We were hoping that the COVID-19 outbreak would be tapering off by now, after it grabbed the headlines since early January, and that it would be under control or be over by March or April.
It does not look like that is happening. There is no reason to panic, but experts continue to urge utmost precaution as new cases are reported in many parts of the world – in South Korea, Japan, Iran, and Italy, among others.
We try to assure ourselves that life should go on as usual. But we are still in unusual times. Consider the extraordinary response of various governments all over the world to the virus outbreak. Even the markets have reacted significantly, with the S&P Dow Jones losing US$1.7 trillion in value in two days due to fears of a global growth slowdown caused by this crisis.
Recent reports emerging in relation to COVID-19 are hard to ignore. For instance, as Japan presses ahead with the 2020 Olympics preparations, there is a possibility, according to a member of the International Olympic Committee, that the virus outbreak could force the cancellation of the games.
The World Health Organization is also telling countries to prepare for the possibility of the outbreak graduating into a pandemic, though it says that it’s too soon to make that call. A pandemic is defined as “an epidemic of disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents, or worldwide.”
Here in Cebu, it was reported that 26 Koreans from Daegu City arrived at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport last Tuesday. They have not shown symptoms of the disease and are considered persons under monitoring. Reports state that all 26 tourists have already been traced staying in hotels in Cebu City and Lapu-Lapu City.
Daegu is the city in North Gyeongsang province, South Korea, where the number of infections had surged to 977 as of February 25. The Korea Herald reported that most of these cases were linked to a branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in that city and the Cheongdo Daenam Hospital in Cheongdo, North Gyeongsang province.
As a result, the Philippine government has imposed a ban on all travelers coming from North Gyeongsang province. While travel restrictions are in order, there should be no reason to fear and discriminate against foreign visitors and residents here just because their country has reported a surge in cases of COVID-19.
As regards Koreans in Cebu, it is a fact that there is a vibrant Korean community here that has existed for many years already. Many of us have in fact become fans of Korean BBQ, samgyeopsal, bulgogi, and bibimbap, and their side dishes offered in various Korean restaurants here.
Koreans and many other foreigners have opted to make Cebu their second home. According to a report by The FREEMAN yesterday, South Korea is the biggest source of tourists for the Philippines. About 1.45 million South Koreans visited the country in the first nine months last year, the bulk of which came to Cebu.
Cebuanos have always been known to be warm and welcoming to various nationalities, and we don’t even mind foreigners immersing in our culture. Thus, there is reason to hope that the “pathogen of prejudice” against certain ethnicities, as The Economist called it in America, will not take root in our own community.
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The nation recently commemorated the 34th EDSA anniversary. I’ve been looking for inspiring words related to EDSA for this year’s anniversary, and I heard them from my former Constitutional Law and Legal History professor at the University of the Philippines College of Law, Dean Pacifico Agabin. Dean Agabin’s stature in the legal community and his delivery of the words from a late American judge, made the words come to life in a most profound way.
Speaking at the International Forum on Lawfare in Manila last February 21, Dean Agabin concluded his speech with a quote from Judge Learned Hand: “Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no court can save it; no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it.”
“So today, let not liberty die in the hearts of men and women. Salamat po,” my 83-year old former professor said. Indeed, words to live by in the constant struggle to uphold liberty against the skullduggery of tyrants and authoritarians, and those trolls and paid hacks in social media.