The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) expressed their support for the strategy to get at least 40 to 50 percent of all adults in the National Capital Region and its neighboring provinces vaccinated against COVID-19, as it will allow the country’s battered economy to hopefully fully open up by Christmas this year.
PCCI president emeritus George Barcelon said the private sector strongly supports a holistic strategy that will allow the economy to open up while minimizing the risk to the public health sector.
“There need not be a tradeoff between loss of lives and loss of livelihood. We need to have a balance,” Barcelon said, “We submit that this is the only way to go forward.”
Inoculating at least 40 percent of NCR plus eight key provinces is seen as a more viable alternative as these areas account for more than half of the country’s gross domestic product.
Meanwhile, Eric Teng, head of the Restaurant Owners Association of the Philippines, said allowing vaccinated senior citizens alone to dine in restaurants will be a big help to improving their finances that took a severe beating because of the restrictions.
Teng agreed that providing incentives to vaccinated Filipinos, in the form for example of promotional items and discounts, will contributel to addressing vaccine hesitancy while at the same time shoring up the bottom line of the battered restaurant sector.
Other possible incentives include allowing fully vaccinated Filipinos to freely travel without having to secure RT-PCR tests or undergo quarantine. This will, in turn, help breathe life into the equally battered tourism sector.
