We are shut down. Our mayor gave a sack of rice (and a live chicken until he ran out of chickens) to every family.
this is a help for the poor, although we still have a lot of people coming to the door for rice or money to buy food. And some towns, the mayors either don't have the money to do this, or have diverted the aid money (or are suspected to have diverted the money but didn't, but are considered guilty anyway).
when hunger strikes, expect riots or worse.
In our town, all those over 65 were given ten dollars (500 pesos). I didn't want it, but the staff insisted I take it (and of course I promptly gave it to the cook, whose family is huge and many are tricycle drivers out of work).
I didn't know we also got a sack of rice: apparently the handyman/janitor of our business signed for it at he door, and took it home for his family (or I should say, families... he has a second wife on the side).
This upset the cook and the secretary (who lives here and we pay for her family's food) who wanted it for their families.
Kuya is out on the farm helping with the harvest for our fields and those of our subcontracted farmers (i.e. supplying the harvester/ thresher for the smaller farmers) and supervising the drying and bagging of the rice. We sell our own brand of organic rice, which requires a different form of cultivation and weeding, but land reform means the family's traditional land was "sold" to the farmers who worked the land many years ago. But there is still the relationship there, and so many are subcontracted to grow our rice.
Our town is completely shut down, but the harvest is the harvest and won't wait.
The worry is that there will be a rice shortage during the "hunger season", i.e. in the time when farmers have eaten their rice and spent their money from the last harvest, but the new crop isn't ready yet.
our subcontracted farmers will come to us for loans, but the independent and small farmers, many. of whom also have jobs in town and are out of work will be short of money. The help from family members working overseas are needed to keep them from dire poverty.
Not just the Philippines: I read the president of Mexico has asked his people working in the USA to continue to send money to their families during the shutdown.
Trumpieboy discussed the oil industry agreement in his last press conference: but it's not just US oil workers whose jobs are at risk from the low price of oil, but countries in the Middle East, who run the oil fields with the help of overseas workers from India, Pakistan and the Philippines etc. So you can see how the slowing of the global economy affects many.
It's not just the virus: the Philippines is not independent for food, and imports a lot of rice from Vietnam: but Vietnam and Thailand are having a drought, and might not have a lot of cheap rice to sell.
as for fish: the recent bans on fishing because of overfishing (mainly by Chinese factory boats, but never mind: The Philippines is easier to blame) to protect the environment is now made worse by forbidding fishing because....virus.
as for us; most of the fresh fish we eat are talapia and other fish farmed locally.
COVID-19 CASES BREAKDOWN (PH) (as of April 9, 2020 - 4:00 PM) CONFIRMED CASES: 4,076 RECOVERED: 124 DEATHS: 203
as opposed to the less publicized but widespread Dengue fever:
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Philippines health officials have reported 25,502 dengue fever cases through Feb. 8, including 78 deaths during the first six weeks of the year.
Virtueonline, an Anglican website, has posted an article about the virus in Africa: not a lot of numbers next to the many thousands who die from malaria or other common diseases, but the pressure to use western style prevention methods might make things worse.
and yes, many of these countries will stop planting the next crop for prevention of virus spread:
Pastor Campos Afonso's report from churches in Angola is repeated throughout the continent where most states are in lockdown. The President of Angola declared a quarantine and State of Emergency from 27 March-11 April. All church meetings are closed. Pastors, leaders and members are observing the measures in their homes to combat the virus from spreading.
If the lockdown situation of COVID-19 continues it will affect the 2020 harvest because people will not be able to work in the fields. The lockdown means a shortage of work, tools and transport to take products from the countryside to the cities.
Lack of transport also means people cannot get from the cities to work on their family land to gather the harvest. Products collected this year will rot in the fields. New seeds will be in short supply for cultivation in the next year.
People are consuming the products that were being reserved as seeds for planting in 20202021 after having sold the December and January production. Most have nothing to eat in this period of isolation. Many could die of hunger instead of being killed by COVID-19. Locals say that church intervention is needed to help the most vulnerable people and poor Christians.
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