The Philippine Covidscape: Colonial Public Health Redux?

Abstract

Comparing historical perceptions of three epidemics in the Philippines and the responses they elicited allows us to see how these disease outbreaks were conceived in terms of configuration, whether ecological or sociological, and contamination. Cholera in 1902, influenza in 1918–1919, and Covid-19 in 2020 each open up revealing cross sections through Philippine social life, culture, and governance. Furthermore, simplistic assumptions of contamination or pollution—in contrast to more complexly structured configurational models—are correlated with coercive or militaristic reactions to pandemics, including social distancing, lockdowns, curfews, and suppression of dissent.

KEYWORDS: MEDICINE • SCIENCE • HISTORY • CHOLERA • INFLUENZA • COVID-19