SPEAKER Lord Allan Velasco agreed with the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) proposal to place the entire Philippines under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ).
n a statement, Velasco said relaxed pandemic restrictions could save the dying economy and help Filipinos earn a living.
“I personally agree with NEDA’s proposal to place the entire country under MGCQ next month. It is about time we safely relax pandemic restrictions to lessen the impact of COVID-19 on the economy,” Velasco said in a statement.
He added that with the vaccines on the way, Filipinos can be assured of healthy working environment.
“We should start encouraging our countrymen to patronize businesses again while strictly adhering to minimum health and safety protocols,” the Speaker added.
Earlier, acting NEDA Chief Karl Chua proposed to President Rodrigo Duterte to further reopen the country’s economy to mitigate the increasing hunger and employment losses.
Reports of the NEDA showed that the Philippines has already lost P1.04 trillion or an average of P2.8 billion every day, in revenues since the start of the lockdown last March 2020.
Chua also proposed the increase in the capacity of public transportation from 50 percent to 75 percent.
The unemployment rate in the Philippines has ballooned to 17.7 percent. During lockdown, those who have lost their jobs reached 5 million according to the data from Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE).
