12  CONCLUSION
Using a fair allocation approach, this paper has highlighted how closely the experiences of various socio‐economic and political sectors are bound inextricably together. The various factors leading to the high rate of transmissibility of the SARS‐CoV‐2 virus, the high mortality rate, the need for isolation and quarantine, the indispensability of help coming from various types of frontline workers, and the need for large numbers of ICU facilities and healthcare workers have established very forcefully the interconnectivity and interdependence of all human beings regardless of sex, ethnic origin, age, economic class, or nationality. In the presence of the highly transmissible SARS‐CoV‐2, one person’s virus could literally be every person’s infection because of our physical interconnectivity, as discussed above. It is because of our interconnectivity and interdependence that, in a very real sense, every person is every other person’s keeper – one cannot be safe if the other person is not safe.
We have observed that problematic experiences during the COVID‐19 pandemic have arisen from systemic and persistent inequities. The interconnected and overlapping fronts that we have had to face in the course of the pandemic in the country are evidently related to the inequitable social and economic circumstances that existed way before the pandemic became a threat. The interconnection between the proper allocation of societal resources and the health status of society in general cannot be overlooked. The short‐term efforts exerted to contain the pandemic have to be aimed at addressing the inequities. Having existed for a long time, these inequities deserve everyone’s attention not only during the pandemic but also when we emerge from it. This glaring reality may have been overlooked as authorities focus on the short term and see the measures as a requirement to tide us over until we can go back to normal. Thus, addressing the manifestations of the inequities has happened incidentally rather than deliberately, using stop‐gap rather than long‐term measures.
Yet, what we are going through now is not merely a fleeting disaster but an instantiation of chronic injustice characterized by inequities on many fronts. The totality of our experiences relating to the pandemic constitutes evidence that the inequitable access to essential goods and services needs to be overcome – not only for the sake of the underprivileged but also for the sake of everybody else regardless of economic, political, or social status. What is being asked of us is not merely to provide for people’s needs during an emergency but to manifest our realization that fellow Filipinos are countryfolk with whom we are interconnected and interdependent “art bound by one fate, by the same joys and sorrows and by common aspirations and interests.”190 Mabini, A. (2005). Mabini's Decalogue for Filipinos. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved May 16, 2020, from https://www.gutenberg.org/files/14660/14660‐h/14660‐h.htm
Apolinario Mabini, one of our nation’s heroes, wrote these words having in mind a war time context, and went on to say: “unite in a perfect solidarity of purpose and interest, in order to have force, not only to resist the common enemy but also to attain all the aims of human life.”191 Ibid.
A war is precisely what many of us think we are in the midst of today;192 Crisostomo, S., & Romero, A. (2020, May 19). Spike In COVID‐19 Cases Feared: ‘Stay at Home, World War C Not Over’. One News. Retrieved August 5, 2020, from https://www.onenews.ph/spike‐in‐covid‐19‐cases‐feared‐stay‐at‐home‐world‐war‐c‐not‐over
, 193 Crisostomo, S., & Nonato, V. (2020, August 5). Winning or Losing? Nobody Wins in COVID‐19 ‘War’ if Authorities Don’t See Eye to Eye. One News. Retrieved August 15, 2020, from https://www.onenews.ph/winning‐or‐losing‐nobody‐wins‐in‐covid‐19‐war‐if‐authorities‐don‐t‐see‐eye‐to‐eye
, 194 Reperant, L.A., & Osterhaus, A.D.M.E. (2020, May 19). COVID‐19: Losing Battles or Winning the War? One Health Outlook 2, 9. Retrieved August 15, 2020, from https://doi.org/10.1186/s42522‐020‐00019‐2
the solidarity we seek can only find fulfilment in a new normal characterized by social, economic and political equity.