FORMER Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia noted Friday that science was “underutilized” in the Philippines’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The country’s coronavirus task force is headed by top government officials, mostly retired generals, he said.
With this, the ex-NEDA chief urged the government to increase investments in research and development to prepare for the future.
Meanwhile, he said the country should seek more collaboration in order to successfully mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and boost economic recovery.
Partnerships with government, private sector and the academe will help strengthen the country’s healthcare system, Pernia said.
“I think one reason why the country has failed in terms of timely and adequately dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, can be attributed to this lack of partnerships,” he said.
“I think what we should have done and we can still do it, is really to strengthen our Healthcare System Capacity if we have done that in the beginning, then the need for a lockdown, a tight lockdown would have been less necessary,” he added.
Pernia said he was surprised that the government estimated a possible recovery of 6.5 to 6.7 percent economic growth in 2021.
The gross domestic product contracted by nine percent in the first half, after it dived 16.5 percent in the second quarter, officially bringing the country into recession.
For 2020, the government lowered its growth forecast to a contraction of 5.5 percent from its initial estimates of up to a 3.4 percent drop.(with report from ABS-CBN/PN)
