The Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI) is pushing for sustainable and cohesive economic recovery efforts in Western Visayas.
MBCCI Chief Executive Officer Frank Carbon said Local Government Units (LGUs) in the region should ensure that the active cases are put to a controllable level to allay public fears over infection.
“They should prepare a ‘ready to go’ program to generate jobs and livelihood,” he said.
These programs should readily catch the financial stimulus funds of the ’Bayanihan to Recover as One Act’ (Bayanihan 2) that support the recovery efforts of the business sector and LGUs, he added.
The LGUs, he said, should further ensure that the basic needs of the populace are met and goods are at affordable price such as fish vegetables, rice and others.
The communities have a role to take full responsibility in stopping the spread of the virus – from barangay officials to households, Carbon noted.
“Each one should devise his or her own protective measures in addition to the practice of safety protocols,” he said.
For the business sector, they should reopen, reinvest, and start rehiring and to practice safety protocols in stores and offices. Likewise, business establishments should cooperate with LGUs in stopping the spread of the virus by refraining from “super spreaders” conventions, mall sales and agri/aqua sales or forums.
According to Carbon, Bacolod City has prepared Economic Recovery Plans and Programs that he hopes could be published so that the Business Sector could run their own recovery programs parallel to that of the city’s. The publication of the programs will set as an example to other LGUs in the region to follow suit, he added.
“This will achieve high synergy results that will hasten the opening of businesses, reinvesting and rehiring,” he stressed.
The City Development Council could initiate a convergence project with the business community starting January next year, he said,
He called on the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) to integrate these recovery programs “so that the region will have a forceful, stable, and sustainable recovery momentum.”
(Lorenzo O. Lambatin, Jr. via Philippine Information Agency (PIA), photo courtesy of PIA)