The Philippines’ COVID-19 Response: Securitising the Pandemic and Disciplining the Pasaway

Abstract

The Philippine response to COVID-19 has been described as being one of the longest and strictest lockdowns in the world. Why has the Philippine government relied heavily on draconian measures in its “war” against COVID-19? And what discourse informed the framing of its response as a war against the virus? This article argues that the government’s reliance on draconian measures was a consequence of securitising COVID-19, appreciating the virus as an “existential threat.” The securitisation of COVID-19 was reinforced with a narrative characterising the situation of the country as being at war against an “unseen enemy.” This war-like narrative, however, invariably produced a subject, the pasaway. As the perpetual enemy of health and order, the pasaway became the target of disciplining and policing. The targeting of the pasaway was informed by deep-seated class prejudices and Duterte’s authoritarian tendencies.