The Philippine economy can lose a lot to COVID-19. According to PIDS (Philippine Institute for Development Studies) it could be anywhere between P276.3 billion and P2.5 trillion — in people, profit, resources, and lost opportunity — depending on the velocity of the pandemic. To survive and to thrive, we will need the right kind of leader and the right kind of citizen.
Substantially affected will be the transport, storage, and communication sectors due to the dip in tourism. Just about every sector will also incur huge losses: manufacturing; trade, services, financial intermediation, agriculture, forestry, fishing, real estate, rental, business activities, electricity, gas and water, mining and quarrying, and construction.
To extend the quarantine could cost the economy even more, but as PIDS puts it undramatically, social distancing and isolation “are necessary to suppress the outbreak.”
The Big Idea of government response to the pandemic is to contain the spread of the virus. The focus is on controlling the outbreak through local communities, and treating hospitals as the last line of defense, according to the PIDS paper.
This is the gist of EO 112 (Enhanced Community Quarantine in high risk areas, and General Community Quarantine for the rest of the country) from May 1 to 15, 2020.
It tasks Local Government Units (provincial governors, mayors) to impose, lift, or extend ECQ upon the concurrence of relevant regional counterpart bodies of the IATF. Although they cannot unilaterally declare their own versions of community quarantine, they are to carry out what the regional IATF has signed off on. Local leaders will need to act wisely, quickly, and economically.
For that reason, different local communities are benefitting differently from others, depending on how competent, skilled, and organized the local government units are.
As I write, I hear the loud noises of the motorcycles from local LGUs, come to distribute daily food packs (in the Ermita area), and the frenzied heckling of those lining up to receive their share. The people are policing each other, urging the unruly to fall in line. Self-discipline is not yet a cultural habit, at least not where one’s stomach is involved, but people are learning.
Social media is also revealing a new crop of local government unit leaders; younger, more engaged, more energetic, and refreshingly free from traditional politicking.
So what characterizes an effective leader?
Peggy Noonan, former US presidential speechwriter and opinion writer, suggests “seriousness about the purpose of politics” — the will to guide the nation safely through the world, while creating the conditions by which the people could flourish.
Seriousness of Purpose. Competent decision-making. People’s well-being. These are the three benchmarks of political leadership.
The Philippine President has set the pace. He has shown a profound sense that the office must deliver the goods for people’s wellbeing. There is a window of opportunity for local leaders to prove their worth. The crisis, and the support from government, is an opportune moment to demonstrate purpose, competence, and concern.
But as above so below. What is required of leaders is not watered down for the citizen on the street. As EO 112 puts it, “these challenging times call for full and sincere cooperation…the true spirit of nationalism and bayanihan” — community spirit. People, especially in high risk areas, simply need to evolve in their capacity to cooperate “for the greater good”. If this crisis teaches the people nationhood and citizenship, it will be worth the pain.
We may lose a lot economically now, but if serious political leaders and patriotic citizens emerge, then we would have gained our nation’s soul, and profited many times over.
Substantially affected will be the transport, storage, and communication sectors due to the dip in tourism. Just about every sector will also incur huge losses: manufacturing; trade, services, financial intermediation, agriculture, forestry, fishing, real estate, rental, business activities, electricity, gas and water, mining and quarrying, and construction.
To extend the quarantine could cost the economy even more, but as PIDS puts it undramatically, social distancing and isolation “are necessary to suppress the outbreak.”
The Big Idea of government response to the pandemic is to contain the spread of the virus. The focus is on controlling the outbreak through local communities, and treating hospitals as the last line of defense, according to the PIDS paper.
This is the gist of EO 112 (Enhanced Community Quarantine in high risk areas, and General Community Quarantine for the rest of the country) from May 1 to 15, 2020.
It tasks Local Government Units (provincial governors, mayors) to impose, lift, or extend ECQ upon the concurrence of relevant regional counterpart bodies of the IATF. Although they cannot unilaterally declare their own versions of community quarantine, they are to carry out what the regional IATF has signed off on. Local leaders will need to act wisely, quickly, and economically.
For that reason, different local communities are benefitting differently from others, depending on how competent, skilled, and organized the local government units are.
As I write, I hear the loud noises of the motorcycles from local LGUs, come to distribute daily food packs (in the Ermita area), and the frenzied heckling of those lining up to receive their share. The people are policing each other, urging the unruly to fall in line. Self-discipline is not yet a cultural habit, at least not where one’s stomach is involved, but people are learning.
Social media is also revealing a new crop of local government unit leaders; younger, more engaged, more energetic, and refreshingly free from traditional politicking.
So what characterizes an effective leader?
Peggy Noonan, former US presidential speechwriter and opinion writer, suggests “seriousness about the purpose of politics” — the will to guide the nation safely through the world, while creating the conditions by which the people could flourish.
Seriousness of Purpose. Competent decision-making. People’s well-being. These are the three benchmarks of political leadership.
The Philippine President has set the pace. He has shown a profound sense that the office must deliver the goods for people’s wellbeing. There is a window of opportunity for local leaders to prove their worth. The crisis, and the support from government, is an opportune moment to demonstrate purpose, competence, and concern.
But as above so below. What is required of leaders is not watered down for the citizen on the street. As EO 112 puts it, “these challenging times call for full and sincere cooperation…the true spirit of nationalism and bayanihan” — community spirit. People, especially in high risk areas, simply need to evolve in their capacity to cooperate “for the greater good”. If this crisis teaches the people nationhood and citizenship, it will be worth the pain.
We may lose a lot economically now, but if serious political leaders and patriotic citizens emerge, then we would have gained our nation’s soul, and profited many times over.
