Covid-19: Learning the Importance of Dissent

I have been reading a lot online and it seems like this pandemic has been so destructive not only to our relationships but also to ourselves. So here it goes, sharing to all of you what I have learned in school and in reading papers from trusted and renowned economists online. I know that some people may not share the same sentiment on what is happening right now, but as a budding economist, I hope this will help everyone to come to understanding.

This is not a public health crisis alone. This is also a global economic crisis as well as social and psychological hardships among people. We see minimized economic activities. We can no longer go to our favourite mall and have meals at our favourite restaurants. Most importantly, we see businesses shutting down due to government regulations to control the spread of the virus. As a consequence, we have seen our freedom being delimited and people who have secured employment finding themselves losing their jobs.

How about those who are already poor? Those in the informal sectors like tricycle drives, your friendly kuya who sells candies, and the ate who sells meals? It would be much harder for them. According to International and Filipino economists, those that are already economically-stable are also joining the most vulnerable in this economic crisis. What more to those who depend only to day-to-day living? It is a matter of life and death for them as they battle between dying from the virus or dying from hunger.

If you find yourself in college eating your last pancit canton (a famous instant noodles in the Philippines) for your last meal, that is the same situation poor people are in right now — except that this time, they have no longer financial support to depend on. If you have never tried eating pancit canton in your whole life, then good for you. You are lucky. Some people are not.

As economists, we have this term “market failure.” This is when market activities are delimited and people act irrationally or when they only think of the benefits for themselves and not the consequences that they would illicit to others. This pandemic has brought so many market failures in our society. We have seen businesses shutting down with small businesses mostly be affected. This is to purposely control the spread of the virus. We have also seen people acting irrationally. This is why we see people in Quezon City asking for help and crying for food.

Can we blame them for acting like that? No. Imagine only having a pack of pancit canton and no one’s going to send you money. That is rough. Look for a job? Businesses are shutting down, how can you find a job with this situation? You may ask “Why are they poor in the first place?” Well, lack of opportunities, no access to quality education, so on and so forth. The thing is we should all stay at home but why are they still going out? Hard-headed, perhaps? No. Since they are poor and are economically unstable, they are the most vulnerable. They are the most affected by this pandemic. That is why they did it because it was the desperate thing to do. It was the needed thing to do. Can you recall what they said? “We need food to eat.”

When market failures happen, this is when the government should step in. Remember the mandate of the government? To serve the interests of its people, etc.? Those long paragraphs you memorized in your Constitution subject? This is it. You may ask again, “Why is it always the government?” Because they have the resources and whether you would agree or not, that is their job. The main problem right now is just how to efficiently allocate those resources. Yup, that is the definition of Economics.

Here, the government must:

Act to ensure that businesses will survive.

• This is crucial for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) that comprise about 63% of the total employment in the country according to the 2018 MSME Statistics of country’s Department of Trade and Industry. This is also the reason why the Central Bank of the Philippines cut down the interest – to lend the businesses in order to help them cope up in this crisis.

Ensure that jobs are secured.

• This is why there is an ordinance in our respective Local Government Unit (LGU) to encourage work from home to at least continue employees’ work and at least help the businesses survive.

Protect the most vulnerable.

• This is to help the people with limited or no savings, and those without regular jobs. Why can’t we just teach them Financial Literacy? Well, they do not even have enough money for food, how can they save in the first place? This is why different financial institutions such as Asian Development Bank (ADB) are lending billions of cash to the Philippine government. The loans are expected to provide financial and non-financial support for the people. You may ask again, “Oh so we have money. Why can’t you guys just wait?” Well, because it is a matter of life and death. If you have nothing to eat for your next meal, do you think you can still wait for several days for the assistance? And if yes, then good for you if you only have to think of yourself. How about those with children, those with families? You may blame them for having so many children but remember people’s call for Reproductive Health Bill. The bill was supposed to educate people and help them especially the poor make informed decisions. But it was never passed to law.
• This is why the government must act as quickly as possible in extending their helping hands. If not, we would not control the virus because people will still go out to ask for help. They would not even dare to think about the virus as long as they would live. It is going to be chaotic not just for them but also for us. If the government would not be able to address this economic turmoil, it is really a political crisis that will follow.
• And lastly, protect the poor because that is the job of the government. You would say, “Why not let them do their job, anyway? Why do people have to complain?” If we will just keep silent and keep the government do their thing, we would have a longer time in dealing this crisis. Thailand is already giving cash support to its workers. Indonesia is already waiving the electricity bills of its people and giving financial assistance to the informal sectors. And finally, because there are inefficiencies in the government like corruption and no transparency. If we would turn a blind eye to their actions, it would be much destructive for us than to them.

Public pressure helps. In times like this, we really need accountability and transparency from an efficient government more than ever. From our government whose job is to protect its people, regardless of social status, gender, age, etc. After all, development is a two-way process. The government needs public support as well as criticism as a wake-up call for their inefficiencies.