Transition to normal after COVID-19
Published Feb 28, 2022 12:05 am
THE LEGAL FRONT
Atty. Arturo D. Brion, Ll.B, Ll.M.
The nation must be happy that COVID-19 now appears to be on the wane. Still, our elation must be guarded as the transition may not at all be that easy; we should realize that a favorable outcome will largely depend on whether we can continue to observe and maintain the lessons that COVID -19 left with us. We can still plunge to the old depths and even reach deeper levels if we lose our head and revert to our old undisciplined ways. We must also realize that outside of COVID-19 are new challenges – like war - that could pose risks greater than those that came with COVID-19.
We really ought to be happy if we can avoid these new challenges as we shall have then said goodbye to the miseries and deaths that COVID-19 brought with it. Unlike our parents, our generation never suffered from war except for the limited and localized conflict that hit Marawi City (whose after-shocks the country still feels). If we continue to avoid war under the new post COVID-19 normal, then the limited deaths and miseries that COVID-19 has so far brought with it would be the totality of our miseries. We are far from certain though of what lies ahead for us.
In today’s world, we are never out of the woods in terms of dangers to life and well being.
As I was writing this article, initial reports came that war has started in Eastern Europe in the manner that war developed there about 80 or so years ago, i.e., due to the adventurism of a misguided strong man who is daring the world to stop his hunger for expansion. The only difference now is that then, - because of the western political leaders’ unbridled quest for peace that almost knew no limits, the world blinked when the intrusive strongman persisted. We hope that this time, our leaders would be steadfast in the resolve for honorable peace; peace at all costs and without honor, is no less than abject surrender and is the wrong signal to send to strongmen and dictators.
Eastern Europe and Ukraine, the current troubled areas, are of course half a world away from us. The whole world, though, has shrunk and is now smaller due to the advances of science, technology and the new found kinships among people. We have become one inter-related global community where pain in one part can radiate and can be felt by the whole. Unbridled ambition, particularly for conquest and expansion, may also know no bounds and may have no respect for distance; thus distance, is not a guarantee of peace and trouble-free existence for us.
Additionally, the European strong man may have a counterpart in our part of the world who has his own ambitions for conquest and expansion. I refer here to China and its unfounded claim for our West Philippine Sea. This combination is a potent brew that, once exposed - even to an unintended to a spark - can flare up, to the regret of everyone, both warmongers and peace seekers alike.
An immediate and necessary victim if international political problems persist would be our national economy. Although we are a small far-away nation, our economy is tied to the apron strings of the world economy and could immediately suffer or at least be badly shaken.
Once the flow of precious oil from its natural sources (largely, the Middle East for us and Eastern Europe for most of Europe) is disrupted, worldwide production, industry, world trade and the flow of money and investments could follow, plunging our small vulnerable economy to near its melting point. Together with this down turn would fly away our food and health security, and the results of our efforts to protect our already fragile environment.
Last but not the least, whether we like it or not at this point in our history, we are aligned with, and we depend on, one of the potential war protagonists – the US – for our national defense and security. Because of this alliance, of our strategic geographical location (at the sealane crossroad of Southeast Asian region), and of China’s own potential stakes in a Ukraine-Russia conflict, we shall be an active blip in the war radar, pulsating stronger as the political conflagration heightens.
Aside from these, other aspects of our national interests also stand to be adversely affected. Our youths and their education, among others, could fall from their current precarious perch. As had happened when the COVID-19 pandemic started in March, 2020, our educational system could again be brought to a stand still, a situation that, at some point, no amount of distance learning efforts can immediately remedy. From the perspective of a retired judicial officer and teacher of law, educational disruption could potentially have disastrous effects, particularly for the administration of justice and the rule of law, both in the medium and in the long term.
Thus, overall, while I am happy that COVID-19 appears ready to go, I am really far from relieved because of the circumstances surrounding COVID-19’s leave taking.
Immediately, we in the Philippines should take steps to protect the lessons that COVID-19 has left with us. Among these lessons is discipline in maintaining our individual, financial and economic health; the sense of community that we developed and strengthened as we saw our countrymen suffer and our economy plunge in 2020; our sensivity to danger signals to our individual and community lives; and our willingness to embrace sacrifice and to think and act as concerned Filipinos, all for the sake of our communities and our country.
If we can still improve on all these, then we might have learned our lessons well and will have no problem surviving COVID-19’s transition to a new and improved normal.
