despite a popular misconception, talking about end-of-life issues with patients and their families does not lead to distress.

In a study among patients with cancer, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, end-of-life discussions were linked to lower rates of ventilation, resuscitation, or admission to the intensive care unit. In a separate study, published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, family members who’ve lost loved ones experienced less depression and less complicated grief when health care workers held end-of-life discussions. These conversations enable better quality of death. (READ: How to comfort a loved one who may have coronavirus)

We need these conversations about death so that we might live a dignified life. A decent health care system has the job of enabling us to pursue completeness and fullness. Our very neediness and weakness in a hospital bed might limit our capabilities to pursue our preferences. However, the burden is on the health care system to ensure that our vulnerability does not give rise to confusion or cruelty, with family members or clinicians effectively playing god.

Here in the Philippines, we take pride in family bonds. It is not uncommon for health care workers to involve our family in decision-making even when we are coherent and capable to independently make those choices. But quality of life with our family is no indication of the quality of death we wish to have for ourselves. 

Most of us would want to hold these conversations but much less of us have actually started. I also suspect that we would feel relief if others initiated the dialogue.

There is no exhaustive list of questions on end-of-life care. Some reliable sources are online. Some hospitals have their own, and this is a good sign. We are not talking here about cold advance directives or perfunctory do-not-resuscitate orders. We are not talking here about a notarized legal representative. These are bureaucratic requirements.

What we need is an uncomfortable and frank but genuine and supportive conversation about death and dying.

We can open the conversation with respect, kindness, and honesty. We can keep it simple: “I care about you, and I don’t know what’s ahead. If things get worse and you are hospitalized, I want to be sure I honor your wishes. Maybe this is a good time to talk about what you want and don’t want. If I have to make a decision for you, I want to be sure that it is a decision that you would want for yourself.”

What matters to you, what gives your life meaning, what would you like to bring with you if you are hospitalized, what concerns do you have about treatment, how involved do you want loved ones to be, who do you not want involved in the decision-making, what would you like loved ones to know, how long do you want medical care – these and many others can start the difficult but necessary dialogue.

If isolation is even a remote possibility, these talks should be held before going to the hospital. If safe and possible, the discussion can – and should – continue even when separated at the hospital doors. Use your phone. Write on a piece of paper.

Dying in isolation is terrifying, but dying alone seems something else entirely – and is probably worse. We can honor the life of our loved ones by openly and lovingly talking, together with them, about their dying. – Rappler.com

Dr Ronald Del Castillo is professor of psychology, public health, and social policy at the University of the Philippines Manila. The views here are his own.

I got my test results on March 26, after taking the test on March 16.

I took the test because I started exhibiting symptoms on March 15, when I woke up slightly feverish and with a lot of the reported symptoms of COVID-19 – body pain, sore throat, cough, diarrhea, and shortness of breath. I immediately assumed I had the virus and self-quarantined in a separate room away from my wife Tootsy and the kids.

Late in the day of March 16 after taking the test, we found out that our colleague Senate Majority Leader Miguel Zubiri tested positive for the virus. This further convinced me of the big chance that I had also contracted it, because Senator Zubiri and I were together in the Senate and in functions the week before.

After many days of feeling bad, it was no surprise to get the official test results that I was COVID-positive that 26th of March. Not surprising, but still quite a stunner when you are told you are postive for the virus.

Thoughts went racing through my head – of mortality, of having young children, and wishing to see them pass through life's milestones down the road. There was an activation of one's fight-or-flight response for sure.

On the day I tested positive, some doctor friends recommended I go the hospital to take X-ray tests of my chest and lungs.

Results were not good as pneumonia appeared, and my lungs had also appeared with a lot of white spots – indicating the virus's presence. That's when it sunk in that this could be a lot worse than I anticipated or felt. Thoughts of intubation and being on a ventilator flashed through my head.

Treacherous virus

For 36 hours after my results, my family pleaded with me to enter the hospital and check in, per the doctors' advice. I was initially reluctant but eventually relented after I was told that the virus is a treacherous one or 'traydor' (traitor) in the vernacular – one day you feel well and are breathing normally, the next day you are short of breath and in need of oxygen.

