Patrick B. Villalobos, Contributor

HEALTH maintainance organization PhilhealthCare, Inc. (PhilCare) has discovered the level of awareness of Filipinos about the various lockdowns and their effects in their respective communities. 

In its CQ Wellness Study, respondents rated themselves as “very knowledgeable” about the rules of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), extreme enhanced community quarantine (EECQ), and general community quarantine (GCQ) with a score of 1.45. 

The research asked participants to give points about their understanding of the lockdowns and their guidelines, with the score of one as “very knowledgeable” to five for “not very knowledgeable.” It also determined how their educational attainment affects their scoring.

Those who completed high school or some college and had some secondary education or lower have the strongest level of understanding about the CQ guidelines and their distinctions with scores of 1.46 and 1.51, respectively.  

Respondents with college and post-graduate degrees have the weakest knowledge with scores of 1.53 and 1.89, accordingly. Those with the latter diploma particularly had the lowest score, rating themselves to be “knowledgeable” only. 

As regards the policies per lockdown, college graduates are most aware of the guidelines of ECQ (96 percent), GCQ (91 percent), and EECQ (89 percent); followed by those with some high school education or lower, with better understanding of those of ECQ (94 percent), GCQ (90 percent), and EECQ (90 percent); secondary finishers or some tertiary education know the rules of GCQ (93 percent), EECQ (90 percent), and ECQ (88 percent); as postgraduate degree earners are least cognizant of the regulations of EECQ (89 percent), ECQ (86 percent), and GCQ (64 percent).  

In terms of respondents distinguishing the distinction between ECQ and GCQ, 93 percent of them who could tell their differences had finished high school or some college; 94 percent, completers of high school education or lower; 94 percent, college graduates; and 71 percent, with postgraduate degrees.

 When it comes to participants with knowledge of setting ECQ apart from EECQ, 87 percent had finished high school or some college; 85 percent completed some high school education or lower; 83 percent, tertiary education graduates; and 71 percent, with postgraduate diplomas.

 By financial means, the study revealed that respondents with P10,000 to P20,000 monthly income said they know the rules of the ECQ (97 percent), GCQ (92 percent), and EECQ (91 percent). 

 On the other hand, those with less than P10,000 profits have the weakest perceived level of understanding with a score of 1.58. Most of them (95 percent) said they are knowledgeable about the guidelines in effect during ECQ, GCQ (87 percent), and EECQ (85 percent).

 “With various community quarantine types in place across the country, we thought that this study could help us look into how well Filipinos believe they know the community quarantine guidelines,” said lead researcher Dr. Fernando Paragas of the College of Mass Communication at the University of the Philippines Diliman. 

 For PhilCare President and Chief Executive Officer Jaeger L. Tanco, their research would also address the needs of Filipinos when it comes to important news or information like CQ protocols.

“The health and wellness of Filipinos have always been important to us, especially during the pandemic. The PhilCare CQ Wellness Study helped us see the bigger picture of Filipinos’ knowledge, attitude, and practices while on community quarantine. We believe this will help both the government and private sectors act on giving information to Filipinos especially if there’s a crisis,” he noted. 

 The study involved a phone survey using random digit dialing procedures which ran from May 11 to 14—the tail-end of the extended ECQ in Metro Manila and other high-risk areas—and again from May 16 to 20—the beginning of the modified ECQ in the metro. A total of 800 respondents from 46 provinces and 156 cities were surveyed.