[email protected]
Atty. Arturo D. Brion, Ll.B, Ll.M.
The nation must be happy that COVID-19 now appears to be on the wane. Still, our elation must be guarded as the transition may not at all be that easy; we should realize that a favorable outcome will largely depend on whether we can continue to observe and maintain the lessons that COVID -19 left with us. We can still plunge to the old depths and even reach deeper levels if we lose our head and revert to our old undisciplined ways. We must also realize that outside of COVID-19 are new challenges – like war - that could pose risks greater than those that came with COVID-19.
We really ought to be happy if we can avoid these new challenges as we shall have then said goodbye to the miseries and deaths that COVID-19 brought with it. Unlike our parents, our generation never suffered from war except for the limited and localized conflict that hit Marawi City (whose after-shocks the country still feels). If we continue to avoid war under the new post COVID-19 normal, then the limited deaths and miseries that COVID-19 has so far brought with it would be the totality of our miseries. We are far from certain though of what lies ahead for us.
In today’s world, we are never out of the woods in terms of dangers to life and well being.
As I was writing this article, initial reports came that war has started in Eastern Europe in the manner that war developed there about 80 or so years ago, i.e., due to the adventurism of a misguided strong man who is daring the world to stop his hunger for expansion. The only difference now is that then, - because of the western political leaders’ unbridled quest for peace that almost knew no limits, the world blinked when the intrusive strongman persisted. We hope that this time, our leaders would be steadfast in the resolve for honorable peace; peace at all costs and without honor, is no less than abject surrender and is the wrong signal to send to strongmen and dictators.
Eastern Europe and Ukraine, the current troubled areas, are of course half a world away from us. The whole world, though, has shrunk and is now smaller due to the advances of science, technology and the new found kinships among people. We have become one inter-related global community where pain in one part can radiate and can be felt by the whole. Unbridled ambition, particularly for conquest and expansion, may also know no bounds and may have no respect for distance; thus distance, is not a guarantee of peace and trouble-free existence for us.
Additionally, the European strong man may have a counterpart in our part of the world who has his own ambitions for conquest and expansion. I refer here to China and its unfounded claim for our West Philippine Sea. This combination is a potent brew that, once exposed - even to an unintended to a spark - can flare up, to the regret of everyone, both warmongers and peace seekers alike.
An immediate and necessary victim if international political problems persist would be our national economy. Although we are a small far-away nation, our economy is tied to the apron strings of the world economy and could immediately suffer or at least be badly shaken.
Once the flow of precious oil from its natural sources (largely, the Middle East for us and Eastern Europe for most of Europe) is disrupted, worldwide production, industry, world trade and the flow of money and investments could follow, plunging our small vulnerable economy to near its melting point. Together with this down turn would fly away our food and health security, and the results of our efforts to protect our already fragile environment.
Last but not the least, whether we like it or not at this point in our history, we are aligned with, and we depend on, one of the potential war protagonists – the US – for our national defense and security. Because of this alliance, of our strategic geographical location (at the sealane crossroad of Southeast Asian region), and of China’s own potential stakes in a Ukraine-Russia conflict, we shall be an active blip in the war radar, pulsating stronger as the political conflagration heightens.
Aside from these, other aspects of our national interests also stand to be adversely affected. Our youths and their education, among others, could fall from their current precarious perch. As had happened when the COVID-19 pandemic started in March, 2020, our educational system could again be brought to a stand still, a situation that, at some point, no amount of distance learning efforts can immediately remedy. From the perspective of a retired judicial officer and teacher of law, educational disruption could potentially have disastrous effects, particularly for the administration of justice and the rule of law, both in the medium and in the long term.
Thus, overall, while I am happy that COVID-19 appears ready to go, I am really far from relieved because of the circumstances surrounding COVID-19’s leave taking.
Immediately, we in the Philippines should take steps to protect the lessons that COVID-19 has left with us. Among these lessons is discipline in maintaining our individual, financial and economic health; the sense of community that we developed and strengthened as we saw our countrymen suffer and our economy plunge in 2020; our sensivity to danger signals to our individual and community lives; and our willingness to embrace sacrifice and to think and act as concerned Filipinos, all for the sake of our communities and our country.
If we can still improve on all these, then we might have learned our lessons well and will have no problem surviving COVID-19’s transition to a new and improved normal.
[email protected]