The news that looks ahead

THE PUBLIC has had little guidance about what to expect after the extended lockdown period for Luzon, which was previously set to end on April 30 but is now scheduled to end on May 15.

As in previous weeks, media reports have been focused on the count of COVID-19 cases mostly concentrating on Metro Manila. These also provide updates on measures implemented by both the national and local government units (LGUs) to control the spread of the virus. Media attention was also given to the distribution of monetary assistance. 

Fixed on the government’s agenda, news accounts have had little to say about life after the lockdown.  True, the urgent task is to stem the spread of the disease and save lives, but people under lockdown need to know what lies ahead, and hopefully be able to deal with the demands of the new normal. Preparedness eases the anxiety that grows each day as there seems little in the situation to assure the public that things will be better soon. This is probably the kind of crisis when the news can get ahead of the story, taking a more proactive role in agenda setting.

The literature on COVID-19 from expert groups here and abroad have all warned that it will take some time for conditions to go back to how things used to be. Perhaps, some of the changes imposed by the lockdown will remain for an extended period, so as to prevent a resurgence of the disease. By all means there should be some effort at scenario setting at this point.

But the media have not taken this forward look. This late in the crisis, the government is still grappling with the task of caring for patients and preventing the spread of the contagion. The media have simply followed suit, exerting little pressure on government sources to explore proposals from private groups, as well as to assign perhaps a small group in government to plan for managing the adjustments of the ECQ and further on, to mitigate the impact of COVID-19’s economic fallout.

CMFR monitored reports from the three main Manila broadsheets (Manila Bulletin, Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Philippine Star); primetime newscasts (ABS-CBN 2’s TV Patrol, CNN Philippines’ News Night, GMA-7’s 24 Oras and TV5’s One News Now); as well as selected news sites from April 13 to 21, 2020.

Uncertainty in the current plan

As the ECQ deadline approached, all government could say was that they were still studying the situation. On April 20, President Rodrigo Duterte consulted with experts to help him decide on the options to be considered about the Luzon-wide lockdown. Four days later, Duterte announced that the ECQ will go on for fifteen more days, with its end set for May 15.

In the period of the monitor, media reports did pick up some of these options, some of which had been brought up as early as the first week of April.

Joey Concepcion, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship, earlier pitched the idea of “selective quarantine” at the barangay level to the Interagency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) in a letter dated March 31. The media also reported the analysis of the UP COVID-19 Pandemic Response Team which suggested a “graduated activation” of the quarantine depending on the risk levels of certain areas. While it recognized that the lockdown had helped slow down the spread of COVID-19, the study also pointed out how a prolonged ECQ may not be sustainable.

News accounts also noted the suggestion of some lawmakers for a partial lifting of the ECQ — a proposition that was earlier put forward by the faculty of the University of the Philippines School of Economics.

But most media only mentioned these in passing, without adequate discussion of what the proposed variations — partial or phased lifting of the ECQ — would mean for the general public. The considerations are quite overwhelming, as many people do not live in the same district where they work.

Now the question focuses on post-May 15, which ends the extended lockdown – about which government officials are still in discussion.

Understandably, government awaits some definite signs to confirm decreasing contamination. Unfortunately, government data about cases may not reflect the larger picture of COVID-19’s spread nationally, based on statements made by different officials. So far, the media has enough work to sort out when officials contradict each other. Even with the IATF as a coordinating policy body, the administration has not yet come to the point of discussing core issues amongst themselves.

But these concerns do not even break beyond the short-term. It is not too early to look ahead to the time when the threat will have been tamed enough to allow some semblance of normalcy. There are enough experts saying that given the social and economic devastation that the pandemic will leave in its wake, everyone will be forced to consider unprecedented issues in the new world rising. If government is not ready, then the media should start the job without them; seeking other sources who can help the nation face this uncertain future.