Thus began my hospital journey. We were told there were no rooms available in St Luke's BGC but that I could stay in the emergency room (ER), while waiting for a regular room.

So I was placed in a makeshift corner of the ER where I stayed for 4 days waiting for a regular room. The room hardly had natural light and had grey concrete walls, which partly dictated the mood for those 4 days of testing my heart, lungs, and what have you.

Doctors prescribed a battery of drugs, which in retrospect, I realized were quite strong, perhaps indicators that I had underestimated the depth and strength of the virus. The much bandied hydroxychloroquine (a known treatment for malaria and lupus) was prescribed with its attendant risks to heart health; as were lopinavir and ritonavir, which is a known medicine for HIV patients.

The drugs prescribed proved effective, as every day the doctors said I was showing improvement. I was also thankful that I embarked on a healthy diet starting January 1 this year and had lost 10 pounds, and that I was in reasonable health, playing basketball in various leagues. This, no doubt, helped me fight off the virus.

My spirits were buoyed by the show of support from friends and family through thousands of messages by phone or social media. There were also gifts of food and home-cooked meals (no disrespect to hospital food). (READ: The risks we cherry-pick in a time of crisis)

Most importantly, there were letters from my wife and kids and people saying I was in their prayers. When you are down, there is nothing like tens and hundreds of your friends and school co-parents praying for your recovery. I thank the Lord for I felt his intervention through friends' and strangers' acts of kindness.

From Netflix to meditation

Those many hours in the hospital, initially spent on social media platforms and Netflix, gave way to more silent and meditative moments where I would ask God what he wanted me to do, and me asking him to point me in the right direction. This episode has definitely strengthened and regenerated my faith and my conviction.

I am thankful to my love and rock – my wife Tootsy, who was there every day to cheer me up, along with our kids, with daily care packages of food and handwritten letters from our kids. Their love, I leant on every single day, never wavering and perpetual.

I spent another 4 to 5 days in a regular hospital room – which was a welcome change. One that had a window with natural light, a television, a warm shower, which were absent in the ER. Again, the treatments prescribed were all effective and I improved every day. My doctors told me it was just a matter of time before they sent me home. They just needed to have negative results from the latest COVID-19 swab tests.

A few days ago, I got that result and my doctors sent me home. Going home was pure joy, although again, I had to self-quarantine for 14 days to protect my family and the househelpers.

You appreciate the simple things you take for granted, as I sipped homemade hot chocolate and calamansi juice and ate warm pandesal while looking at the sunset. How we take some things for granted, it occurred to me. (READ: Diary of a Filipina who survived coronavirus in Berlin)

Courage of health workers

All the while in my hospital stay, I received the most professional assistance from my doctors and nurses, and I am eternally grateful to these brave courageous men and women.

In my daily conversations with them, I learned that theirs was not an easy life: one nurse told me that his colleagues were being discriminated against in their localities and were being kicked out of their boarding homes, and some no longer went home and stayed in the hospital or nearby housing. Some did double duty in other hospitals because they were short of qualified staff.

Those were just some of the stories which make up the human tapestry of our health professionals. I would go home and celebrate our youngest child's birthday with him, whereas they faced an uncertain future with the risk of coronavirus staring them in the face EVERY SINGLE DAY.

I thought of how brave and undervalued these people are in our society. I thought as a public servant about how we need to invest even more in our health system, as we see how different health systems all over the world cope with varying degrees of success with the virus.

A city like New York City, with the most number of billionaires in the world, had a hospital and health system stretched to the limit with people being turned away from hospitals, and crucial equipment like PPEs or protective equipment and respirators in short supply. The irony of it all. (READ: Dear Manila, lessons on the coronavirus from New York City)

The realization is that the choices made by leaders matter so much in times like these.

A few days after leaving the hospital, I am now back working from home and looking for solutions to the problems ahead.

I thought: we need to prepare our health system for the peak of the virus. We need to make sure that our citizens manage to eat and exist day to day under the lockdown in Luzon. We need to ensure the sustainability of businesses and jobs and industries amidst all the uncertainty.

