EDITORIAL
Health Over Wealth
Written by
Lucky Wendell Sanoy
Baguio City eyes the gradual re-opening of tourism by September 2020 with regulated, controlled entry and monitored movement. Tourists are required to pre-register through the Baguio Visitor Information & Travel Assistance (VIS.I.TA), an online registration system to be launched this month. Baguio VIS.I.TA will ensure the controlled number of tourists per day which limits to 200 or as high as 1,000 per day, depending on the risk levels. They are required to pre-book accommodation and declare their itinerary to the accredited tour operators. Upon entry, tourists will undergo mandatory triage and have a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing to be paid by them, and they need to stay in their hotel rooms until the results will come out within 9 hours at most. Tourists' movement shall be strictly monitored by the hotel management that they checked in to and their tour operators.
The opening of borders of the city for tourists is a way to jumpstart the economy, but it is one of the greatest risks that the city would take to bet its citizen’s health and life. According to City Tourism Officer Engr. Aloysius Mapalo, “September has been our projected re-opening schedule, since we started planning for recovery.” With the daily reports of positive cases in the city, Baguio seems to be not ready to accommodate and open its arms to the people who plan to visit the coined Summer Capital of the country.
The city is rebranding itself as a “safe vacation spot,” because as it opens its gates to visitors, it follows minimum health standards at the same time. It is ironic to say that it is a safe vacation spot because it comes with the reality that the locals will be the ones who will be risked. Strict health inspections and monitoring will be done, the risk there is that, what if that tourist turned out to be positive in the test not knowing as he had contact with the hotel staff and officials in the triage? The government just put the lives of the frontliners in a more vulnerable state. Staying in the hotel room for at most 9 hours is already a long time to contain the virus in that place which makes the hotel staffs have a higher chance to be infected with the virus if ever that tourist’s result turns out positive. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the disease spreads primarily through contact with an infected person, but also when this person touches a surface or object. The more people to welcome, the faster the bar of positive cases would increase.
The city also allowed some tourism-related establishments to open as long as it follows safety guidelines and protocols. In fact, horseback-riding at the Wright Park and strolling at Camp John Hay and Burnham Park are already allowed. These temptations can make tourists come up with a lie in their itinerary. Local residents can be more exposed to more different people and can make their utmost efforts to fight against the virus useless. Barangay lockdowns seemed to be not enough because the whole city is actually in a more dangerous situation because of the welcoming of guests that is going to happen next month amidst the daily reports of positive cases in the city.
The world’s economy was slowed down and of course, that makes Baguio City’s tourism a part of this disastrous effect of the pandemic. Baguio lost about Php1.4 billion in revenues, and this gradual re-opening is believed to be a solution and a way to rise up again. Dr. Ben Cowling, who leads the WHO's Collaborating Center for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control at Hong Kong University mentioned that "I think all countries are going to have to face this difficult trade-off between the health and the economic impact, and there's definitely going to be a heavy impact on both. " It is choosing between health and economy, but with the current situation of Baguio City with almost 100 active cases, it is not safe to open the borders for leisure and exposure to the people from other areas with an alarming number of cases.
The local government takes the effort to keep health and economy be equally prioritized, but opening borders to a great number of people is not the most effective solution that can be applied at this very point in time. Instead of opening it, why not close it again to decrease the chance of the spread and transmission to the locals. Yes, not all cases come from the outsiders, but one infected person can infect another one and the spread goes on and on, and adding more people in the city can increase the chance to have a faster and wider infection of the virus. Actually, even if their results turned negative, if someone they had contact with within the city is carrying the virus without him or her knowing, it can also make that tourist’s life in danger. Including also the frontliners who are more exposed to these possible people with positive cases, they have high risks, but it can still be higher because of the continuous process in the triage. This supposed solution can even create a greater problem. Baguio residents should be prioritized to come back to the city with their acceptable purposes, and not the leisure of the aliens.
Based on a Department of Tourism (DOT) survey in May, Baguio is one of the top three destinations that Filipinos intend to visit once restrictions on travel and recreation are eased, together with the islands of Siargao and Boracay. That’s a good thing to hear for tourism purposes, but a not-so-good-news when it talks about health and safety. It’s not about being selfish, it’s just a matter of prioritizing lives over money. With the continuous additional cases everyday in the country, it makes no place neither Baguio City nor other tourist spots safe to open its borders.
