Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Jose Maria A. Concepcion urged the government to retain Alert Level 1 to sustain economic recovery for as long as hospital capacity remains manageable.
“Dapat huwag nating itaas iyong alert levels natin ‘no. Kahit tumaas iyong infection level, kahit thousands iyan pero iyong hospital capacity natin ay talagang Mababa pa rin, dapat tuloy-tuloy pa rin itong Alert level 1 ‘no,” Concepcion said during a television interview on Monday.
The Go Negosyo founder also emphasized that we should follow the footsteps of other countries that have also experienced increased covid-19 infection level. Likewise, Concepcion added, these countries have low hospitalization capacity. In effect, they did not have to resort to stringent lockdowns, which then leads to continuous mobility.
Concepcion also noted that the Philippines cannot afford to raise the alert level amid the increasing loans brought by the pandemic.
“At ang Pilipinas ngayon, tumaas ang loans natin ‘no. Alam naman natin dahil sa pandemya, dahil sa Build Build Build, halos 12.7 trillion na Iyan ‘no, pesos, at tataas iyan sa 13 trillion ‘no. So hindi natin kayang itaas ang alert level,” the Go Negosyo founder added.
Apart from retaining alert level 1 to promote increased mobility, Conception added that the country should focus on the inoculation of booster shots since majority of the commercial establishments such as restaurants have already loosened restrictions, thus no longer requiring vaccine cards.
“At sinasabi na namin sa mga ibang medical groups na dapat pwersahin natin iyong booster shots natin. At ngayon, wala nang restrictions dito sa mga restaurants. Maski may vax card o wala pumapasok na ang mga tao,” he added.
Meanwhile, on the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)’s domestic economic projection, the presidential adviser for entrepreneurship agreed that the Philippines will return to pre-pandemic levels by the second half of this year, provided again that the country won’t increase alert levels.
“Definitely. I think the country is moving forward, mobility is doing well, businesses are coming back, provided we don’t have increased alert levels ay tuloy-tuloy ito,” Concepcion said.
The Go Negosyo founder also emphasized that as the country transitions to the new administration, we should focus on the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as this sector employs around 70 percent of the workforce.
“Ang importante ay dito sa bagong administration na papasok, siyempre, ang focus na importante ay dito sa micro and small, kasi the MSMEs employs close to 70 percent of the workforce, so importante talagang alagaan natin ang mga MSMEs natin,” he said.
However, on the issue of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Concepcion noted that the Philippine economy should brace for the impact of the increase in the prices of basic commodities on the purchasing power of people.
“Well, ang problema sa Russia-Ukraine crisis, katulad ng trigo, tumaas ulit iyan nang mga sixty dollars in one week as the conflict continues. Iyon ang nagbibigay sa atin ng mataas na inflation ‘no—tumataas ang presyo ng gasolina, bumababa iyong presyo ng diesel ‘no, so depende rin iyan,” Concepcion said.
“Pero halos lahat ng basic commodities at iba pa ay talagang malaki ang itinaas ‘no. So, we have to brace for that. Hopefully, itong mga price increases natin will not dampen the purchasing power of our people, kasi we want consumer spending to continue. Importante itan kasi kung humina iyong consumer spending natin, siyempre, baka magkaroon tayo ng slowdown in the economy which we cannot afford at this point in time,” he added.