Covering CoViD-19 Archives | Page 6 of 7

Covering the CoViD-19 Pandemic

Amid the pandemic: News that remembers the forgotten

FOR ALMOST a month now, Filipinos in Luzon have been living the new norm of lockdown, restricted mobility, limited access to goods and services, and all social interaction pursued only on remote and digital platforms. Still cases of contamination have not let up along with the number of deaths....

PH Strategy on COVID-19

IN ANY crisis, governments anywhere bear the fundamental responsibility to provide for public needs, and to calm an anxious public with clear and factual information. In the midst of a pandemic, the Duterte administration has appeared quite at a loss about what to do. Early signs indicated their lack...

Questioning Duterte’s need for emergency powers

THE DISMAL performance of the national government in handling the COVID-19 pandemic has enraged ordinary citizens, who have been forced into a lockdown without concrete guarantees for their daily survival. The Palace’s request for Congress to grant President Duterte emergency powers made news on March 21. This caused concern...

The pandemic’s economic fallout

PRESIDENT RODRIGO Duterte on March 16 placed Luzon under “enhanced community quarantine,” which restricts the movement of roughly 60 million Filipinos. The quarantine mandated the temporary closure of non-essential shops as well as the suspension of public transport. For many, this meant the loss of jobs and livelihood. The...

A closer look at the weak link in the fight against COVID-19

THE CRISIS over the novel coronavirus has highlighted the weakness of the national health system in the country, an issue that urges concerned Filipinos to understand it within a framework of common reference. Recall that when discussions began last year, the proposed budget for the Department of Health (DOH)...

A call for leadership

A QUICK scan of mainstream news earlier highlighted the quick actions and commitments made by the private sector: extending deadlines on scheduled payments; re-allocating budgets so they can help provide for the public’s most urgent needs. Accounts have also tracked government responses, which are demonstrably done in in bits...

“Fake news” provision threatens freedom of the press, expression

JOINT STATEMENT We, media organizations, advocates of freedom of the press and of expression, journalists and academics, raise the alarm over the insertion of measures to control free expression in the “Bayanihan to Heal As One” Act. We refer to Section 6(6), which penalizes “individuals or groups creating, perpetrating,...

Call for media solidarity on COVID

IN CRISIS, the impulse to call out failings is tempered by the already high level of tension and anxiety. Why add to the difficulties? Social media influencers in support of government have asked Filipinos to let the leaders lead, “just cooperate and follow.” But media’s function remains critical and...

Statement on government requiring journalists to get PCOO accreditation to be exempted from community quarantine

WE, MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS, journalists, press freedom advocates and academics, raise our collective voice and declare our opposition to government requiring journalists to secure accreditation from the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) to be exempted from the enhanced community quarantine. While we recognize the gravity of the situation, we assert that...

Tall order? Questions about South Korea travel ban

WITH 64 countries other than China reporting confirmed cases, governments have stepped up efforts to combat the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). South Korea is second only to China in the number of cases, with 5,328 infected individuals as of March 4. The Philippine government responded to the situation by restricting...