Children and the pandemic

It was profoundly disturbing listening to over 50 children representing 24 barangays of Davao Del Norte and Davao City narrate their life situations since the outbreak of the pandemic during the online Children’s Summit on Nov. 26, 2020, organized by the ACT for Children Alliance to observe the 2020 National Children’s Month. The theme was “Sama-samang Itaguyod ang Karapatan ng Bawat Bata sa Panahon ng Pandemya!”

For most of the children, the summit was a breather from house confinement since draconian measures were imposed by the government to address COVID-19. Three children from an urban poor community took turns narrating the hunger they and several other children have endured following the loss of jobs of their parents. Nonetheless, we need to survive by all means, the children said. They shared that whenever they didn’t see any policemen around, they would sneak to the public market and do heavy errands for stall owners for a few pesos, or sell plastic bags to market goers. Additionally, the remaining days of October gave the children hope of respite from hunger when people started to visit public cemeteries to pay homage to their dead. The kids looked forward to earning money by cleaning the graveyards and painting the tombs for the visitors. But that opportunity to earn never came. The Davao City government locked down the cemeteries days before “Undas.”

Several children disclosed how violent quarrels in the family intensified, and how they became the targets of outbursts by their jobless parents. Many shared experiences of severe physical abuse in the hands of their parents. They also intimated about other children in their neighborhood who have been sexually violated inside their homes by a family member or a neighbor, or who have experienced online bullying and sexual abuse by their own peers.

Education under the pandemic has become a multiple whammy for many children, with many complaining about the blended learning system imposed by the Department of Education. Many children said the smart phones they use for online classes are being used by two other siblings. Meanwhile, children are often in a quandary to maintain sufficient e-load to keep internet connection uninterrupted. Blended learning is based on a weak assumption, they suggested—that all parents have the capacity to assist them in the process. As a boy intimated, his mother is always dismissive whenever he asks her for help to understand a subject matter. It was also quite disturbing to hear the children’s complaints about certain contents in the learning modules that they felt were irrelevant, or worse, were using examples that mocked women and the LGBT community, or were laden with politically offensive undertones. Amid these constraints, children said they are often being rushed to submit their answers to exams for each module.

A group of children disclosed how they witnessed cops swooping into houses in the neighborhood and spraying bullets on their helpless targets. They no longer knock on doors or ask people to surrender, the children said; police simply barge into the houses of their targets, in front of children. In a few minutes they’re done, leaving dead bodies behind. It was heartrending to hear children plead to the police: “Please first secure our safety before carrying out ‘tokhang.’” Children concluded with an urgent appeal to the government to stop the killings and to run only after the real criminals. Unfortunately, no government official was present to react to the children’s pleas, despite invitations.

In this part of the country where people have become indifferent to genuine cries against continuing injustice, violence, and untruth, the children’s stories reveal the untold state of young Filipinos in a region that proudly says “Life is Here,” and beg for answers—and relief—from people in power.

Bernie Mondragon is executive director of Child Alert Mindanao, Inc.