THE private sector is asking the government to listen more to its suggestions as the Philippines seems to relive the onset of the Covid-19 nightmare—which started a year ago—with surging infection rates and stricter lockdown protocols.
Business leader George T. Barcelon, Private Sector Representative in the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac), said government’s recent move to tighten lockdown measures anew was a “knee-jerk reaction,” showing its lack of preparation in handling the increasing Covid-19 cases.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) released a circular last week that orders suspension and reduction of capacity for certain establishments under the general community quarantine (GCQ) as Covid-19 cases reached a new record high. The order is in place until April 4.
This, after enforcing curfew in Metro Manila between 10 pm to 5 am, except for essential workers.
On Sunday, the Department of Health reported an additional 7,757 confirmed cases of Covid-19 after registering nearly 8,000 the previous day—or over 15,000 cases in just two days. The Philippines has booked a total of 663,794 Covid-19 cases as of latest data.
To contain the virus, “circuit breaker” lockdown measures were also pitched, as a move to curb the rising cases. While Barcelon understands the rationale behind this, he said there are still other ways to keep the economy running while managing the health risks. The Palace has issued a statement that Metro Manila will not be placed under such restriction.
“Rattled ang gobyerno. You know why they are rattled? Kasi wala silang plano. They have no plans to mitigate, eh kung hindi kulong mga masa, kulong mga taumbayan,” he said in an interview with the BusinessMirror. (The government is rattled. Do you know why it is rattled? It is because they do not have plans to mitigate the rising cases but to force the public into quarantine.)
“I hope that the government will listen more to the private sector on how to mitigate [the rising Covid-19],” Barcelon added, explaining they have ground visibility and can bring up issues from the private sector, especially the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Barcelon made the statement hours before the Inter-Agency Task Force recommended placing Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal under GCQ on Sunday, and barring non-essential workers from crossing between these areas.
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