While socio-economic disparities have always run deep across the country, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated these inequities. Marginalized groups were disproportionately affected by the pandemic widening inequities and compromising access to basic human necessities and social cohesion. The pandemic is thought to be a “great equalizer”, but emerging studies show otherwise. Vulnerable population groups, such as women, the elderly, displaced migrants, informal sector workers, and cultural minorities bore the brunt of the pandemic (Goldin and Muggah 2020, Perry, Aronson and Pescosolido 2021, Decerf et al. 2021).  

The negative effects of the pandemic cut across sectors. During the earlier stages of the pandemic, businesses suffered and unemployment precipitous decline with informal sector workers tormented by no-work and no-pay arrangements. The country’s health system was tested to its limit, especially in relatively poor areas with scarce supply-side capacity. The quality of education declined because of the prolonged closure of face-to-face classes. This reinforced the significant learning loss of children, especially from those low-income households. Cultural minorities were further isolated and socioeconomically disadvantaged.

We argue that these extreme and disproportionate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic reflect deep seated structural inequities.  There are different facets of these inequities such as social, political, economic, and environmental. Social inequity means differences of social status, such as gender. Political inequity means structural differences as a result political decisions and power dynamics. Economic inequity means variation of economic standing as measured by income and wealth. Lastly, environmental inequity means the expression of an environmental burden that would be borne primarily by the disadvantaged and/or minority populations. These structural inequities perpetuate imbalances and biases in work and labor conditions, living conditions, and in education and learning conditions. Hence, in the context of shocks such as COVID-19, the impact and recovery will be unequal as well.

Globally, there is a renewed call to break through these inequities and to make social justice the front and center of the post-COVID- recovery plan. Social justice is about assuring the protection of equal access to liberties, rights, and opportunities, as well as taking care of the least advantaged members of society.

In the Philippines, the concept of social justice is not new. The 1987 Constitution frames the promotion of social justice as a commitment to create equitable opportunities, reduce social-economic and political inequalities, and remove cultural inequities. Social justice is adapted in the country’s development blueprints – the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017-2022, and the Ambisyon Natin 2040. The latter envisions a more equitable income distribution from broad-based economic growth, and resilience of the poor against shocks. Also, the country is signatory to several international declarations such as Charter of United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights, the Copenhagen Declaration, and the UN Millennium Declaration among others.

The resulting welfare concerns unfolded by the pandemic prompt the need for comprehensive discourses on how the Philippines can institute genuine reforms centered on social justice.   While social injustice broadly affects the entire facts of society, we have identified three broad themes, whereby the glaring structural inequities were largely manifested in the country during the COVID-19 pandemic.   These themes are: (1) human capital development and social protection; (2) public health services and infrastructure; and (3) environment resilience and climate change.

The conference will be conducted through a four-part webinar series.  For each session, the following themes will be discussed:

Part 1: The concept of social justice in the 21st century

• How can social justice be strengthened and applied in a post pandemic era?
• What policy measures have worked in addressing social, economic, and environmental inequities? 

Part 2: Human capital development and social protection

• How can inequity in access to quality education be addressed, especially as students coming from low-income households and marginalized groups tend to experience larger learning losses due to school disruptions?
• How can the welfare of workers -- especially the disadvantaged groups such as the working poor, informal workers, women, persons with disabilities, and marginalized groups -- be protected from adverse labor market shocks and changing work landscapes?
• How can the government, private sector, and international institutions work together to achieve social justice in human capital development through equitable access to quality education, decent work, and social protection amid wide economic and social disparities?

Part 3:  Public health services and infrastructure

• How do we protect our population especially vulnerable groups (e.g., women, children, informal sectors, cultural minorities) during health shocks? How do we ensure that they will not further fall into poverty because of limited financial protection? How do we incorporate social justice in the design/implementation of our social and health protection schemes?
• How can the poor segment of the population or those most at a risk of infection or illnesses adhere to health protocols despite the physical and environmental challenges they are in?
• How do we address the broader social determinants of health, such as living, working, and learning conditions?

Part 4: Environment resilience and climate change

• How can we address the welfare of the most susceptible groups which include cultural minorities to shocks?
• How can we build safe and sustainable communities with reduced vulnerabilities among the poor and marginalized groups?
• How can government provide equitable access to safe and sustainable communities given vast differences in social, physical, economic determinants?

#DPRM2022CloseTheGap
#DPRM2022AcceleratePostPandemicRecoveryThroughSocialJustice
#APPC2022 CloseTheGap
#APPC2022 AcceleratePostPandemicRecoveryThroughSocialJustice

References
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Chakraborty, Liton, Horatiu Rus, Daniel Henstra, Jason Thistlethwaite, and Daniel Scott. 2020. “A Place-Based Socioeconomic Status Index: Measuring Social Vulnerability to Flood Hazards in the Context of Environmental Justice.” International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 43 (February): 101394. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2019.101394.

Decerf, Benoit, Francisco H.G. Ferreira, Daniel G. Mahler, and Olivier Sterck. 2021. “Lives and Livelihoods: Estimates of the Global Mortality and Poverty Effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic.” World Development 146 (October): 105561. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105561.

Department of Economic and Social Affairs. 2006. Social Justice in an Open World: The Role of the United Nations. New York: United Nations.

Goldin, Ian, and Robert Muggah. 2020. "COVID-19 is increasing multiple kinds of inequality. Here's what we can do about it." World Economic Forum. October 9. Accessed March 2, 2022. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/10/covid-19-is-increasing-multiple-kinds-of-inequality-here-s-what-we-can-do-about-it/.

Laforga, Beatrice M. 2021. "Inequality in education seen worsening during pandemic." BusinessWorld. May 30. Accessed March 3, 2022. https://www.bworldonline.com/inequality-in-education-seen-worsening-during-pandemic/.

Maximo Calalang v. A. D. Williams, Et Al., G.R. No. 47800, (1940). https://www.chanrobles.com/cralaw/1940decemberdecisions.php?id=237#:~:text=least%20be%20approximated.-,Social%20justice%20means%20the%20promotion%20of%20the%20welfare%20of%20all,the%20members%20of%20the %20community%2C (accessed on March 2, 2022)

Mitnik, P. and D. Grusky. 2015. Economic mobility in the United States. A report from The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Russel. Sage Foundation.

Perry, Brea L, B Aronson, and Bernice A Pescosolido. 2021. "Pandemic precarity: COVID-19 is exposing and exacerbating inequalities in the American heartland." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118 (8) e2020685118.

Ryder, Stacia S. 2017. "A bridge to challenging environmental inequality: Intersectionality, environmental justice, and disaster vulnerability." Social Thought and Research, 34 85-115.

Son, Hyun H. 2009. "Equity in health and health care in the Philippines." Asian Development Bank Economics Working Paper Series 171.

UNICEF. 2021. "Filipino children continue missing education opportunities in another year of school closure." UNICEF Philippines. August 5. Accessed March 3, 2022. https://www.unicef.org/philippines/press-releases/filipino-children-continue-missing-education-opportunities-another-year-school#:~:text=%E2%80%9CIn%202020%2C%20schools%20globally%20were,enroll%20in%20distance%20learning%20modalities.