This is our generations' war, and unlike past wars, we are not called upon to bear arms and confront death every day like our grandparents' generation. (READ: What the Philippine economy could be like after the coronavirus)

We are simply called upon to sacrifice our many freedoms and stay home with our families. It's not easy, but keeping things in perspective, it's not terribly difficult either. It is a test of our fortitude.

It is also a test for our leaders. And I have no doubt that if we work with each other, we will pull through. – Rappler.com

Senator Sonny Angara has been a senator of the Republic of the Philippines since 2013 and previously represented the province of Aurora from 2004 to 2013. In his 16 years as a legislator, he has sponsored or authored more than 200 laws, particularly on education and employment.

The following is Part 1 of a 2-part series. Read Part 2, a reflection by social anthropologist Mary Racelis, here. 

Our world has changed a lot since COVID-19. People have to stay inside their houses. That means anywhere from 8 to 15 family members occupying the same very hot and crowded one-room space 24/7 – sleeping, eating, bathing, and everything else. People want to go outside but cannot. So they hang around the back of their houses and just chat. In our place they can’t congregate outside their front entrance because that would put them right on the street. 

As a Kagawad as well as PO President, I walk around telling people the lockdown requires them to stay indoors. Although it’s for their own safety, it’s hard to enforce. They shout all kinds of insults and pretend to comply, but I know that the minute I turn the corner, they venture out. People are really desperate because their families are hungry yet they cannot go out to work to buy food. It’s very hard for us barangay officials to control that anger if they have nothing to eat. That’s why it’s important they receive food, water, medicine, masks, and other necessities fast. That will make it easier for us to convince them they must stay home. (READ: 'Walang-wala na': Poor Filipinos fear death from hunger more than coronavirus)

So far, there are no COVID-19 cases among our 1,500 families. We do have the usual illnesses like diarrhea and fevers. Now though, when someone has a fever, the neighbors won’t go near anymore. We took one person to the hospital but the doctor sent him back home with instructions for self-quarantine. I was shocked when we brought the person back to the community; some people protested and didn’t want to let him in, fearing contamination. I had to threaten them with arrest if they prevented him from entering his house. It turned out to be just a regular fever and he recovered. Two others persons also had high temperatures but these again turned out to be ordinary fevers. 

The barangay has used some of its funds to help out our people but these are limited. The city and the Mayor have provided food packs. But how long will sardines, canned goods, and 3 kilos of rice last for a family of 8? Probably not even a week. Then what? As of today (April 2), the national government has not yet sent any assistance to us. 

What really complicates the situation are the TV programs where national officials announce that certain goods or cash are coming. People are relieved and hopeful, believing the items are on their way. Then a week goes by. Then another. They hear and see nothing more. That’s when their lingering fears and frustrations boil over. I explain that it takes time to organize the whole system to be sure those who are entitled are the ones who receive the money. But insecure and hungry people don’t easily accept that. Some shout at me asking where the money is, accusing us as government officials of keeping much of it for ourselves. They even taunt us as “KUPIT-19” (Pilferers-19)! That hurts! I really worry about maintaining order if the growing anger turns violent. 

Part of the problem stems from the confusing procedures for listing qualified recipients for assistance.  Last February, for example, we submitted to the municipal social welfare office our updated list of over 1,500 vulnerable families in 1,292 households. When the DSWD announced the Social Amelioration Compensation cash grants of P5,000 to P8,000 for vulnerable groups and those who lost their jobs or livelihoods, we were proud that our community profile was ready. But DSWD brought only 1,200 SAC forms, leaving out the remaining 92 households plus the additional 308 families in structures with two or more families.

