President Rodrigo Duterte admitted that the Philippine economy has not yet recovered, which has been severely curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Araw-araw, we are losing P2 billion na pera na para sana ‘yun sa tao. The workers, the Filipino workers would have earned that money kung ang ekonomiya natin gumagalaw,” Duterte said in a public address on Monday.
“So we are sinking deeper and deeper… pero we are trying our very best to keep us afloat,” he said.
According to Duterte, it is not an easy decision to open the economy suddenly, especially if you need to listen to the advice of experts who say that physical distancing and other health protocols are still important even if they limit business and the transportation sector.
The president hopes that the Philippines will also be able to recover and catch up with the economic recovery as seen in other countries.
According to acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Chua, the lost salaries and other income in Metro Manila and other regions under the general community quarantine (GCQ) is around P700 million per day.
PH loses P2-B per day due to pandemic – Duterte
However, Chua is in favor of further expanding GCQ in Metro Manila and other places this February due to the threat of the new COVID-19 variant.
But in March, it is said that the quarantine classification can be eased so that the economy can recover, especially since there will be a vaccine this February.
According to vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., to facilitate the opening of the economy, economic frontliners should be immediately included in the vaccination in the second quarter of the year.
“Iyon po ang nire-recommend din po ng mga Metro Manila mayors… ‘yong mga driver sa mga food and industries, sa mga services… kailangan maproteksiyunan din po natin ito,” said Galvez.
But the OCTA Research Group warns against the reopening of the economy next month.
According to Dr. Guido David, a member of the research group, it could not be immediately confirmed that those who were given the vaccine were immediately safe because they still had to wait for the second dose of the vaccine to reach the highest protection rate.