As we combat the contagion, the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Agency tasked with protecting the health of the countries under its wings, has come under fire. US President Trump, in his desire to evade blame for the runaway loss of lives in the US, has zeroed in on the WHO and took the unprecedented step of cutting off funding while ordering an investigation into its perceived unpreparedness to mobilize action against the coronavirus. (READ: EXPLAINER: What Donald Trump's funding cuts to WHO mean for the world)
It has come at the least opportune of times. Thus, medical associations and other leaders have called the action “criminal.” However, what has now become apparent is that we hold the future in our hands. Calls for cooperation among communities and between ordinary citizens have increased. We have come to the realization that we can only overcome this unprecedented upheaval upending our lives if we act together and heal as one.
Sober voices speak to a wounded world
The need for sober voices and clear minds has never been more important than in this darkest of hours which cries out for decisive leadership on different fronts. In this in-between period when there is a temptation “to go back to business as usual” because of our collective impatience in the face of economies in shambles that we need to take a strong stand, based on science and driven by data.
To put a stop not only to the further spread of an invisible virus but its resurgence, leaders and citizens alike have to hold the line, and demonstrate both strength and wisdom. Otherwise, ignorance and indecision that we now witness even in high places will begin to break our spirit.
It is for this reason that we need wise counsel from unimpeachable sources who will strengthen our resolve and ensure that we harness all our resources and galvanize our common efforts till the end, since we must. (READ: We need leadership, sanity during crisis)
As millions watched on their screens on the holiest of all Christian feasts and as a wounded world suffered from a devastating lockdown of nearly two-thirds of its population, Pope Francis in his Easter message “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) made a stirring appeal for global solidarity not only to continue to combat the contagion that has caused the loss of countless lives but to begin to envision a world beyond the pandemic that needs to be different if we are to survive.
Decisive action on different fronts
The first Jesuit Pope, called for an all-out effort on the following issues:
an immediate ceasefire on all conflict fronts,
debt relief if not debt forgiveness for the least developed countries,
arms reduction and the production of more bread rather than guns.
decisive action on humanitarian crises on different fronts from Syria, Iraq and Lebanon in the Middle East. He mentioned the tragic flow of refugees streaming through the borders of Greece and Turkey, not to mention the island of Lesbos in Italy, the long-simmering conflict in eastern Ukraine, the Israeli-Palestinian divide, and the stalemate In Venezuela.
In brief, he mapped out a critical path that could enable a chastened world to emerge from an untenable situation to one that is re-directed to a fairer and more stable direction.
It has been made clear by medical experts and epidemiologists that the only way to push back decisively against the coronavirus pandemic was through a global effort that required considerable cooperation between different leaders in the world combined with the resources of private corporation, the knowledge brought to the table by medical research teams developing cures and vaccines, frontline practitioners, and the indomitable spirit of ordinary citizens on a scale never before seen in our times.
The weakest link
Yet, the apparent lack of global leadership seemed to be the weakest link in putting up our defenses against the contagion that had brought down nations to their knees.
Demonstrable and decisive leadership respected across the political spectrum has clearly been absent in this era of “country-first” presidents and prime ministers. What is patently needed today is a global outlook, and not a “me-first mentality.” (READ: [OPINION] The ASEAN and the coronavirus)
Thus, in Pope Francis’ “Urbi et Orbi” message (to the city and the world), he reiterated that we must combat the deadly coronavirus contagion with a different strain that is transmitted instead from heart to heart which he called “the contagion of hope” that would turn back fear and allow us never to be afraid again. At this point in history, we are reminded of “a fundamental right that can never be taken from us: the right to hope.”
To reset our mindsets
When we finally emerge from this pandemic nightmare, it might be good to remember that perhaps this is an opportune time, a Kairos moment, for the world to push the reset button and begin the process of changing our mind-sets in the areas that truly matter: our personal lives, our relationships, our ways of participating in governance, a more inclusive economy, a more healthful ecology, a more egalitarian society that could lead to a more peaceful future.
In that sense, we are on the threshold of another era – if and when we are able to question our previous priorities, and use this difficult period to think through the way we have organized the world without.
Our task is to re-imagine our world beyond the pandemic and make possible the rebirth, reform, and renewal of a world that our children deserve. – Rappler.com
Ed Garcia is a founder of one of the country’s early non-violent movements, Lakasdiwa, during the First Quarter Storm in the 1970s. Inspired by the philosophy of Gandhi’s non-violence and Martin Luther King’s campaign for civil rights, he was jailed for engaging in civil disobedience. He later studied in Latin America and worked with Amnesty International in the UK. Upon his return to the country, he joined Ka Pepe Diokno, JBL Reyes, Randy and Karina David in the formation of KAAKBAY. Participating in the efforts of citizens to mobilize against the dictatorship, he was later tasked to be a framer of the 1987 Constitution. He taught political science at the UP, Latin American studies at the Ateneo, and is consultant on the formation of scholar-athletes at FEU.