It turns out the list the DSWD used for the SAC form distribution was not the one based on our household survey of families. Instead they relied on another list we had compiled for the issuance of quarantine passes during the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ). There we were instructed to count only the number of entrance doors because only one quarantine pass would be issued per structure. The designated person would thus be the sole member allowed to leave the house. (READ: Duterte chaos leaves barangay officials 'helpless' amid lockdown)

To our surprise the quarantine roster has become the official list for the SAC. We had a hard time explaining the mix-up to the people. The households with more than one family were really angry, since they assumed the SAC criterion favored families rather than households. DSWD did accede to our request for 300 more SAC forms which we promptly completed and returned. We don't know though whether the national and city governments will recognize these additional entries because of DSWD’s insistence on the one-household criterion for SAC distribution regardless of the number of families or members in it.  Even the Mayor based his P1,000 cash assistance on the quarantine list of households rather than the family profile. (READ: [ANALYSIS] Challenges facing social amelioration for the coronavirus)

When we realized the gap, we decided to divide up the money he provided so that all families got P500 supplemented by a half sack of rice, which we asked the Tsu Chi Foundation to donate. You can’t keep relying on the government for everything but have to use your own imagination to look for additional resources. That’s what leadership is about: when you see a problem, you fix it!  

For me, it is terrible to look into the eyes of hungry children. Although poor families in a community like ours have always faced the problem of feeding their children, this time it’s different. Their parents cannot go out to earn and buy food. So they simply wait for government relief and other donations. I’ve reached out beyond government to all my outside contacts including NGO friends like COM, FDUP, and the church. They help and also put us in touch with other groups donating goods and cash. 

If I were to send a message to the President that would reflect what our people are thinking and saying, this is what it would be:

Mr President, just instruct your officials to tell the truth about the kinds of relief national government can actually give us. Don’t let people build up their hopes then leave them disappointed; that is what makes them angry. Don’t permit the government to make promises it doesn’t fulfill. Better still, make those promises come true – and fast! – Rappler.com

Jonjon S. Elago is Kagawad of Barangay 286, Del Pan Bridge. He is also President of the People’s Plan Ville Home Owner's Association. 

The following is a reflection by social anthropologist Mary Racelis on a first-person account by Barangay Kagawad Jonjon Elago on the state of is community during the coronavirus crisis.

This is Part 2 of a two-part series. You can read Part 1, Elago's account, here.

Kagawad Jonjon is a man between a rock and a hard place. Being both the President of the local People’s Organization and concurrently Barangay Councilor, the dual roles offer him leadership advantages. Yet, they also pose difficulties for addressing the needs of the 1,500 families under Manila’s Del Pan Bridge. COVID-19 has magnified the problem enormously. 

Jonjon Elago started his involvement in community organizing as part of the people’s resistance to off-city relocation and insistence on in-city social housing. With the help of partner NGOs like the Community Organizers Multiversity (COM), the Foundation for the Development of the Urban Poor (FDUP), and the young architects of TAO Pilipinas, the years of struggle dating back to 2011 saw victory at last. The vacant GSIS land which they spotted in Sta. Mesa, Manila, has been confirmed as their 2020 in-city People’s Plan Ville HOA site of 3,164 sqm. The organization is now managing the members’ savings fund and doing the paperwork for the Social Housing and Finance Corporation’s High Density Community Mortgage Program.

In the course of the demand-driven negotiations, the PO President gained the steadfast trust of the community. Recognizing his leadership qualities and appreciating his accountability to them, PO members supported his successful candidacy for Kagawad in the Barangay elections. 

Weaving in and out of his dual PO leader and Councilor roles was generally manageable – until COVID-19. The directives from the top instructing local government units to close down barangays and restrict the people’s movements came with virtually no advance warning. Given the number of families earning just enough from day to day to buy their food and basic needs, the barangay leadership had to address the massive problems generated. Barangay resources were quickly re-programmed to respond to appeals for help. Soon the City of Manila with its Mayor, the parish, NGO partners, and humanitarian groups began providing food packs and other donations. Although relieved, people knew that these resources were basically one-time donations. The community looked to the national government for an organized program that would sustain both short-term assistance during the lockdown and long-term recovery afterwards. (READ: Thousands of Metro Manila’s poorest left out as deadly coronavirus spreads)

Consequently, the news that the national government would be distributing cash grants of up to P8,000 via the DSWD was exciting, enabling them to hold on for at least a month or two without work until the the lockdown was lifted. Some measure of predictability was emerging. However, extensive delays in getting the money to the families, the disarray in the criteria for distribution, and the lists used dashed their hopes and heightened their anxieties. Many were angry at what they perceived to be government inefficiency and favoritism. Social media exploded with further complaints and innuendos of “KUPIT-19.” 

