The Philippines’ COVID-19 Response: Symptoms of Deeper Malaise in the Philippine Health System

The Philippine government’s COVID-19 response has been reactive, ad hoc and inadequate. While quarantine and social distancing measures may have slowed down the spread of new cases of SARSCoV2 infections, the government has been slow to scale up the capacity of the healthcare system to test, trace and treat COVID-19 patients as well as attend to the non-COVID related health needs of the population. The gaps and failings in the government’s COVID-19 response can not merely be attributed to poor leadership or the lack of experience in dealing with a pandemic of this scale. From the onset, the Philippine’s pandemic response has been fundamentally constrained by the sorry state of the public health system in the country. This weak public health system is the result of deliberate policy choices, fiscal priorities and institutional design made over many years up to the present. As the country and the rest of the world move slowly and cautiously towards a “new normal,” it is essential to remedy the fundamental ills of the Philippine health system beyond the requisites of dealing with emergency situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. We need an inclusive, just and equitable health system that will help us look forward to a “new and better normal” for all.