Exporters are appealing to the government to include a member of the business sector in the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to ensure that investor welfare is considered in the crafting of lockdown policies.
Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis Jr., president of the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc., asked for the appointment of a business leader in the state’s interagency body mandated to issue rules that would prevent the spread of Covid-19. He said this will ensure that business interests are protected in the face of the Luzon-wide community quarantine.
He said the IATF’s existing setup mostly addresses the concerns of the local governments and the security forces, making the needs of the private sector secondary even as it plays the crucial role of keeping the economy afloat in a time of lockdown.
“Our concern really is there are two sides in this quarantine: the first, the faction of the military, police, DILG [Department of the Interior and Local Government] and, the other, the economic team side. As of now, only the concerns of the first are mostly addressed,” Ortiz-Luis said in a phone interview with the BusinessMirror.
“That’s why our call is for the IATF to include a member of the private sector to ensure that the task force sees the effect of its rules on businesses,” he added.
The IATF, created by President Benigno S. Aquino III through Executive Order 168, is chaired by the Department of Health. Its members are the Departments of Foreign Affairs, Interior and Local Government, Justice, Labor and Employment, Tourism and Transportation.
Ortiz-Luis said it is important to put a business leader in the IATF to avoid cases of misunderstanding regarding its rules, particularly those that address movement of people and goods at a time when the whole of Luzon is in a lockdown.
Exporters are pitching the inclusion of Joey Concepcion, President Duterte’s entrepreneurship adviser, in the IATF, according to Ortiz-Luis. He said Concepcion is the best choice at the moment, as he is practically serving the President as business adviser. “We have to admit that many of the IATF’s rules disrupt private sector operations. The best that we can have for now is to get a member of the business community [to sit] there to ensure the sector is represented in its policy-making,” he added. “The private sector has been very cooperative with the government in this lockdown, so we hope this request is granted.”
Exporters are lamenting nuances in the IATF’s rule on movement of people and goods. With the Luzon-wide quarantine in place, classes and work, except for those delivering basic services, are suspended, as the government tries to arrest the rising number of Covid-19 cases.
Checkpoints allow cargoes, but some are reportedly experiencing hampered movement because soldiers on the ground interpret the guidelines differently—in the process, slowing down the delivery of crucial products and services to markets.