“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth“ (Psalm 46:10).
During the month of April, the outbreak of coronavirus proved difficult to contain, and further restrictions were imposed throughout the city and the province. Through it all we remained prayerful, hopeful, and at peace. We are thankful for the Lord’s guidance and provision, and we are thankful for all the people praying and partnering with us; we are thankful for all of you 😊.
April 10th (CSC Lockdown Day 14) – Roadblocks and barricades began appearing around Barangay Guadalupe and Barangay Labangon. For those who are unfamiliar, a barangay is the smallest local government unit in the Philippines (you can read about them in our last post). Even though they're small in size, each barangay can have a very large population, especially in a city as densely populated Cebu (Guadalupe is estimated to have over 61,200 residents).
For the next few days, we would be in the dark as to why the barricades began to appear. We received unofficial reports of positive cases of COVID-19 in Guadalupe, but no exact numbers were given. The soldiers, police, and barangay officials working at the barricades could only tell us that Guadalupe was closing its borders to mitigate the spread of coronavirus.
Nearby Barangay Luz (about 3.5 km away) reported an outbreak in one of its neighborhoods; a part of that barangay called Sitio Zapatera.
What this meant for us? The Children’s Shelter of Cebu (CSC) is located in Barangay Guadalupe near the border to Barangay Labangon. It's so close, in fact, that the home we are renting (which is walking distance to the Shelter) is in the other barangay. By April 13th, all of Guadalupe's borders would completely close except for one entrance and one exit point.
Our main priority was ensuring that the kids are cared for, and that we could still get supplies up to the Shelter; food, water, medicine, etc. By God’s grace, our deliveries remained uninterrupted, and our vehicles would still be allowed to pass into Guadalupe without issue.
Reported Cases of coronavirus in the Philippines as of April 10th:
Total Cases – 4,648
Deaths – 297
Recoveries – 197
Easter Sunday, 2020 (CSC Lockdown Day 16) – With churches around the city closed, and with many of CSC's workers stuck at home due to Cebu's Enhanced Community Quarantine, we decided to live stream our own CSC Easter Sunrise Service! Worship was led by one of the house fathers and one of our Aunties, Uncle Paul offered a prayer from his home, and I gave a brief Easter message from my living room. CSC staff that weren't at the Shelter could tune in from their homes while the kids and locked-in workers watched from CSC's picnic tables. It was such a blessing to be able to worship and celebrate together even though many of us were miles apart.
April 15th (CSC Lockdown Day 19) – The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Sitio Zapatera (mentioned above) rose rapidly, jumping from 8 cases to 21 in a single day, prompting the local government to place the entire sitio under a state of total lockdown.
In Barangay Guadalupe, someone who lives along the little road that leads up to the Shelter was confirmed to have contracted the virus as well. Mixed reports started coming in that the neighborhood that encompasses the Shelter might also be placed in a state of total lockdown.
A sitio is even smaller than a barangay and usually just consists of a few blocks (what some would call a barrio or a neighborhood). Sitio Zapatera is a densely populated urban poor community of roughly 9,000 people. To put that into perspective, the footprint of Sitio Zapatera is smaller than that of neighboring Ayala Mall, a high-end shopping center (that’s right, there’s a high-end shopping center right next to a dense urban poor community). The footprint of Ayala Mall is just a little smaller than that of the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN.
When placed under total lockdown, residents are not allowed leave their homes except in cases of medical emergencies. The barangay is responsible for bringing food, medicine, and other needed supplies to each household. Furthermore, communities under total lockdown are typically blocked off, limiting entry and exit to only those who are providing essential services.
What this meant for us? All these reports of a possible lockdowns were being announced on social media on the afternoon/evening of the 15th. It’s not uncommon for the Mayor or Governor to make brief announcements through Facebook, leaving the exact details to be shared in an official press release that would follow one or two days later.
We held an emergency leadership meeting that afternoon. Our Home Life Director, Jinkee Reasoner, started communicating with our vendors to make sure that we could still get supplies. The difficulty in determining our next steps came from a lack of clarity regarding the lockdown in Guadalupe. The Barangay Captain was left to decide the severity/extent of the lockdown. If the captain chose to completely block off the street leading up to the Shelter, then we would need to ask for special permission to keep bringing supplies up to CSC.
The true test came the following morning. By God's grace, when approaching the border of Guadalupe, our vehicle was allowed to enter without issue. The road leading to the Shelter was free and clear.
