The Virus of Fear

I want to share with you the experience of my niece who recently went home to the Philippines for data gathering. As she exited from the arrival area of NAIA, she was met by her mom (my sister), and her two siblings, all of whom were wearing face masks. Her family was also forced to stay in a nearby hotel instead of the original plan of staying in the Quezon City apartment of my brother for the simple reason that the latter (the ever protective and cautious) refused them entry for fear of the virus which my niece may have brought with her.

Today, the World Health Organization has already declared a global pandemic. My University has been closed. Panic is on the streets, with people becoming paranoid about a simple cough.

It is indeed infectious.No. I am not referring to H1N1. I am referring to the virus of fear that has transformed our reunions into pseudo-surgical (if not comical) encounters of the masked kind, has turned kinship away like a plague, and has even forced universities where science and reason are supposed to rule supreme to acquiesce to a bureaucratized gesture of reverse containment. In all of these, international travellers like me are subjected to this process of "othering" in which we are made to feel as if we are deadly carriers of the plague.

But mind you, this is something that happens only in some places, and not in others. I travelled recently across the mainland US from Hawaii to Florida, have been to four airports, expecting to be met by thermal scanners operated by medical bureaucrats in protective attire, and was about ready to wear my mask inside the airplane, only to find out that the US of A, which has far more cases of H1N1 than the Philippines, appears to have a healthy attitude towards this health problem. The University of Hawai'i had four confirmed cases, but classes were not cancelled and offices were not closed, and only the affected people were quarantined. Maybe, the American health bureaucrats are rational enough to know that there is a more logical way to deal with this virus, which by the way has lesser severity compared to the ordinary flu, other than by imposing a blanket reverse quarantine on all internatiolnal travellers and installing thermal scanners in airports. They probably know that a resourceful traveller with fever can cheat the scanners by taking paracetamol two hours before landing. They also probably know that barring people who have travelled anywhere, even in places where there is no known cases, to enter their places of work or study is a bit too much, and in fact could even be challenged in court, particularly if the forced absence would cause serious implications (like missed classes). They also probably know that to impose a mandatory ten-day ban on entry to traveling individuals that cross national borders should also be imposed on those who travel within, particularly from places with already known cases, and if so, could create a nightmare for it could mean a near ban on travel all together. They also probably know that "travel" could also mean commute, so that would even include students and employees who take the bus, the LRT, and other public transportation, thereby opening the doors of employ and study only to those rich enough to drive their own cars.

But we in the Philippines seem to be fixated with rituals instead of substantive remedies. The wearing of masks, the thermal scanners, the denial of entry to traveling workers and students--all of these are our security blankets as we deal with a disease less deadly than the common cold. They may not be effective. But heck, they assure us that at least we are doing something. Never mind if they are not scientifically rational, or they defy common sense. If only we can be as determined in our fight to ward off other threats, far more deadly than this, and here I am not just referring to diseases that threaten our human bodies, but also those that threaten our body politics.But then again, do you imagine yourself wearing a face mask everytime you see a politician?Now, that would be surreal.