2 years of COVID-19: New strains of the virus, an old strain of human suffering

Written by Julian Victor M. Mendoza

Published May 11, 2022

Over two years after the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, people around the world have been living under the “new normal.” New COVID-19 variants and subvariants have also been emerging. The war on COVID-19 is not yet over, and so are the preexisting struggles of Filipinos even before the virus came into existence.

The Department of Science and Technology-National Academy of Science and Technology (DoST-NAST) studied the economy of the Philippines by analyzing its economic impact, employment, sector size, connectivity and income multiplier using mathematical models, according to a report from Manila Bulletin.

The study showed the manufacturing industry as one of the topmost affected sectors in the country during the pandemic.

The pandemic domino effect

Jesus Mendoza, 57, works as a production supervisor at the FAS Development Corporation, a plastic packaging manufacturer company. According to Mendoza, he was part of the first set of people who were drastically affected by the implemented lockdowns.

“Noong kakasimula pa lang ng pandemic, medyo hirap kasi may iniiwasan tayong virus kaya natigil ‘yung trabaho… Medyo humina ‘yung mga negosyo dahil humina ang ekonomiya kaya medyo mahirap ang pamumuhay,” he said.

(When the pandemic just started, life was kind of hard because we were avoiding a virus, that’s why work ceased… Businesses became weak because of the declining economy; that’s why everyday living was a struggle.)

Jesus said that the discontinuation of their products also resulted in the loss of food business customers that relied on food packaging for their deliveries and storage. This is part of the ripple effect of changes in a certain economic sector to the other sectors.

Meanwhile, the stated effect was observed in the education sector. Lorna Caguioa, 52, and her daughter Sarah Caguioa, 21, said the digital transformation limitations in education services challenged them.

Lorna, an education program specialist in the Alternative Learning System (ALS) at the Department of Education (DepEd) School Division Office of Pangasinan, explained the challenge of creating new sets of modules to suffice the needs of the students and teachers. Her working environment was also a challenge.

“We do not have classrooms for ALS. We just borrow classrooms,” she said.

Sarah, a 21-year-old fourth-year medical technology student at Saint Louis University Baguio, has been experiencing the same categories of struggles. She is still experiencing difficulties in comprehending laboratory concepts due to the limitations of access to school equipment and lab space implemented by the school protocol against COVID-19.

“Mas na-cha-challenge na lang ako sa pagbabasa,” she mentioned while telling that procrastination has been part of her study habit.

(I have been more challenged in reading.)

A 2019 research by Ito et al. explained that the reason why students, even those who are in “proper education environments” and “provided with good educational content,” still procrastinate, is because of the poor motivation management brought by limitations in digital transformation in education.

This type of student behavior worries ALS educators like Lorna, considering their students are dropouts and need proper guidance in their tweaked modules.

What is ‘new’ in the ‘new normal?’

Mendoza and the Caguioas believe in the “new normal.” However, for them, it doesn't feel like there has been a change aside from the way they must live with the minimum public health standards.

When asked, “What do you think is the silver lining of the two-year pandemic?” They could not think of an answer they could confidently give. Jesus simply answered, “ayuda” (aid assistance).

When asked, “What would you do differently if the pandemic had just started and you already know what you have learned now?” Their answers were “to work harder.”

Despite having inadequate support from DepEd, Lorna needs to continue serving her students as they rely their future on her. Despite receiving no financial or health assistance from FAS Corporation, Jesus still needs to continue supervising an industry that the pandemic has severely swayed. Despite the high risk of getting COVID-19, Sarah should still finish her internship in a public hospital.

Despite the pandemic, the world must go on for people like Jesus, Lorna and Sarah because they would rather risk having the virus than risk death from hunger. In the “new normal,” struggles are still the same.

Philosopher George Santayana said, “Only the dead have seen the end of the war.” As long as they live, the battle is not done.