City of Makati

Moving from a strict lockdown at the Philippines to Australia where life seems normal again

I think (and hope) this is the crisis of our lifetime. When grandparents speak about wartime, a crisis of that scale seemed like something we would never experience. That modern society and safeguards were somehow too developed to let something of that scale happen again. I’m looking forward to the day where we talk about COVID as a distant memory. Where I again feel that society is strong enough to deflect the next crisis. Read more

Residence-specific passes and compulsory face-shields – living in a country with one of the longest lockdowns globally

The Philippines was one of the first countries outside of heavy-hit regions to go in lockdown in anticipating high rises in cases, and currently maintains one of the longest lockdowns globally. The first two and a half months were very strict, residence-specific passes were given out where only one person per house was allowed out of the house in general. If you were not the appointed person, you were unable to leave your home. You could also only leave for a purpose. Read more