BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines – Andres Diego Delgado used to be a famous broadcaster here.
One of the early batches of radio reporters here who started with the Radio Mindanao Network affiliate when it was still known as Agong, Andy, as he is famously known, is now a migrant to Japan where he now lives with his family in Matsusaka City, Mie Prefecture.
Andy notes the differences between the Philippines and Japan in terms of government policies and how citizens respond.
He said government, for example, did not impose any quarantine levels in Japan and the police are not sent out to the streets to arrest anyone for violations of quarantine provisions.
Government, he said, “does not order but ‘requests’ people to follow rules under a state of emergency but does not pass any laws.”
Aside from that, the Japanese government gave subsidies to all citizens up to 100,000 yen each, with frontliners receiving more.
Citizens, on the other hand, voluntarily follow requests from government like at one point not going to public places and practicing bio-safety messures like hamdwashing, wearing masks and maintaining distance.
Japan has more than 25,000 confirmed cases so far nationwide, making it one of the countries with low COVID infections so far.
Andy notes the culture of discipline of the Japanese starts in school.
Follow the link below for the observation report of DNX Japan special correspondent Andy Delgado.
