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 The world outside the comforts of my home

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 The world outside the comforts of my home

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My experience of Global Society begins in 2016, my freshman year in college. You may be wondering "2016? Freshman year?" to answer this, my ID number is 11612975 when I started I was in Comsci for almost 3 years when I decided to shift to History. My years in college has allowed me the opportunity to broaden my understanding of how the world works and, to some extent, the history of of world. Through my degree program I have some knowledge of how society works and the challenges they face and most important, how they respond to these challenges.

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An experience that I remember was with my blockmate, he asked me if I was against EJK and I told him I was for it. "Paano kung na Tokhang ka o relatives mo?" He switched the narrative to me and said what if a relative or even if I was the victim, would I still support it? Reflecting on it, I started sympathizing more and realized what was going on in the national level and became more aware of current events here in the Philippines.

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 26) - "Tokhang," which has become synonymous with the Duterte administration's deadly war against drugs, has been hailed as the word of the year for 2018.

The play on the words "toktok," or knock, and "hangyo," or plead was chosen by participants at the Sawikaan 2018 on Friday at the University of the Philippines - Diliman. It was submitted by Mark Angeles, who introduced himself as a teacher.

In his presentation to defend his submission, Angeles showed how the word "tokhang" has been used in different contexts - from becoming a mascot, a meme and several food establishments - moving it away from its association with the government's campaign against drugs.

"Ginagamit ang salitang 'tokhang' na halos wala na itong bahid ng karahasan ng giyera kontra droga," Angeles said.

[TRANSLATION: The word "tokhang" is being used like it is not associated with the violence of the war against drugs.]

Oplan Tokhang is the flagship anti-drugs program of the Duterte administration which has been criticized by local and international human rights groups and suspended in January and October 2017, before going back in full blast in December 2017.

READ: War on drugs suspended, takes back seat in war against rogue cops

Government numbers place the death toll of the drug war at around 4,800, but opposition politicians and rights groups say the body count is much higher.

Despite continued criticism of his drug war and an ongoing preliminary examination by the International Criminal Court, President Rodrigo Duterte is not backing down. In his last State of the Nation Address, he vowed that the drug war would be as "relentless and chilling" as the day it began.

READ: At least three more communications vs. Duterte filed at ICC - CHR

But for Angeles, who ended his presentation with a protest song which ended with "Nanlaban ang bayan laban sa panunokhang ng pulis na inutos ng adik sa loob ng Malacañang," the people should not take the drug war sitting idly.

[TRANSLATION: The people fought back against the killings by police orchestrated by the addict in Malacañang.]

"Kapag tayo ay tinotokhang, o kapag ang aking karapatang pantao ay nilalabag, dapat tayo ay manlaban," Angeles said.

[TRANSLATION: When we are being killed or if our human rights are being violated, we must fight back.]
Fake news, Dengvaxia
The words "fake news" and "Dengvaxia" came in at second and third places, respectively.

The Duterte administration has been accused of peddling false information, especially online, but has repeatedly denied this charge.

Dengvaxia, meanwhile, is the controversial anti-dengue vaccine, which has been blamed for the deaths of several children due to complications due to dengue after its manufacturer, French pharmaceutical firm Sanofi-Pasteur, disclosed that it could cause "serious disease" among those not yet infected with dengue.

Attendees also picked "fake news," submitted by Danilo Arao, for best presentation, while online voters chose "foodie," entered in by Mykel Sarthou, as their favorite.

Other entries for word of the year include:

Dengvaxia, submitted by Ralph Flores and Art Santiago

DDS, submitted by Schedar Jocson

Dilawan, submitted by Jonathan Geronimo and John Robert Bautista

Federalismo, submitted by Xavier Alvaran

Quo warranto, submitted by Aileen Sicat

Resibo, submitted by Zarina Joy Santos Eliserio

TRAIN, submitted by Junilo Espiritu

Troll, submitted by Roy Rene Cagalingan

Sawikaan is a "comprehensive discussion to choose the sole word which dominated discourse of Philippine society in the past year," according to the UP Diliman website.

It said a word qualifies as an entry if it is coined or used as a new word, if it was recently adapted from an ethnic or foreign language, or is an old word that has gained new meaning or been revived from obsolescence.

It is held once every two years and is organized by Filipinas Institute of Translation, UP Diliman Information Office and the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino.

In 2016, Sawikaan chose "fotobam" as the word of the year, following the controversy surrounding Torre de Manila, derided by some for "photobombing" the Rizal Monument at Luneta Park in Manila.

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 26) - "Tokhang," which has become synonymous with the Duterte administration's deadly war against drugs, has been hailed as the word of the year for 2018. The play on the words "toktok," or knock, and "hangyo," or plead was chosen by participants at the Sawikaan 2018 on Friday at the University of the Philippines - Diliman.

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Experience #2 - Martial law, People Power and Amnesty International

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Experience #2 - Martial law, People Power and Amnesty International

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The topic of Martial law and People Power is an experience I didn't actually experience but reading and seeing the outcome of these events have made me aware things such as human rights abuses that happened during martial law and the first ever peaceful revolution in the world happened here in the Philippines. Amnesty International's mission report in the Philippines in 1975 shows us the abuses on human rights that happened during martial law, these are facts found by an international body and not a mere hoax.

