Bridgeway to the Past: Parellism of Then and Now by ABCDEE GALANG

Cholera Epidemic

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COVID-19 Pandemic

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National Aid

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Modernization has played a role in every aspect of a person's life and every field alive, especially in the medical world where its system would have been even better than before. Aside from fire to ensure safety, there was more. When the struck of COVID-19 pandemic on March 2020, including the Philippines, a variety of medical implications were put to the table. There was the idea of disinfection, and heat for beating disease enemy. Hygiene practices such as the washing of hands, face masks; personal protection, and the invention of COVID-19 vaccines were significant measures to fight the global occurrence that was evident in the Philippine setting, which then again, was initiated by foreignism (Sirage Ali et al., 2023), WHO, members are majorly Americans. Sounds quite familiar, does it? Is this a repetition of the past or just merely the fact foreigners are more scientifically inclined compared to Asian groups?

Highlight of the Health Crisis

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Technological advancements have paved the way to offer diverse resolutions to the heavy societal falls when the pandemic came to serve the nation in December 2020. One of those infamous innovations was the beginning of a world centered on technology usage, the new normal, where online platforms mean, it will be in the form of a non-physical contact but would surely take your message across regardless of distance and time. It was a prominent event and consequence brought about by the effects of the pandemic on the people ensuring progression amidst the stagnant movement of adaption which was a positive enforcement of change (Rezaee, 2022). However, the supplication of basic needs still came within the national surface as food shortage due to panic buying and loss of employment in the early peak of the pandemic in March 2020 also became an issue not due to agricultural damage but the lack of access to food security and limited food supply by those left vulnerable to hunger, the poor, as the privileged were prioritized as they have the means to do so making the people off in the lower socio-economic more prone to hunger and starvation (Javier, 2022). With the rising concern of inequality, government attention was being lightened to be heard and seen. If colonial government prevailed in the past, the pandemic showed an unresponsive government where from the asking of satisfying humane factors to sustain life left unanswered to the temporary and non-long term implementations of actions, the COVID-19 pandemic presented an impasse change of the government to survive the health issue strike in the nation leaving its people behind.

Government Action

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Government systems have changed over the years since the beginning of the Spanish colonial era contributing to the current governance of the Philippines. Winning in the battle for Independence, what made sets Philippine government do how the Americans handle wide-scope health issues like the pandemic? In January 2020, health kits was made available for mass testing. During the pandemic strike era, the first six months of 2020, millions of Filipinos were victimized by the poor management of the government creating a domino effect in the national welfare. Duterte’s administration proved a backsliding incompetency when it comes to political involvement in decreasing the mortality rate during the COVID-19 pandemic (Surtini, 2021). Their primary control was giving the idea of quarantine measures since March to April 2020 that continued until 2021 among the public to ensure self-participation and obedience (Rabajante, 2021) which soon then became a quick resolution when facing a critical hike of COVID-19 victims where the mass began commenting on the lack of effective protocol was not evident within the government’s mission (Hall, 2023). Connecting its existence during the cholera epidemic, it was the current version of forced isolation where, out of the various preventive platforms they could offer, they always resolved to use isolation as the main long-term protocol that was deemed deficient in changing the system of addressing COVID-19 as continuous rise of victim rate kept on going as vaccination delivery only came within the country in 2021 after a year of outbreak.

Societal Effect

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COVID-19 portrayed a gray area upon its landing in the Philippines since its arrival in 2020. There a definite widely identified positive and negative impacts in regards to how complex its consequences are. It was the time when the world stopped moving due to the rule of lockdown which showed its immediate result through the decrease of pollution existing not only in the Philippines but in the global eye view as well (Barua et al., 2021). In a situation where crises make their way, community help was a Filipino trait and that was seen during the moment of the pandemic, April 2021, as a community pantry was introduced to alleviate the needs of those underprivileged, embedding their role as public empowerment for pro-poor program (Del Castillo et al., 2021). Aside from these affirmative happenings, there was still psychological fear in the minds of the Filipinos as no one was able to predict its existence in the national land and its fast-paced victim rate causing further emotional distress during the COVID-19 period (Tee, 2020) marking its similarities during the cholera epidemic.

National Aid

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Since the historical period of sanitation, the concept of heat to inhibit the spread of unwanted microorganisms has been a leading rationale for any hygienic practices, and the era of the Cholera epidemic is not excluded from that background since its first case cholera victim in March 14, 1902. The rapid number of cholera victims during the 1902 era of Philippine history has led to the conclusion that the Americans implemented the use of arson to victim houses or cremation as a burial method of the dead to decrease the contagious factor of the disease to the people (Arnold, 2017) which further adds the timeless usage of heat to kill bacteria. However, despite its utilization, the spreading of the virus still prospered resulting in little change in the affected rate in the Philippines. The existence of using past scientific studies has been embedded since then. Still, as a standalone solution, it would prosper like what happened in the cholera epidemic which calls for additional solutions to stop the disease from consuming the society as a whole with its deadly power.

