Who is the ‘pasaway’? Duterte’s pandemic (COVID-19) blame game narrative

Lacsa, Jose Eric M

doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdab234

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…As has been pointed out by several authors (e.g. Hapal, 2021; Lasca, 2021; Lasco, 2020a), blaming the pasaway for the rise in cases during the pandemic was pure scapegoating without any evidence for such disobedience whatsoever. Available data shows that most Filipinos have followed quarantine regulations quite carefully .…”

Section: Brute Force Governance During the Covid-19 Pandemicmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…By this point it had become evident that Duterte had found a scapegoat to justify these indiscriminate but largely ineffective lockdown measures by securitising the pandemic. As mentioned above, he blamed the pasaway – hard headed, largely lower class Filipinos – for supposedly not following pandemic regulations (Hapal, 2021; Lasca, 2021; Lasco, 2020a). Hapal (2021: 10–11) elaborates on the significance of the pasaway as scapegoat for Duterte's harsh lockdown measures:Informing the Philippines’ draconian COVID-19 response is an entire discourse surrounding the archetype of the pasaway .…”

Section: Brute Force Governance During the Covid-19 Pandemicmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Brute Force Governance: Public Approval Despite Policy Failure During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Philippines

Thompson

2022

Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs

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The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed enormous governance deficits globally. Several populist strongmen practiced “medical populism” – ignoring scientific advice, proffering denials, and blaming others. More technocratic leaders recognised its severity, implementing strict lockdowns. But some failed to adopt more flexible restrictions once testing improved due to local enforcement difficulties, termed “blunt force regulation.” Although neither a pandemic denialist nor an obtuse technocrat, Philippine president Rodrigo R. Duterte's response combined aspects of both approaches with blame shifting and one-size-fits-all lockdowns while also securitising the crisis. Utilising methods developed during his bloody “war on drugs,” Duterte imposed a heavily militarised approach, scapegoated supposedly disobedient Filipinos ( pasaway) and bullied local politicians. While the Philippines has been among the worst pandemic performers globally, Duterte's approval ratings remained robust. It is argued “brute force governance” undermined the dynamics of accountability, enabling him to win public approval despite policy failure.

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Section: Brute Force Governance During the Covid-19 Pandemicmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Brute Force Governance During the Covid-19 Pandemicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brute Force Governance: Public Approval Despite Policy Failure During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Philippines

Thompson

2022

Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs

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“…Indigenous groups in the Northern Philippines invoked tengao-the practice of locking down the community for a period of time, traditionally for communal rest following agricultural activities (Lapniten 2020). Such de-individualising practices directly contradicted rhetoric coming from the national government, which focused on where and on whom to assign blame for the virus spreading and on spectacularising its responses to the pandemic (Arguelles 2021;Hapal 2021;Lacsa 2021;Lasco 2020a).…”

Section: Individualised Mitigation Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grave Reverberations: Inherited Colonial Logics during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Philippines

Docot,

2024

MAT

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Using the theory of reverberations, we track the dissonant transformation of sanitation regimes during the American colonial period in the Philippines, particularly during the cholera epidemic of 1902, to the mis/management of the COVID-19 pandemic in the present day. We argue that the formation, interpretation, and implementation of public health policies, especially with regards to the treatment of the dead, echo inherited colonial logics designed to exacerbate stigmas of virality and unruliness. In addition to past epidemics, responses to COVID-19 resonate with recurring episodes of terror formation, militarisation, and misinformation in the country. The enduring legacies of colonialism—rooted in themes of extraction, individualism, and hegemony, and masked under the guise of benevolence—live on in modern policies in ways that are not always readily apparent. Lastly, we see the notion of reverberations as one that allows analytical generosity in understanding the messiness of the postcolonial experience.

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Who is the ‘pasaway’? Duterte’s pandemic (COVID-19) blame game narrative

Cited by 2 publications

References 1 publication

Brute Force Governance: Public Approval Despite Policy Failure During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Philippines

Brute Force Governance: Public Approval Despite Policy Failure During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Philippines

Grave Reverberations: Inherited Colonial Logics during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Philippines

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