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Yap - CORONAVIRUS AND THE STRUGGLES OF THE PROLETARIATS

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13 views3 pages

Yap - CORONAVIRUS AND THE STRUGGLES OF THE PROLETARIATS

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jadeveronique.yap
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Jade Veronique V.

Yap
2JRN2

PH ON LOCKDOWN: CORONAVIRUS AND THE STRUGGLES OF THE


PROLETARIATS

“Mahirap maging mahirap.”

These are the only words uttered by a taxi driver from Manila as he cried on
national television after the government imposed a nationwide transport ban as part of
the enhanced community quarantine.

On March 15, 2020 President Rodrigo Duterte put the entire Luzon into
enhanced community lockdown that will last until April 15, however, since the number of
COVID-19 cases are rapidly increasing, he extended the lockdown up until the 30 . This
th

lockdown is one of the ways to contain the virus and to flatten the curve as suggested
by the IATF. Aside from transport ban, social distancing and isolation should be properly
observed. During the lockdown period, some small-time companies are forced to shut
their business down and leave their employees with nothing but probably the last
paycheck of their lives.

This lockdown is a form of utilitarianism. For Jeremy Bentham, utilitarianism


deals with the greatest number of goods for the greatest number of people. In other
sense, in utilitarianism, five is always greater and significant than one regardless who
they are. The greater the number of goods, the more significant. This utilitarianism
response the government is trying to do has both pros and cons. The pros? The
chances of mortality rate will be lower. The infection will be contaminated and our
country will be surviving the pandemic. The cons? The exploitation of the marginalized
class will be more evident and the poor will become poorer.

Although for many people, this lockdown can be a solution to stop the spread of
the virus especially that it lowered the mortality rate cases that was evident when the
number of recovery cases in a day were higher than the number of casualties based on
the April 15 record, this is can also be a threat to the working class. No work means no
pay for them. This means no food on the table for their entire family. They have nothing
in their pockets but their last salary before the lockdown was imposed. The only thing
that can feed them are the subsidies from the LGU’s, however, those subsidies are still
not enough to feed as many as five mouths in a month.

According to DOLE, almost 1.6 million workers were left jobless due to the
lockdown and among those working class affected by this lockdown is the taxi driver
aforementioned who cried in TV Patrol asking the government to at least allow taxi cabs
to operate so they can still earn a living during the lockdown period. He even said in the
interview that it’s okay to get infected by the virus as long as he can earn a living and
feed his family.
The case is far worse for a worker in Manila who hails from Bataan as he stands
along EDSA waving a cardboard saying, “Pasakay po.” He was one of the unfortunate
workers who were greatly affected by the nationwide lockdown. The only choice he had
was to either walk from Manila to Bataan, or just stay in Manila and wait until the
pandemic ends.

Another effect of this utilitarian response is the strict implementation of curfews


that will start from eight pm and will end at five am the next day. Anyone seen outdoors
during the curfew hours will be caught by the military officials. This unfortunately
happened to a 69-year-old street dweller who was arrested by barangay officials after
she was found sleeping on a street in Malate, Manila. The government is very keen in
reminding people to stay at home, but how can this 69-year-old street dweller stay
indoors if she doesn’t have a home in the first place?

The government keeps on reminding the public to observe social distancing as it


is one way to lessen the risk of infection. However, this is not the case for the people
living in slum areas. Slum areas are jampacked known to have shabby houses made of
galvanized woods and tossed with other houses. As the government focuses on
enforcing the quarantine, little attention was given to mitigating its impact on the most
vulnerable. Shacks no bigger than a flatbed truck, shelter large families whose
members sleep side-by-side on wooden or cement floors. In the slums, where people
are packed like bees in a hive, there is no such thing as social distancing.

We focus on protecting the health of our nation, but along the way we forget that
there are some people who are neglected and in need of help even before the
pandemic started.

The COVID-19 pandemic is more than just a global health issue. If you try to look
at it in the social realm, you would see that this pandemic is also a social class struggle
and the idea of utilitarianism made it more obvious. Utilitarianism can be ethical
especially in times of crisis because it focuses on the result for the greater good even
though it can be unbeneficial for the few. As long as it benefits the greater people, it is
considered to be ethical.

However, this is not the case for John Stuart Mill. For Mill, actions are right in
proportion as they tend to promote happiness; wrong as they tend to produce the
reverse of happiness and happiness means pleasure and the absence of pain. Thus,
the idea of lockdown for Mill can be considered as unethical because it inflicts more
struggle and more pain to the other parties. Although we want to achieve the greater
good for the 110 million citizens of our nation, we can’t deny that this lockdown causes
more trouble and problems to other people.

Red Jumpsuit Apparatus said, “A pebble in the water makes a ripple effect, for
every action in this world, bears a consequence.” The lockdown is the best action that
our government can think, however it entails huge consequences that may benefit the
greater good, but inflict more struggles along the way.

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