Highlight of the Health Crisis

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In 1898 to 1902, war aftermath destructive effect that puts the masses into play the role of being the utmost victim of natural catastrophe and in the case of cholera, there was the involvement of agricultural disruption due to the ongoing gunfight between the Filipinos, who were the people of Independence, and the American colonizers, the oppressor (De Bovoise, 1995). Without having the opportunity to recover from the breakage of agricultural infrastructure from 1900 to April 1902 till General Malvar's surrender to the Americans, a leader of independent movement, food scarcity then followed like a shadow in the chaos, leaving the locals in hunger for their stomachs. Food shortages struck the nation which soon became the leading cause of death rather than contagious disease flowing through the land (Smallman et al., 2000). One of the great dilemmas, the Philippines had to encounter during the epidemic period was the resistance against another colonial system of government after years of Spanish captivity, in short, a one-time fortune to create an independent rule which in the end was in vain as food inadequacy became a pushing priority to halt the implementation of self-governance in the Philippines, the great loss of the Filipino during its time (Willis, 1905).

Government Action

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The colonialism period in the Philippines covers almost half of its history where after years of being in a state of powerlessness brought by the different sectors whose only main objective was to bring exploitation of the nation to its available resources or build a parasitism relationship that eventually influenced the overall supposedly Filipino cultural practices that today has various foreign blood factors (Jadloc, 2022). In the hands of colonizers, having their vision to develop and manipulate the nation in controlling the cholera attack, concentration camps began to isolate those victims. It stood as an infection control process whose intention was not well-received by the locals as it invoked contradictory information against the beliefs of the Filipinos resulting in non-adherence to the measure given by the Americans (Acevedo, 2021). Violent and harsh implementation of isolation during the first half months of 1902 since its first case, has produced disobedient behavior among the locals making cholera prosper within the land, proving inefficient action led by the American government whose idea was to offer and teach sanitary measures to their current oppressed group which marked one of their attempts to change the life-long health perception of the Filipinos that marked as well their stereotypical statements in addressing this situation as the American government has delivered their sense of superiority in terms intellectual capacity compared to the locals (Elias, 2014).

Societal Effect

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From the 1902 to February 1904, the unexpectedness of challenges would always test the resiliency aspect of a country, and when cholera came, it was not only the resiliency of the Filipinos that was tested, it was their willingness to adopt a mind-changing health system given by the Americans among the fear that was consuming the society as a whole (Heiser, 1918). Given the non-enthusiastic technology environment before, there was only so much the Americans could do to provide sanitary ways to the Filipinos as the attack of the cholera was rapid, affecting not only the Filipinos but different races as well (Ileto, 1988) that eventually led to the increasing morbidity in the country by the disease. It caused emotional panic among the people inflicting fear against the disease which was further worsened by the unequal medical aid provided. If a Chinese or an American individual was infected by cholera, they were given any means to recover from the sickness, a place to heal to regain health completeness which is the total opposite of what the Filipinos were experiencing provided by the American government, further highlighting the discriminatory impact on the Philippine society.

Connection

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Between the two concepts, there is only one thing for sure, the existing parallelism. Decades apart within the same national space, similarities are pinpointed that are even close to being described as a “Deja vu” as there is the repetition of history within the idea of health catastrophe where millions of lives have been put into the line. Government irresponsibility or the reaction of the people has marked such repetition of occurrences despite having different oppressors and timelines. It only shows the natural human instinct of fighting against all odds as no matter what is faced, there would always be the primary response of surviving the wave of battle, a unique attribute of mankind, openness to adopting. In between these connections, academic takeaways were created. The untold story of cholera amidst the famous American colonialism has provided an insight whose objective was to deliver another spectrum of the period no seems to take initiate on telling what is the other part of the story and how its correlation is manifested in proving the power of people to withstand health crises and those who lay in their graves brought by such diseases contributed to the evolution of time; opening a period of recovery to come.

Health Perception

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Progression has made its way into the minds of Filipinos. Looking back at the historical background of health evolution, there has been a significant advancement. Today, Filipinos are more open to listening to logical-centered health reasoning compared to before especially in the COVID-19 period from 2020 to present time where more information is disseminated and produced to hone the knowledge of the people following their literacy capability which caused a big shift in the health system of the Philippines (Seposo, 2019). From a religious-focused mind to evidence-based practices, improvement has been seen within the society in the Philippines marking a change in their health behavior and outlook, including their religious-induced folk medicines, and a more scientific health administration resulting in a multicultural health system in the Philippines (Rondilla, 2020).

Health Perception

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Religious inclination was a prominent belief system of the Filipinos that became the mode of source when dealing with health concerns which became the enemy of the Americans when trying to rebuild and reconstruct the societal circle of religious involvement to a more scientific reasoning in the 1900''s (Acevedo, 2021). The peak of the cholera epidemic delivered a clear attitude of the Filipinos when facing the moment struggle in the eyes of the Americans. After all the measures given and performed, almost half were contradicted by the Filipinos as an instinctive response to being resistant to change (Heiser, 1918). With the ulterior motive of providing enhancement and relieving the situation, Filipinos did not listen as things were too formal on their level of understanding that was emphasized with a festive celebration on May 1902 (Ileto, 1988) producing such a reaction from the masses that aggravated the Americans as they had to address this thinking system within their oppressed land.

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