Chronic anxiety is a fact of life among urban poor families even in regular non-COVID-19 times. The daily grind means constantly trying to figure out strategies for dealing with an uncertain future (gawin ng paraan). Most people work at low-income jobs or find multiple ways of earning in the informal economy. When disasters strike, the women are tasked to borrow from relatives or 5-6 lenders and seek credit at the local sari-sari store. Both women and men tap intersecting networks in and outside the community. 

Establishing some kind of flexible plan allows a degree of confidence in mapping out a viable future for the family. COVID-19 has however greatly increased uncertainty without familiar markers on life’s meandering paths. Add to this emotions ranging from depression to anger if interim benefits from government are seen as being hijacked by the powerful. (READ: [OPINION] A reflection on Kap Mena, Estero de San Miguel, and the coronavirus)

When able-bodied workers are therefore ordered as they were in March to distance themselves in the midst of a dense population, to stay home in cramped quarters and to make sure children wash their hands despite water shortages, the absurdity of these requirements and the growing uncertainty sets off alarms. The coronavirus is clearly something to be feared, but for now, people’s anxiety stems more from the hurdle of feeding the family on a sustainable basis. Will the promised food packs and cash subsidies arrive in time to compensate for their enforced idleness? Will the subsidies and donations keep coming throughout extended lockdowns? If cellphone load cannot be replenished, might that mean missing a food distribution announcement? Are the family’s names on the latest list of qualified recipients? Will the distributions be enough for everyone or will political families and their supporters carve out their disproportionate share? (READ: DSWD: Families not on emergency subsidy list can appeal)

Kagawad Elago probably fears open violence more than most. As a barangay official, he would have to confront it forcefully in line with government directives. As the PO President is trusted by the members, would he be able to enforce draconian methods to quell disorder? Fortunately, he can rely on the other officers, nearly all of them women, to help calm the community. Together they can reassure people that the promised benefits are on their way while tapping donor networks to fill in the interim gaps and pressuring government to move. Yet festering suspicions about corruption and perceived inefficiency, together with resentment over unfair distribution, can heighten community tempers. “If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences” (Sociologist W.I. Thomas).

What lessons can government officials, in particular, learn from Kagawad Elago and the Del Pan experience? 

• Encourage Barangay Councils to connect with local community associations like People’s Organizations in partnership modes that bring out citizen views and strengths; welcome their involvement in community planning and program implementation.

• Prepare well ahead of time in consultation with local communities, establish with them ongoing emergency response plans for the short-, medium-, and long-term, and act quickly in getting the benefits to the deserving beneficiaries. 

• Recognize that because “no one size fits all,” local authorities need the flexibility to adjust general guidelines to specific local characteristics. 

• Give out information that is realistic and constantly updated; establish mechanisms for people to obtain and understand the latest accurate information.

• When making promises, indicate clearly the length of time needed for recipients to experience the results.

At a more profound level, the lessons of COVID-19 highlight the urgency of working toward a transformed society serious about eliminating poverty, enabling access of all to basic resources, dismantling huge income disparities, and encouraging citizen participation for a truly just society that respects human rights. Traumatic events usually find people willing to try creative new approaches. After all, while the powerful may strive to distance themselves from the urban poor, the virus is much more democratic in its coverage. – Rappler.com

Mary Racelis is a social anthropologist who teaches at the Ateneo de Manila University and the University of the Philippines. She is Board member of Urban Poor Associates.

It may still be clear in Luzon residents’ memory that rotational brownouts (technically called “manual load dropping” or MLD) were noticeably rampant in the second and third weeks of April last year. Power interruptions have always been expected during summertime due to increased demand for air conditioning, water pumping, and refrigeration, among others. However, last year’s situation was aggravated by an earthquake that crippled the operations of some power plants in the north. Visayas, which usually has lower energy demand than Luzon also experienced power interruptions due to another earthquake that followed the day after. 

Regardless of where in the Philippines you are, dry months that stretch out from March to May make everyone more highly dependent on electricity. Ironically, these are also the months when power outages are more frequent as a consequence of increased energy consumption, unexpected power plant shutdowns, reduced hydropower generation, and tripping of electrical wires and equipment, exacerbated by erratic environmental conditions and unforeseeable natural events. Greater dependence on electricity makes everyone more vulnerable to any interruption in power supply.

