In March 2020, the Philippines faced one of its toughest challenges yet: the Coronavirus Disease 2019, more popularly known as “COVID-19”.
Declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a global pandemic, the disease rapidly spread in the months that followed, bringing the confirmed cases to over 30,000 in the country by June 2020.
In a bid to prevent further spread of the virus, the government initially enforced the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), affecting the livelihood of many Filipinos, especially the poorest and most vulnerable families.