MORE than eight years ago, brilliant Ilongga senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago introduced a bill that would have provided adequate preparedness for our country in relation to pandemics like the current coronavirus disease 2019. Had it been enacted, it would have prepared our country to face any kind, similar or unique, pandemic like COVID-19.
We are referring to the late senator’s proposal which was logged as Senate Bill No. 1573 during the 16th Congress.
Filed in 2013 by Santiago, the proposal called for the capacity-building and strengthening of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) and the surveillance disease section of the Department of Health (DOH).
It also sought the establishment of the National Health Strategy for Public Health Emergencies, Task Force on Public Emergencies which will be in charge in handling the country’s response and program against any pandemic.
We need that law so that we can be prepared and be ahead when it comes to knowledge and preparation in the event of another pandemic.
But it’s better late than never. And so we urge our legislators and candidates running for congressman and senator to push for the legislation of a comprehensive pandemic and all-hazard preparedness plan in order to build the capacity and capability of the government in handling emergencies like the ongoing COVID-19 public health crisis.
As for the post-pandemic recovery, the national government to set a higher target for job creation through its Build, Build, Build program, which received a massive P1.18 trillion budget this year, almost a quarter of the P5.04 trillion national budget. The amount is equivalent to 5.3% of the Philippines’ gross domestic product (GDP) and should be used to drive economic activity that will assist in the country’s post-pandemic recovery.
Even as we continue to battle COVID-19, we are marching forward with the full intent of reenergizing the economy, boosting consumption and promoting investment. The government is the country’s biggest employer, and it can find ways to create more jobs this year through its Build, Build, Build campaign.
Some 4.2 million working-age Filipinos were unemployed and 7.9 million suffered pay cuts due to shorter working hours caused by slower economic activity, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported in February 2021.
Poverty incidence has also gone up last year to 23.7%, which means 26.14 million Filipinos were living below the poverty threshold of P12,082 monthly for a family of five. This is almost two million more than the 22.26 million poor Filipinos in 2018, before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the PSA.
We cannot reverse the worsening poverty without creating jobs or livelihood opportunities for the millions who have lost their work.