Right now we are in the middle of another unexpected phenomenon: the COVID-19 pandemic. In a blink of an eye, the way society works has changed. Businesses that had been delaying work-from-home schemes instantly shifted in that direction. Schools have explored alternative learning interventions through the internet. The use of video conferencing platforms such as Zoom and Skype has definitely become more widespread both for work and personal catch-ups. People’s dependence on social media and e-commerce has also become even more pronounced. (READ: Catholics in quarantine mark first online Holy Week)

Perhaps, as an effect of the extended community quarantine, refrigerators in many homes have been on full load to limit visits to the grocery and keep enough food for the family. Houses with air conditioning and electric fans have certainly been using these appliances for almost 24 hours daily. Water pumps have certainly been running at double the time now because of more frequent cooking, dish-washing, gardening, showers, and visits to the toilet. Add to these the increased use of other household appliances such as televisions and gaming consoles to keep ourselves entertained.

For the first time since the birth of many in this generation, families are under one roof 24/7, all depending on the seemingly but not necessarily infinite resource that is electricity.

While many workers have retreated to their homes, work in the health care segment has significantly piled up. With this sudden increase in demand for health care services, uninterrupted power supply to hospitals has never been more critical. Considering that COVID-19 attacks the human’s respiratory system and is possibly airborne, proper ventilation and air conditioning round-the-clock is highly necessary. Hospitals highly rely on a continuous supply of electricity to keep ventilators, dialysis machines, laboratory equipment, incubators, nebulizers, and storage of medications, vaccines, and blood supplies, among others, running. The current situation could also flood intensive care units (ICUs) in a matter of days; in fact, Philippine hospitals have been struggling to keep up with the influx of patients needing special care. A single power fluctuation event could mean another COVID-19 patient’s life lost.

Seeing how energy demand has obviously shifted from commercial buildings, malls, and schools to residential areas, and how electricity has become the invisible lifeblood of hospital operations, power interruptions for whatever reason will definitely translate to huge social costs, including human lives. With as many as 19 electric companies simultaneously affected by the MLD event on April 12 last year across 5 of the 8 regions of Luzon, prolonged outages of a similar scale would be paralyzing if not catastrophic.

Although hospitals are usually equipped with backup power supplies and are often spared from power interruptions due to MLD, we can only speculate what the worst-case scenario could be. Standby generator set capacities designed for power interruptions at a typical hospital occupancy rate may not anymore be enough under these circumstances. Additionally, rough transitions between power sources may trigger malfunctions in hospital equipment.

Venezuela can give us a hint of what it could look like: in October last year, 26 patients died by the end of a five-day nationwide power outage, which included those with kidney failure who couldn’t get their dialysis treatments, and gunshot victims who could not be operated on while in darkness. It happened as some backup generators failed to work, disabling critical healthcare equipment like dialysis machines and mechanical ventilators. This does not even include the sick who could have died in their homes without getting medical attention.

Going back to our homes, power interruptions in these uncertain times while on community quarantine may cause a lot of discomfort, emotional and social strain, and additional burden to the health care sector. Prolonged power interruptions may cause food spoilage and water supply problems. For households without access to backup generators or solar power systems (which are most of us), this could also mean drained electronic devices, consequently disabling means of communication. Those doing work remotely will be put to a complete halt. Vulnerable household members like babies, the elderly, and the infirm will be exposed to greater risk. With people under one roof completely stalled, conflicts due to irritability and discomfort may naturally arise. Just take this study, for example. Frequent intermittent and short-duration power interruptions may also damage household appliances (e.g. LCD TVs, LED lamps) and entail significant restart costs. (READ: [OPINION] Use solar energy for responding to disasters)

As we move towards the peak of the dry season, I hope that the energy department and electric companies are on top of the situation, anticipating whatever scenario that may derail our collective response against the spread of the new coronavirus. Hospital administrators may want to check with their facilities team if there is enough capacity and redundancy in place in the event a prolonged power outage occurs and procure for any necessary expansions. Generous and capable companies and individuals may consider donating and/or lending standby power generators and uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) to hospitals in order to mitigate untoward impacts an unexpected power interruption might cause in the middle of this fight. In addition, the government may grant subsidies and/or tax exemptions for this equipment used for health care facilities.

