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Southeast Asian countries that are within close proximity to China were immediately affected by the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Paul D. Kenny, Professor at the Australian Catholic University discusses the role of populism in public health responses to the virus and the reciprocal effect of the pandemic on the fate of populists in the region focusing on the Philippines and Indonesian cases. He argues that while the two governments took different responses to the pandemic crisis differs, both measures led to similar results in terms of how it affected public health. While President Duterte responded aggressively towards the pandemic with the issuance of Proclamation 922, President Jokowi’s response was substantially less coercive than that of Duterte’s. Professor Kenny states that both countries, in their current state, have seen similar results — support for both presidents in their respective countries remains considerably high. Nonetheless, the author adds that the continuing decline in Phillippines’ economy may hamper his efforts in securing presidency.
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