However, nearly every small community along the way – every sitio, urban poor, and squatter community – had guys stationed outside of it with baseball bats. Whether ordered to by the barangay or not, they were trying to keep everyone in their communities safe from outsiders.
Reported cases of coronavirus in the Philippines as of April 15th:
Total Cases – 5,453
Deaths – 349
Recoveries – 353
Reported cases in Sitio Zapatera, Barangay Luz: 21
Reported cases in Barangay Guadalupe: 1
April 19th (CSC Lockdown Day 23) – Cebu City began imposing a coding scheme to regulate the number of vehicles on the road. Vehicles with license plates ending with a negative number are allowed on the roads on Mondays, Wednesday, and Friday. Those with plates ending with an even number are allowed on the roads on Tuesday, Thursdays, and Saturdays. On Sundays, no vehicles are allowed on city roads.
What this meant for us? The vehicles used by CSC for deliveries/transport mostly end in odd numbers. As you may have guessed, we switched things up to make sure that all of our trips are done only on those days.
Reported cases of coronavirus in the Philippines as of April 19th:
Total Cases – 6,259
Deaths – 409
Recoveries – 572
April 21st (CSC Lockdown Day 25) – Cebu City reported a sudden spike in confirmed cases of COVID-19. Most of the cases (123 of them) came from the city jail where an outbreak occurred among the inmates and personnel (114 inmates and 13 personnel).
There were also 9 cases confirmed in Barangay Labangon (where our family rents our home). Starting next week, Barangay Labangon is going to be placed in a state of total lockdown. Each household is going to be issued a barangay lockdown pass to be used only for essential trips, however residents are urged to stay in their homes at all times and only use the pass when absolutely necessary. Non-residents will be prevented from entering unless they are providing an essential service. Labangon has a population of over 24,000 people.
What this meant for us? Anyone leaving Labangon to head to the Shelter would have a difficult time getting into and out of the barangay. The picture to the right was taken while I sat in traffic; my car hadn’t moved for about 30 minutes. I was attempting to cross a checkpoint just outside of Labangon that was set up to check quarantine passes and ask drivers the purpose of their trip.
Through it all, we remain thankful that we can still get the supplies we need.
Reported cases of coronavirus in the Philippines as of April 21st:
Total Cases – 6,599
Deaths – 437
Recoveries – 651
Reported Cases in Sitio Zapatera, Barangay Luz: 135
Reported Cases in Cebu City: 312
April 22nd - 24th (CSC Lockdown Days 26 - 28) – The Cebu City government announced that it would officially extend its enhanced community quarantine until May 15th, with a possibility of extending it until May 30th.
President Rodrigo Duterte announced the extension of the enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila (the National Capital Region), other parts of the Luzon (that’s the big main island up North), and other high risk areas across the country.
What this meant for us? Our family, the kids at the Shelter, and the workers (everyone at CSC) are coming to grips with a lockdown that will last another half month or more. Please pray with us for strength, diligence, endurance, and calm.
Current COVID-19 numbers in the Philippines as of 4pm, April 23rd:
Total Cases – 6,981
Deaths – 446
Recoveries – 693
Number of cases in Cebu City: 352
Number of cases in Barangay Luz: 139
Number of cases in Cebu City Jail: 149
HOPE
Just as before, we are thankful that we are still able to effectively minister to the children in our care, that we are still able to support our workers and their families, and that everyone is safe, healthy, and cared for. God has been so gracious and has been reminding us to look to Him as the source of our hope and strength.
As of today, Cebu has been on enhanced community quarantine for nearly a month. That means that almost everyone in Cebu has been out of work for four full weeks. Many in Cebu live day to day, meal to meal, relying on what little work they are able to get in order to survive. Some kids at CSC come from situations where they spent their days scavenging for items in the local dump site that they could sell for food. As more barangays go into total lockdown, and as this quarantine continues, the level of desperation among informal settlers, the urban poor, and even daily wage workers will only continue to increase (keep in mind, the Philippine government does not have unemployment benefits for its out of work citizens).
CSC has committed to paying its out-of-work employees 60% of their regular pay for as long as it can during this lockdown. This is in contrast to the “no work, no pay” policy prescribed by the Department of Labor for daily wage (non-salaried) workers. Thank you for enabling us to care for our communities and share the love of Christ in amazing and unexpected ways!
And so, just to end on a little bit of a lighthearted note, take a look at this sign on the left!
Thank you for your prayers, your love, and your support! Thank you for being a part of what the Lord is doing here in Cebu. May the Lord continue to bless, keep, and encourage you during this difficult time.
Learn more about the Children's Shelter of Cebu here.
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