Error:
Quality of Education
Cannot Be Found
Written by
Lucky Wendell Sanoy
“We are ready to open [classes] this August. No ifs, no buts. Learning must continue. We learn as one, we are ready,” says Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairman Prospero de Vera III, and it seems that this statement will not have any revisions anymore. On August 14, Education Secretary Leonor Briones announced that President Rodrigo Duterte approved her recommendation to move the opening of classes from August 24 to October 5 mainly because of the logistical limitations caused by the modified enhanced community quarantine in parts of Luzon like Metro Manila. The announcement of the Department of Education (DepEd) eases the public school students, teachers, and parents but also called out the attention of professors and college students under CHED. They trended online where people call for CHED to move the opening of classes just like what (DepEd) recently done, but the agency said it cannot do so.
According to de Vera, CHED is not covered by the Republic Act 11480 that allows the president to adjust the school calendar in times of national emergency in accordance with the recommendation of the DepEd. This law covers only the calendar of elementary and high school. What is the difference of the students in elementary and high school tocollege students? What is the difference between professors to public school teachers? All of them are human and no one is virus-proof and stress-proof especially in the current situation that the world is facing right now. CHED should also postpone classes for universities for the school year 2020-2021.
Flexible learning is a solution and a walkthrough in overcoming these trying times for the students, and De Vera claimed that the Philippines is ready for implementing flexible learning because top universities have been doing it even before the COVID-19 pandemic, and other universities already shifted to flexible learning during the quarantine. Flexible learning involves a combination of digital and non-digital technology, and according to CHED, it doesn’t necessarily require an internet connection. It is true that top universities of the Philippines such as De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde Manila and Far Eastern University already experience flexible learning before. In fact, they are two of the 6 Philippine universities offering free flexible learning for faculty members to help in the transition due to the effect of the pandemic. The learning strategy may be ready, but the students and professors are not fit to immediately cope and adjust with the sudden changes. Studies show that enrollment in the Philippines drops more than 25% due to the pandemic. Some reasons are parents prioritize their children’s safety and find ways to afford food, especially that many Filipinos lost their jobs. Some still continued to enroll amidst these trying times, but what happens is that students and professors suffer because not each school in the Philippines is ready and already has a background with this flexible learning. If top schools can do it, it doesn’t mean that small institutions can do it too. Not all Filipino students are capable to catch up with this educational system.
Various Facebook and Twitter posts have gone viral, showing the struggles of Filipino students in finding good internet signal, some of them are climbing trees and even mountains just to attend classes especially those who are studying in the universities but are staying in their province with their family. These posts served as a call to educational institutions to prioritize student welfare over academics.
On March 25, student governments of the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, De La Salle University (DLSU) Manila and University of Santo Tomas (UST) submitted a petition to suspend online classes to CHED. It is true that education should not be neglected and must continue, but the situation of every student is not the same to attain education. Not everyone has a stable internet connection and is experiencing a good life right now. It is not just about financial matters, but also the physical and mental health of the students and professors are at stake. Workloads can hinder a student’s responsibilities in their home and community.
Statistics show that most Filipino students are visual and kinesthetic learners. They learn by seeing the information through pictures, graphs, diagrams, and visual media, and they would like to engage in activities that will let them experience something. Some universities that are new to flexible learning boils down to self-study. Not all professors are able to do distance teaching and most students will base most of their learnings from online searching. Not all Filipino students’ learning style is modular, and that is considered as a problem. Some students decided to not enroll because of financial problems, but some decided to not enroll because they know to themselves that they will not learn in this style.
Various social media platforms are used to advocate the Academic Freeze this school year 2020-2021. This way, no student will be left behind or forced to enroll in the fear of being left-out. In addition, the quality of education will not be sacrificed for the sake of continuing the school year. It is a way for the nation to further mitigate the spread of Corona Virus therefore helping us Filipinos to heal as one.
Flexible learning diminishes a great quality in education. Some students who enrolled are just forced because they do not want to be left behind even if they will not benefit much from it. Academic freeze can be a way to make sure that no one will be left behind. Forcing education to push through even if students and universities are not capable and ready will lead to a low quality of learners. If DepEd has concerns to its students, CHED should also extend care to the Filipino workers and youth and suspend the start of school year 2020-2021.