WITH Covid-19 cases recently going down, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) is hoping for a further reopening of the economy and more mobility.
“We are looking forward to a more relaxed quarantine protocol,” PCCI President George T. Barcelon said in an event hosted by the Concerned Citizens and Doctors of the Philippines on Wednesday.
Currently, Metro Manila, along with Cavite, Bulacan, Rizal, Batanes, Biliran, Southern Leyte and Basilan, is under more relaxed Alert Level 2 (previously Alert Level 3) until February 15.
Barcelon said the Philippines can take a cue from other countries that have eased restrictions further, especially because the recent Omicron variant resulted in milder cases.
“They have come to realize that we have to live with Covid. We know that it is there,” he pointed out.
In relation to this, Barcelon also pushed for the reopening of the schools as the current remote study setup has impacted the quality of education and resulted in additional expenses for the students.
“It is a big burden for the low-income earner when they have to pay for broadband cards,” he said. “Many of them cannot afford laptops.”
With a further reopening of the economy, the PCCI official asked the government anew to offer free Covid-19 antigen testing kits to the public.
“While our primary goal is to vaccinate majority if not all Filipinos, it is equally important that rapid antigen test kits are made available and affordable up to the grassroots level to curb the spread of Covid-19,” he said in a previous statement.
Noting the shortage in antigen test kit supplies, Barcelon advised the government to ramp up its procurement elsewhere to address the demand.
He said doing so can “bolster confidence in opening up the economy,” which can bode well especially for the micro, small and medium enterprises.
In a separate statement on Wednesday, PCCI announced its partnership with the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) and private sector satellite service providers to pilot-test satellite broadband connectivity in remote areas.
“As we transition out of the pandemic, remote work and internet-enabled services in education, health, trade and supply chain management and even government services could remain to be the norm where possible,” Barcelon said.
As such, he said there is a need to scale up the digital infrastructure.
Image credits: Nonoy Lacza