Tag: COVID-19

Articles covering the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Duterte is not incompetent

Post author By Bandilang Itim
Post date 2021/07/28

Written by Simoun Magsalin.
First published by Young Progressives Hub.

A certain narrative suggests that Rodrigo Duterte, the sitting president of the Philippines, is incompetent in addressing the covid-19 pandemic.

The idea stems from the country’s overwhelming failure to contain SARS-CoV-2 transmissions. Thousands continue to be infected every day. The Philippines remains in the middle of the longest lockdown in the world while other countries already enjoy some return to normalcy. The Duterte administration also botched the vaccine roll-out, implementing mass vaccinations later than other countries did.

Tags COVID-19, English, the state

Original Writing Translations

Ενάντια σε μια καραντινα με χαρακτηριστικά στρατιωτικού νόμου

Post author By Bandilang Itim
Post date 2021/04/14

Written by Simoun Magsalin with input from the Bandilang Itim Collective and translated into Greek by alerta.gr.

Ο οπορτουνισμός του στρατιωτικού νόμου

Τον Μάρτιο του 2020, οι άνθρωποι του αρχιπελάγους γνωστού ως Φιλιππίνες ειδοποιούνται για το ποσοστό τοπικής μετάδοσης της ασθένειας γνωστής ως COVID-19. Στις 12 Μαρτίου, κινητοποιήθηκαν αστυνομικές και στρατιωτικές δυνάμεις για την επιβολή κοινοτικής καραντίνας για το σύνολο της πόλης της Μανίλα που προβλεπόταν να ξεκινήσει τα μεσάνυχτα της 15ης Μαρτίου. Αυτή η καραντίνα αργότερα γενικεύτηκε για ολόκληρη τη νήσο Luzon, με πληθυσμό περίπου 53 εκατομμυρίων ψυχών. Η κινητοποίηση του μηχανισμού βίας του κράτους ήταν πιο αισθητή από ότι η κινητοποίηση ιατρικών και κοινωνικών πόρων αναδεικνύοντας τις προτεραιότητες της κυβέρνησης.

Tags COVID-19, Greek, Simoun Magsalin

Original Writing Republished

Abolitionism against pandemic policing in the Philippines

Post author By Bandilang Itim
Post date 2020/09/04

Written by Simoun Magsalin for ROAR Magazine.

The COVID-19 pandemic has truly brought out the worst in the Philippine government. Instead of treating the pandemic as a public health crisis, the state is treating it as a security issue and has responded by deploying its extremely violent security apparatus.

Tags Abolition, COVID-19, Simoun Magsalin

Republished

Detention is Better Than Cure?: The Railroading of the Anti-Terrorism Bill Amidst the Pandemic

Post author By Bandilang Itim
Post date 2020/06/03

photo: Phil. Star

Written by Safehouse Infoshop and initially published on their website.

We have witnessed the government respond to the health crisis with military and police might. Over 30,000 people were arrested and detained, while those estimated to be affected of the actual virus only amounts to less than number. Many were detained for non-violent acts. Some were beaten up for not wearing masks. Others were shot dead, with the president’s grace, for mere disobedience. Demolitions continued. And despite strict security measures in the streets, human rights activist were gunned down.

Tags Anti-Terror, COVID-19, English, Safehouse Infoshop

Republished

Survival of the Fittest in the Time of Pandemic

Post author By Bandilang Itim
Post date 2020/05/05

Photo by lev olson from FreeImages.

Written and initially published by Safehouse Infoshop on Facebook.

People often equate Charles Darwin’s notion of “survival of the fittest” with competition. People think that the natural way of the world requires some sort of battle. This is also often translated in how we deal with other people. “It’s either myself or others,” that’s how many people justify cruelty and domination. But if we think closely, survival of the fittest does not always mean competition.

Tags COVID-19, English, Mutual Aid, Safehouse Infoshop

Original Writing

Detainment is Death in the Pandemic!

Post author By Bandilang Itim
Post date 2020/04/30

@PNPAbraBangued. Twitter Post. 11:48 AM, April 19, 2020. https://twitter.com/PNPAbraBangued/status/1251719226022170625

Written by Simoun Magsalin.