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Covid-19 is an extraordinary phenomenon that had engulfed the world into a pandemic. News about the virus has the world glued to the top countries and this experience has led me to a new awareness of the world around me. Ever since the pandemic had hit the country I kept tabs on news and events that were related to the virus such as variants, covid-19 countermeasures, infection rates, and the politicking of politicians here and abroad.

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Since early 2020, health experts have emphasized the need to support fragile countries during the pandemic to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 across the world. In response, the G7 nations last year affirmed their commitment to provide "affordable and equitable access to vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics" globally.

Despite this rhetoric, wealthy nations continue to put their needs and interests over those of lower income countries. They are hoarding vaccines from poorer countries (with some countries like the United States and Canada now offering their citizens third and fourth booster shots) and as a result, around 78 percent of the population in high and upper-middle income countries have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in contrast to only 11 percent of people in low-income countries. Even the targets for COVAX, the global initiative to send vaccines to lower and middle-income countries, have been repeatedly cut back due to production issues, export bans, and vaccine hoarding by wealthy nations.
Consequences of Vaccine Inequity on the Philippines
The Philippines is one of the many countries dealing with the effects of vaccine inequity. Despite being one of the hardest hit countries in Southeast Asia in 2021, the Philippines has had to wait for vaccines from wealthy countries. The country now has over 3.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and around 54,003 deaths. While its daily infection numbers had reduced significantly by the end of 2021, the rapidly spreading Omicron variant is concerning. The country's vaccination rate remains relatively low, with only 52 percent of the population fully vaccinated, and recent evidence suggests that vaccines like AstraZeneca and Sinovac, used in low-income countries like the Philippines, provide less protection against Omicron than the mRNA vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna.

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Lack of Adequate Support for Typhoon Victims
However, not all Filipinos have been impacted equally by vaccine inequity and the pandemic in general. In November 2021, 93 percent of residents in the capital region had been fully vaccinated in comparison to only 10.9 percent of people in the predominantly Muslim regions in southern Philippines. More broadly, research shows that the government has ignored the unique needs and vulnerabilities of marginalized groups in the Philippines such as the poor, Indigenous Peoples, and disabled people, which has affected their access to food and income, among other issues, throughout the pandemic.

Although the Philippine government is aware of the necessity of supporting vulnerable groups in order to curb the spread of the virus, it has repeatedly chosen to scapegoat and criminalize the poor who have to pursue their livelihood outside the home (due specifically to insufficient government assistance) for "violating" lockdown measures. Just like wealthy countries' attempts to " boost [their] way out of the pandemic," the Philippine government's solution to fighting the pandemic through criminalization is both unethical and ineffective at actually mitigating the spread of the virus.

Another group that has been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines are the over 75,000 residents of resettlement sites in Tacloban City, homes that were built for the hundreds of thousands of Typhoon Haiyan survivors. Our June 2021 study on the impact of COVID-19 on 357 households in these resettlement sites found that participants did not receive sufficient support from the government to get through the pandemic. Specifically, over a third of participants found the national government's response to the pandemic to be somewhat inadequate or very inadequate and very few felt that any level of government could protect them from COVID-19 in their community.
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Financial problems and lack of livelihoods were cited by participants as the most serious problems they were facing during the pandemic, both of which have been worsened by the government's pandemic response. For example, though 91.6 percent of participants received financial assistance from the government, 47 percent said it was insufficient. Specifically, the participants, the majority of whom make 15,000 pesos (around $300) or less monthly on average, noted that they did not have sufficient financial resources to buy food, maintenance medicine, and other necessities.

Many participants also said that as a result of COVID-19, they had lost their livelihoods or made a lot less money from their work, as they mostly work in-person. One participant noted that without a livelihood, they could not "support [their] big family and... cope with daily living." Other issues mentioned by participants include the inadequate amount and quality of food, the lack of running water at home, and the inability to participate fully in online learning (particularly due to poor internet connections).

These findings reinforce yet again that the pandemic is no " great leveler." In large part due to their financial and living conditions, socioeconomically disadvantaged communities are more likely to be affected by the pandemic. And by not addressing the specific needs of resettlement site residents, the Philippine government's inadequate response has directly impacted their ability to meet their basic daily needs. As such, a group that was already vulnerable before the pandemic is now even more so, both financially and in terms of getting COVID-19.

How does the government solve this issue? In the above study, residents offered a variety of recommendations for how the government could better meet the challenges facing them, from providing more sustainable livelihood programs and offering sufficient financial assistance to the stricter implementation of COVID-19 health and safety protocols.

Ultimately, national and local governments in the Philippines must include marginalized groups when developing and executing their pandemic responses, specifically to understand their needs and the best ways to address them. This is necessary because, as a research study on community engagement found, "marginalized people living through the experience of COVID-19 have embodied knowledge, skills, and experience to inform equitable public policy."

Wealthy nations must also support vulnerable nations by actually adhering to their commitments of sharing vaccine supplies as well as by sharing patents for vaccines so that countries in the Global South can produce them.

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The Philippines' COVID-19 Response Has Left the Most Vulnerable Behind

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Advertisement ­­­­Since early 2020, health experts have emphasized the need to support fragile countries during the pandemic to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 across the world. In response, the G7 nations last year affirmed their commitment to provide "affordable and equitable access to vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics" globally.