Major Crises Hits the Country
Two more significant events happened during this period that shook the nation hard, not just because of the magnitude of their scope, but because of the kind of impact it brought upon the nation and the Voice grantees and rightsholder groups. Both events happened in the year 2020. The eruption of Taal Volcano. On January 12, 2020, the Taal Volcano awoke from 43 years of quiet and erupted. The eruption spewed ashes across Calabarzon, Metro Manila, and some parts of Central Luzon and the Ilocos Region, resulting in the suspension of school classes, work schedules, and flights in the area. Damage to people, property, plants, and animals was severe, with 39 deaths recorded. A large percentage of the fish cages in the Taal Lake were destroyed causing farmers to appeal to authorities to feed and harvest the surviving fish despite the lockdowns preventing people from going near the still-active volcano. For Voice, the eruption of Taal Volcano affected grantees and rightsholder groups residing in the affected areas. Yakap sa Kaunlaran ng Bata (YKBI) was one of the organizations affected. Its production shoot for a special feature of an innovation component of the linking, learning,
and facilitation grant in the Philippines had to be pushed back due to strict restrictions on mobility.
The COVID-19 Outbreak. The Taal Volcano eruption was just the start of 2020’s major challenges. As the saying goes, “bad things happen in twos”. And this held true for the Philippines because on March 8, 2020, Proclamation No. 922 was issued, declaring a State of Public Health Emergency throughout the Philippines, enjoining all government agencies and local government units (LGUs) to render full assistance and cooperation and mobilize necessary resources to undertake critical, urgent, and appropriate response and measures to curtail and eliminate the threat of COVID-19. And on March 16, 2020, the whole country was placed under a state of calamity due to the rapid spread of the virus. As a result, resources and movements were limited. Only one person per household was allowed to go out to see to the household’s daily needs such as food and medicines with the situation certainly affecting persons with disabilities and the elderly, especially those living alone. The local and national economy experienced heavy losses affecting all sectors
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