In this highly interconnected world we live in today, life without electricity would be unimaginable. Our dependence and unconscious enjoyment of its benefits are also making us greatly vulnerable when it is disrupted. Especially during our fight against COVID-19 at the height of this sweltering time of the year, continuous electricity supply must be assured. – Rappler.com

Lorenz Ray Payonga is a Master of Sustainability Science candidate at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, and studies the impact of power interruptions on quality of life.

Key Philippine government officials and business leaders decided on the side of prudence in declining to risk the premature lifting of the COVID-19 lockdown. They thus rejected the false choice pushed by some of their counterparts in the United States: save the lives of the people or the life of the economy. 

Fortunately, President Duterte deferred to their judgment. 

It is a false choice, first, because while people die, economies don’t. Even cavemen maintained some kind of household economy, but there is no economy without people. 

Second, no rational choice is possible without data and we have not adequately pursued the intensive test-and-trace strategy needed to determine where we are on the contagion curve. We hope for the best but, as Dr. Anthony Fauci keeps preaching, “the virus sets the timeline.”

Making the hard decision, government should find comfort in a survey conducted by the Initiative on Global Markets, a research center of the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. IGM’s expert panel consists of over 60 leading economists in American universities. The striking consensus among the experts belies the joke about the need to find a one-armed economist to get a recommendation beyond the caution that: “on the one hand . . ., but on the other hand.” 

Ninety-seven percent (97%) accepted the need to tolerate “a very large contraction in economic activity until the spread of infections has dropped significantly.” Eighty-nine percent (89%) agreed that sustaining severe lockdown restrictions to control the pandemic would cause less total economic damage than a resurgence that followed their premature lifting. That the government should invest more heavily in expanding treatment capacity and providing incentives for a successful vaccine gained unanimous approval (78% “strongly agree” and 22% “agree”).

Lessons from history

Historical evidence marshaled by economists from the Federal Reserve Board and MIT reinforced IGM expert opinion. During the 1918 flu pandemic, the lack of mandatory federal guidelines allowed American cities to act on their own. New York and St. Louis intervened forcefully to order social distancing. New Haven and Buffalo permitted public gatherings weeks after the evidence of a public health crisis.

Researchers expected the cities that maintained normal economic activities to rebound and recover more quickly from the pandemic. In fact, the cities that took aggressive action against the contagion, even at the cost of depressing the economy, not only saved lives but also more quickly restored growth in employment and banking assets. 

The lesson: protecting lives protects the economy. That said, the issue of saving the economy remains. 

Treating economic fallout 

Treating a patient with traumatic head injuries, doctors might decide to induce a coma to spare the brain from further damage. A comparable treatment might be necessary to deal with the economic consequences of COVID-19. 

Suppressing the pandemic must remain the priority, even if it means locking down the economy, excepting only such critical supplies as food and drugs. We don’t want people flocking to restaurants or packing cruise ships, airplanes and tourist hotels, or immediately congregating in factories, lest they trigger another surge of COVID-19.

Comatose patients still need care and nurturing. The government must focus, as it is trying to do, on the most-heavily burdened people, the working, underemployed and jobless poor. But accountable agencies admit that even available funds are not flowing fast enough to beneficiaries. Assurances that delivery should be made within two weeks provide little comfort, even if Mr. Panelo contends that going hungry for a month will not kill people.

The lack of a comprehensive list of beneficiaries and a system for distribution and delivery of material and financial assistance on a massive scale presents the critical problem. 

Part of the solution may require radical measures, such as the use of private delivery mechanisms at government cost. A soft loan against the Heal as One Act budget, perhaps payable from future tax obligations, so that companies can keep their personnel on the payroll, even if they are not reporting for work. 

Meet 3 objectives

UK, Denmark, Canada, France and the UK are already moving along these policy guidelines. This plan would enable employers in the formal sector to cover perhaps minimum wage levels of personnel during the lockdown. 

