The Yuletide season provides a good reason to return to normal, but first a few lessons to remember from pandemics and epidemics of the past

We have a lot to be grateful for as we see the end of 2022.

Things have gotten back to some semblance of normal this year, after two years of something very not normal. The pandemic hit us big time. Over six million people died from Covid and there have been over 600 million reported cases around the world.

Covid is still with us.  Some countries have resigned to live with it while others like China continue to fight on a zero Covid policy. Fortunately for the Philippines, we have been allowed to choose whether or not to wear face masks but we still need to adhere to standard health protocols to prevent the spread of the Covid virus.

This is not the first time the Philippines has experienced a global public health crisis. The influenza pandemic or Spanish flu of 1918-1919 had had a great impact on the country. Then an American colony, its response to the Spanish flu was riddled with racial, military (WW1 recruitment of American health workers to join the war in Europe), and bureaucratic obstacles, which made containment of the virus even more difficult. About 800,000 Filipinos died of the Spanish flu.

There was also the cholera outbreak in the Philippines almost 20 years earlier, soon after the Philippine-American War (1899-1902) that saw 166,252 cases and 109,461 dead. I learned about the cholera epidemic in the Philippines when I was on a dig in Sta Teresita or the old Buan in Batangas. The city of Buan has moved a few times for various reasons. In the case of our site and our findings, the old Buan was abandoned in the1690s because of constant flooding or frequent fluvial disturbance.

While excavating a fort-like structure along the shores of Taal lake, we unearthed a number of mass graves. Based on a number of associated materials recovered like pieces of clothing and accessories (a button), we were able to determine the date and the possible reasons for the mass internment of people found on site. One of these reasons was cholera. Upon cursory reading of literature, we learned of the epidemic as a result of the military conflict and aftermath of the Philippine-American War. Often, more deaths would occur not of soldiers in battle but rather civilians. As Mathew Smallman-Raynor and Andrew D. Cliff mentioned in their paper, The Epidemiological Legacy of War: The Philippine-American War and the Diffusion of Cholera in Batangas and La Laguna in South-West Luzon 1902-1904, “With war comes intensified mobility, mixing, assembly, and concentration of military and civil populations.” This they say increases the chances of transmission of infectious diseases. They added that “people’s resistance to infections may be compromised by mental health and physical stress, trauma, and nutritional deprivation.” Also cited to pertain to the “unhealthiness of war” were “unsanitary conditions and the collapse of the ‘normal’ rules of social behaviour.”

Batangas and Laguna were the last organized pockets of resistance against the Americans during the Philippine-American War.

The country has seen epidemics visit our shores in epic proportions. We have also been hit by the likes of Ebola, bird flu, SARS, and swine flu yet, like the rest of the world, we have managed to learn—and remember—some of the lessons of the past. 

As Francis A. Gaelogo pointed out in his Philippine Studies article, The Philippines in the World of the Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919, societies and states have the ability “to avoid the repetition of some of the mistakes taken by the health authorities in the past.” He adds, “The challenge remains for most societies to be prepared for the emergence of the next possible pandemic.”

Now that Christmas is upon us, it is time to rejoice. As President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said during the Christmas tree lighting at Malacañan Palace early this week, “We have been blessed, despite all the challenges.” Indeed, the past three years has been challenging. “Matagal na natin inantay ito. Kahit ‘yun nakaraang Pasko ay medyo pigil pa, so tatlong taon na tayong hindi nakapag-Pasko ng Pasko ng Pilipino (We’ve been waiting for this. Last Christmas, we were still holding back),” added the President.

We have been blessed, despite the challenges. —President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

With the lighting of the Christmas tree in front of the Maharlika Hall, the president has officially declared the start of the Christmas season. The President proudly described how Christmas as celebrated by Filipinos is very unique. “Wala kang makikita kahit saan man sa buong mundo na mas masaya ang mga tao kapag Pasko at lalong-lalo na ang mga bata (Nowhere else in the world can you see people happier at Christmas, especially the children). As the president put it, Christmas is really for the children. So let the children have great memories this Christmas. After all, as immortalized by the Whitney Houston song, “Our children are our future.”

For more information of the topics above here are some recommended readings:

On the Spanish Flu in the Philippines.

On the Cholera Epidemic in the Philippines 1902-1904.