Plato's ship of state on the Philippine militarized approach against the COVID-19: a (negative) consequence of representative democracy in public health

Abstract

Over the last fifteen months since March 2020, the Philippine government adopted a militarized approach in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic whose council is predominantly a group of former military officers. 1 The executive branch reasoned that the country needs trained men and women in the art of warfare since the health crisis is a battle against an unseen enemy – the coronavirus. 2 In a recent correspondence of the journal, the author argued that this type of wartime strategy is used to evade the lack of public health preparedness which distracts from an appropriate understanding of the problem and the right actions required. 3 Some experts lamented about the Philippine militaristic approach by which officials ended up berating and accusing Filipinos as the cause for the spread of the virus. 4 Consequently, several groups and political representatives call for the replacement with and appointment of medical experts to ensure a comprehensive medical and scientific response.4, 5, 6 The Philippine health case scenario can be linked to poor governance and democracy in the country. Constitutionally recognized as representative democracy, President Duterte was elected with his promise of (radical) change. Notwithstanding the government's infrastructure achievements, 7 the COVID-19 response generates too many controversies including corruption 8 and military designation. Moving away from medical and socioethical perspectives on COVID-19, the author of this letter believed that a philosophical account can be a significant contribution in examining the country's issue. In Plato's ‘ship of state’ analogy in The Republic, 9 he compared the state with the ship in a storm where a crowd of ignorant and incompetent figures competes for the ship's helm while asserting navigational skills although none of them possess. Based on Plato's ship-analogy, people in a democracy are represented by the ship's captain and the crews are the democratic politicians. From a political philosophy lens, the analogy highlights the value and significance of the expertise and education of a country's leader about justice, morality, law, economy, management, and others. Plato also maintains that ordinary people should not automatically be qualified in running the country because of their ignorance and tendency to elect politicians who can deceive them with untruthful talk. 10 In the Philippines, such a philosophical argument is best illustrated with the recent statement of the president regarding his position on the West Philippine Sea during the 2016 election campaign period describing it as a mere joke. 11 In the context of the health crisis, although former military generals are just appointees of the president and not elected by the people, the whole framework still provides important two-fold insights into the president-citizens relationship on public health. On the one hand, the president was elected for democratic representation of people's will and proper political functioning. On the other hand, the president appointed ex-military officials who, in the government's view, will and can effectively cater the general health well-being of Filipinos. Nonetheless, political decisions for national interest should not just be based on the personal trust and prior competencies of selected government personnel in their field. It is not an uncommon achievement if former military generals exhibit competence in works as it is a necessary condition of their profession but not an essential function. Therefore, professional expertise and competence are duties, not virtues and supererogatory. Further, adherence to the militaristic approach of the government, thus, commits “Professional Expertise Substitution Fallacy” – the attempt to justify the work substitution and/or non-selection of needed experts to the problem through the work accomplishments and expertise of chosen professionals despite the lack of professional training and knowledge relative to the issue. Furthermore, while the Filipino people elected the president with majority votes, they do not have direct responsibility for the appointment of military council members. However, the absence of Filipinos' activeness in resisting and questioning this political decision heightens the failure of the government to address the health crisis. In the age of a pandemic, collective efforts and collaboration are not the only keys to solve the problem. Critical and constructive criticisms are necessitous to identify the defects of the government approach. Nevertheless, the government's political allies and supporters together with political oppositions, religious leaders, and private individuals must engage in fault or error identification. People should learn to educate themselves in knowing their political representatives without an immediate acceptance of the latter's politicking and public speeches. A matured citizenry aims for a stable, secured, and healthy society devoid of blind and extreme political ideologies and conformity. Additionally, even with Plato's philosophical endorsement of philosopher-kings, Philippine political officials can still perform better public services if they take into account at least the two following major conditions: a) the suffering and living circumstances of the people and b) application and adaptation of relevant skills and knowledge related to the specific problem. Irrespective of the government's consistent invocation of the logistics competence of former military generals in securing the COVID-19 vaccines, it is clear that other skills and aids are necessary from medical experts. Likewise, rather than exclusively resorting to available vaccines, the government must see the need to address the pandemic and its corresponding implications via mass testing, enhanced contact tracing, food supplies distribution, mental health services or psychological counseling, and so on which requires the crucial participation of specialists under the medical and nutrition services and their allied disciplines. The existence of the COVID-19 crisis is a great opportunity to reform the government's performance. Yet it is irrational and illogical to depend and wait for devastating challenges before any changes and improvements are implemented.