One of the disappointing side effects of the deepening coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) outbreak is how quickly it has exposed the Duterte administration as a fair-weather government. Initially dismissive of the spread of the novel coronavirus when it was still largely present only in China — even to the extent of demurring on imposing travel restrictions or suspending the operations of those damnable Philippine offshore gaming operators out of concern that the Chinese might be offended — the government has been scrambling to catch up in recent days, with not much success so far.
The best indicator that the government was caught flatfooted and unprepared has been its extreme sensitivity to appearances: Chastising the media for characterizing the lockdown — first in Metro Manila, then the whole of Luzon — as a “lockdown,” instead of an “enhanced community quarantine” (interesting fact: it’s a lockdown); giving the Inter Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) extralegal prominence and authority to compensate for failing to convene it earlier in a role and under circumstances spelled out in its enabling law; and thwarting any creative effort by local government officials that does not adhere to its strictly vertical protocols.