The government should not reopen businesses in a hurry, according to advocacy group Action for Economic Reforms (AER).
“If transmissions are curbed, if our health system is not overwhelmed, then we can open business. But not before, and not in a hurry,” said AER at Filomeno S. Sta. Ana, head of at the Talakayan media forum yesterday.
“Restrictions are important… (as) a response to the rising number of transmissions. We don’t want premature business openings, as has happened in India,” Sta. Ana added.
In the Philippines, “it’s a triple crisis of pandemic, economic and food,” he said, pointing out prices of consumer goods, especially pork, are increasing.
The economy is down, here and abroad, and it impacts on poverty and hunger, he said.
Also yesterday, the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF) said vaccines are essential to the recovery of micro, small and medium enterprises.
Having vaccines available to everyone, especially small business owners, will accelerate economic recovery, said Butch Meily, PDRF president.
“If we are able to access more vaccines this year, our hope is that a variety of vaccines will be available to small business owners. You will have a choice of vaccines and choose to be vaccinated. You will then be able to reopen your stores, rebuild your income and resume a normal life,” Meily said.
PDRF is behind Taskforce T3 (Test, Trace, Treat), a public-private task force initiative of the Inter-Agency Task Force-National Task Force and the Department of Health (DOH) and the Asian Development Bank.
T3 has helped expand swab tests nationwide, distributed personal protective equipment to hospitals and facilities, established the One Hospital Command Center and is now actively involved in the national vaccination program.
The private sector is involved in the procurement of vaccines, portfolio, logistics, administration, supply chain management, communication and data, said Bill Luz, PDRF chief resilience officer.
