Community Quarantines and Social Protection Programs: Philippine Pandemic Response Viewed through the Human Security Framework

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic illustrates the interconnectedness of various forms of human (in) security, resulting from multiple, interconnected, and mutually reinforcing factors. The human security framework calls for the adoption of distinct approaches in responding to issues in more comprehensive and context-specific ways. However, the overall pandemic response of the Philippine government has arguably sprung from a conceptualisation of threat that is generally opposed to the human security approach. The “militarized” (Imbong 2021; Hapal 2021; Agojo 2021; GibsonFall 2021) COVID-19 management resulted in yet another form of insecurity, inadvertently or not, coming from state functionaries. Although the military's organizational structure may provide advantages, military leadership may similarly negatively affect other dimensions of people's lives, such as their hardearned civil liberties. Though existent, social protection programs also had lapses. These included issues with inaccurate targeting systems, insufficient financial assistance to provide a proper safety net, delayed distributions of cash assistance, and the coordination between national and local governments. The study underscores the importance of ensuring robust frameworks for equitable and just welfare distribution through State social protection programs. However, the magnitude of the pandemic and the tendencies of some states to revert to more traditional and statecentric security approaches when faced with global problems highlight the gaps in the human security framework as understood and practiced today. These gaps emphasize the need to adopt a more critical human security stance that integrates the unique social and cultural contexts of the affected communities to allow a better balance between protection and empowerment during emergency and disaster situations.