MANILA – The acting secretary of the National Economic and Development Authority is pushing for the further reopening of the Philippine economy to mitigate the increasing hunger and job losses in the country.
Acting socioeconomic planning secretary Karl Chua said he hopes that President Rodrigo Duterte approves putting the whole Philippines under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) starting March 21.
“Kailangan po natin mag-shift sana sa lalong madaling panahon to MGCQ for the entire Philippines, sana starting March 1, 2021 para i-address po ‘yung hunger or ‘yung mataas na antas ng mga Filipino po na nagugutom,” he said during Cabinet’s weekly briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte.
According to Chua, the country’s total income loss since the start of the lockdown, reached P1.04 trillion or an average of P2.8 billion every day.
“We further open the economy to MGCQ for the entire Philippines, especially NCR (National Capital Region), starting March 21. Gusto na po nating ma-mitigate or mabawasan ‘yung sickness, hunger, job, and income loss that are arising from non-coronavirus disease 2019 cases (COVID-19),” he said.
He also said local government units can implement localized lockdowns instead to control the spread of the COVID-19 in their respective areas.
Chua, likewise, proposed to further increase the capacity of public transportation from 50 percent to 75 percent, as well as to complement this with opening of more bike lanes.
Aside from expanding the capacity of public transportation, Chua also proposed to gradually allow people between the ages of five to seven years old to be allowed to go out of their houses.
The OCTA Research Group earlier said it is unlikely for Metro Manila to shift to MGCQ by March.
The shift to MGCQ, the lowest of four quarantine levels, will depend on the country’s vaccine rollout, said OCTA Research fellow professor Guido David.(ABS-CBN News)
