The War That Wasn't: Politics, War Metaphors, and COVID19

This study focused on the use of war metaphors by the Duterte administration in framing the COVID-19 pandemic and the evaluation of its effect on the essential features of democracy, particularly on criticism and dissent. The sample data were extracted from the press releases of the Department of Health, excerpts from the speeches of President Rodrigo Duterte regarding COVID19, and excerpts from the statements of state enforcers namely the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). A sample data of three (3) from each data source (DOH, Duterte, and the state enforcers PNP and AFP) were collected through textual, secondary methods and analyzed through a purely qualitative approach using the frameworks of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory and the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The findings suggested that the Duterte administration employed war framing which resulted in a militaristic approach of the COVID-19 response. Due to the war- ime image and D e e ongman, authoritative, and populist brand of leadership which demanded strict compliance and obedience, the pandemic was emphasized as a security issue against people who disobey the command. The securitization of the pandemic due to war metaphor had posed negative implications on criticism and dissent due to their nature of questioning the status quo, thereby putting them in a negative light as acts of disobedience, and the critics and dissenters as enemies of the state. Keywords: war, metaphor, pandemic, Duterte, securitization, criticism, dissent, enemies