It would avoid delays, sparing companies, their staff and the government itself from the paperwork and potential litigation that accompanies the termination of employment and their rehiring after the pandemic. Albay Representative Joey Salceda might consider this approach to help SMSEs and to meet the plea for assistance to the middle class.

Assistance and its documentation for those in the gig economy present a more difficult problem.  Some documentation of their engagement (from tricycle or jeepney associations, barangay records, payments from passengers or retailers whom they service might suffice to grant them a  minimum wage payment for the same duration. 

The jobless, including the street people, may need the funneling of government assistance through  churches or people’s organizations.

The priority goal must be to meet 3 objectives:

• ensure that people who are unable to earn because of the lockdown can continue without further delays to provide for the survival needs of their families; 
• maintain the quarantine against COVID-19 without provoking social unrest; and,
• keep the workforce in place for the eventual economic reboot after the pandemic

– Rappler.com

Edilberto C. de Jesus is professor emeritus at the Asian Institute of Management.

For many of us, the reality of COVID-19 went from being a distant tremble on the horizon to a full-on earthquake, in very little time.

As a global human rights network, our first thought here at IFEX was to reach out to member organizations – over 100, in over 60 different countries. We asked: How are you? How is this affecting you? What are your priorities now, in the face of all this?

Their advice: Don’t take your eyes off the ball.

They know what they’re talking about. Time and again, they have seen supposedly time-limited emergency measures that bypass human rights become entrenched as the very laws they need to fight, years after an emergency has passed.

This makes them understandably wary and watchful that hard-won gains for press freedom, access to information, and freedom of expression will be suspended and even lost, with little or no oversight, due to the crisis.

Their warning is even more compelling in conjunction with the other single most resonant message we heard from them: It isn’t just that we need to defend these rights despite the health crisis; these rights are essential to people’s efforts to tackle it, and survive it.

So they are even more concerned to see the spread of COVID-19 accompanied by a surge in misinformation, disinformation, and, in some countries, government censorship, at a time when access to factual and timely information has never been so important. (READ: China expels U.S. journalists in biggest crackdown in years)

Despite efforts to provide timely fact-checking and some form of responsible content moderation, it is much easier to spread misinformation than to counter it. The lie goes viral; the correction generally does not.

The problem is exacerbated by some world leaders who are exploiting this crisis and the elevated platform it gives them to ramp up their rhetoric vilifying the media – sowing confusion and distrust among people already reeling from the pandemic and hungry for answers.

And this at a time when the physical safety of journalists reporting on the pandemic is further being endangered by exposure to the virus without the necessary precautions.

In addition, members tell us that hard-won privacy rights are being tossed aside, as pre-existing constraints on the use of surveillance technology are relaxed to track the spread of the disease and enforce quarantine laws. There is an uptick in legislation being used to silence activists and government critics on social media. And in ways that touch us all, the pandemic is endangering the health of civil society at a time when a social safety net is more vital than ever. (READ: [OPINION | NEWSPOINT] The news media and the virus)

We know that extraordinary measures are a necessary companion to these extraordinary times. Protecting people’s health and safety are paramount. But that doesn’t take away our responsibility to ensure that, down the road, such exceptional measures do not become the new rule of law.

That is why the work of defending human rights must never flag as this crisis develops. While our programming is naturally affected by necessary constraints on travel and physical meetings, human rights work is never done in isolation. It is rooted in personal connections based on mutual understanding, respect, and trust. We will continue to find ways to nurture the connections and solidarity this work requires.

Finding engaging ways to collaborate on projects and campaigns, to participate in critical national, regional and international advocacy efforts, or to exchange knowledge and skills – it’s always been a challenge, but already we are all discovering new approaches to keep our relationships strong, and active.

It takes much longer to build something than to knock it down; this is true of our human rights, as well.

We will keep our eyes on the ball. Freedom of expression and access to information are so important. We will remain vigilant in the defense of civil society and its essential work promoting and defending these rights. After all – our actions now do not just shape the world we are in, they shape the world we will all be living in once this crisis passes. – Rappler.com

Annie Game is the Executive Director of IFEX, the global network of organizations promoting and defending freedom of expression.