State and Philippine Society in the Time of the Pandemic Summaries, Conclusions, and Policy Recommendations Eduardo C. Tadem Eight months into the health crisis, the Philippines continues to struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic. As of October 21, 2020, the Department of Health (DOH) reports that the total number of cases has reached a high of 362,243 confirmed cases, the highest in Northeast and Southeast Asia, fourth in the Asian continent, and 18th worldwide. Among twelve Southeast Asian countries, the Philippines ranks second in number of deaths at 6,332 for a mortality rate of 1.85 percent, below the global rate of 2.85 percent but higher than seven other countries in the region. Furthermore, in the two-week period from October 8 to October 21, the country logged an additional 17,667 cases or a daily average of 1,262 reported cases.1 The toll that these figures have taken on the economy and social fabric of the country has been tragic and fraught with difficulties and ramifications that will most likely linger long after the pandemic has abated. Summaries of case studies of the marginalized The five case studies in this report represent the documentation and validation of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the marginalized and disadvantaged sectors of the Philippine population: an urban poor homeowners association, a health watch program of a relocated urban poor community, a women’s micro social enterprise, an indigenous people’s community, and a school for indigenous children and youth. The social and economic inequalities prevalent in Philippine society and the impact of 1 All calculations were done from figures culled from the DOH’s COVID-19 tracker (https://doh. gov.ph/covid19tracker) and from Worldometer (https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/). 85