ABSTRACT
The Philippines has to date had one of the world’s longest lockdowns and states of emergency in response to COVID-19 and yet also had the second highest COVID-19 caseload in Southeast Asia as of July 2021. The Philippine government responded to the pandemic by declaring a state of public health emergency and placing the whole country under a state of calamity in March 2020, while Congress passed two laws that gave the president limited emergency powers to address the pandemic. These are consistent with the 1987 Constitution and other laws. However, the use of these emergency powers led to greater executive dominance, with Congress not maximising its oversight functions and the judiciary, already weakened before the pandemic, and struggling to function during it. In addition, the ineffective, punitive and top-down response of the executive branch to the pandemic led to more COVID-19 cases, violation of citizens’ rights, unequal treatment of different social groups and harassment of citizens and groups alleged to be critics and enemies of government. However, community-based initiatives of citizens, groups and local governments also addressed the pandemic and its effects.