Umaapaw na raw ang kulungan. [The jails are overflowing.] Nearly 30,000 people were reportedly arrested under the quarantine in the Philippines, with more than 4,000 of these arrested detained, based on a report dated April 18, 2020. ((Eimor Santos, “Nearly 30,000 quarantine violators arrested nationwide in a month,” (CNN Philippines., April 18, 2020). https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/4/18/quarantine-violators-arrested-coronavirus-lockdowns.html (Retrieved on 2020-04-29) )) Doubtless, more have since been arrested and detained since then. The police even went on record saying there will no longer be any more warnings to the alleged “quarantine violators” and will arrest people as they see fit, ((Rambo Talabong, “PNP begins to arrest lockdown violators without warning,” (Rappler, April 21, 2020). https://www.rappler.com/nation/258570-pnp-begins-arrest-coronavirus-lockdown-violators-without-warning (Retrieved on 2020-04-29) )) likely straining the capacities of the already overstretched jails and prisons.

Tags Abolition, COVID-19, English, Simoun Magsalin

Diaspora Photo Essay

What Happens To Them: Photo Essay of the Homeless Community In Long Beach

Post author By Bandilang Itim
Post date 2020/04/26

Photo essay by O’Shovah, a Filipinx comrade in Long Beach.

There is an issue that is being neglected, a homeless issue. It is an issue that has long been present before this pandemic. While the current situation is to stay at home, many of the homeless people living in the city do not have the privilege to “stay at home.” Whether it be the cold gray pavement or a metallic bus bench to sleep or rest, it cannot be denied that they are the unfortunate victims of this COVID-19 pandemic.

Tags COVID-19, English, O'Shovah

Original Writing Statement

To Pay is to Die: The Threat of Student Debt and Homelessness

Post author By Bandilang Itim
Post date 2020/04/22

A statement from the Bandilang Itim Collective.

We at Bandilang Itim stand in support with the student organizations from the De La Salle University, ((Editors of Lavoxa, Solidarity Statement of Lasallian College Student Publications on the Conduct of Online Classes. April 19, 2020. (Accessed 2020-04-21) )) and the University of the Philippines. ((UP Diliman University Student Council, #EndTheSemester. April 11, 2020. (Accessed 2020-04-21) )) ((League of College Councils, On the Conduct of Second Semester A.Y. 2019-2020 Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic. April 12, 2020. (Accessed 2020-04-21) )) In these trying times, university institutions must adapt to the so-called “new normal” in a way that accommodates their students. This means accounting for the students’ varying conditions. Some students may be under financial or emotional stress due to the Extended Community Quarantine (ECQ). Others lack access to reliable internet connectivity to continue with online classes and securing one may become yet another financial burden.

Tags Bandilang Itim, COVID-19

Republished

Ang COVID19

Post author By Bandilang Itim
Post date 2020/04/13

Isang pahayag mula sa Local Autonomous Network.

Introduksyon

Kasalukuyan nating nararanasan ang isa sa pinakamatinding pandemya ng ating panahon. Hindi maikakaila ang matinding epekto (at magiging epekto pa) nito sa halos lahat ng aspeto ng ating buhay; mula sa pinakabatayang pinagkukunan ng pagkain at mga hanapbuhay, hanggang sa kung paano natin isinasagawa ang ating pang araw-araw na mga gawain tulad ng pamamalengke, pag-aaral, paglilibang at maraming pang iba. Tinatantsa ng mga siyentista na hindi basta-basta matatapos ang pandemyang ito sa mga susunod na mga buwan at maari pa ngang tumagos ang epekto nito sa mga susunod na taon. Maaaring sabihing ang COVID19 ay hahati sa modernong kasaysayan sa dalawang yugto; “bago ang COVID19” at “matapos ang COVID19.”

Tags COVID-19, Local Autonomous Network, Tagalog

Original Writing

Against a Quarantine with Martial Law Characteristics

Post author By Bandilang Itim
Post date 2020/04/03

Written by Simoun Magsalin with input from the Bandilang Itim Collective.

The Opportunism of Martial Law

In March 2020, the people of the archipelago known as the Philippines were alarmed at the rate of local transmission of the disease known as COVID-19. On March 12, police and military forces were mobilized to enforce a community quarantine for the whole of Metro Manila scheduled to start on the midnight of March 15. This quarantine was later generalized for the whole island of Luzon, a population of some 53 million souls. That the mobilization of the state’s apparatus of violence was more noticeable than the mobilization of medical and social resources is telling of the administration’s priorities.

Tags COVID-19, English, Simoun Magsalin