Agenda worth pursuing

President Duterte last week signed a 10-point policy agenda designed to speed up the economy’s recovery from the pandemic. Although Malacañang has clarified that it is not binding on the next administration, it nonetheless outlines the needed preparations to build resilience, putting in place “new normal” policies to make COVID-19 endemic, that is, part of everyday life. As Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire pointed out, there are a lot of endemic diseases in the country “that can also cause death … (which) we have been able to live with”—among them measles, malaria, and tuberculosis.

The policy agenda to be implemented via Executive Order No. 166, is a product of the Cabinet’s Economic Development Cluster (EDC) led by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua.

“There is an urgent need to adopt policies on economic recovery to sustain current economic gains, minimize the pandemic’s long-term adverse effects, and restore the country’s development trajectory,” Mr. Duterte said of the policy agenda. The Philippines suffered its worst post-war recession in 2020 due to the longest and most stringent lockdowns imposed by the government to contain the virus. The President directed government agencies under the executive branch to ensure that all their policies, measures, and programs are aligned with the 10 principles contained in the policy agenda, subject to strict compliance with health protocols.

It was in December when Chua, who also heads the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), first pitched the 10-point agenda, which included highlighting only severe infections and measuring deaths in the government’s regular COVID-19 reporting so as not to discourage people from going out. Included in the 10-point strategy are ramping up mass vaccination to cover a bigger chunk of the population, including children; ensuring adequate health care capacity at all times by aligning with global standards of health workers and other health resources to population ratios; further reopening of economic sectors and expanding public transport capacity; resuming face-to-face classes; removing most local government restrictions to enable vaccinated local tourists to travel across the archipelago; relaxing requirements for returning overseas Filipinos and foreign visitors; accelerating digitalization of the economy; building the country’s resilience against any future pandemic through a medium-term strategy; and enacting a pandemic flexibility bill.

The priority of the team is the full resumption of in-person classes in areas under alert level 1. As of mid-March, the Neda reported that 70 percent of the country has moved to the lowest alert level 1 restriction, which resulted in a P10.8 billion gain a week in economic output and the potential to add 195,000 jobs by the next quarter. But as Chua pointed out, the full benefit of alert level 1 cannot be maximized unless majority of schools open for face-to-face learning.

“Neda estimates that the economy is short of around P12 billion per week since schools are largely closed. Further, one-fourth of parents have to stay at home to help their younger children study in modular [mode] or online learning. The result is a drastic loss in productivity and foregone income opportunities,” Chua said. “We already have most elements in place to enable our full recovery in 2022. The biggest piece missing is our education sector. More than the foregone economic activity, we are concerned for the learning and future productivity of our children. Under alert level 1, children are allowed to engage in leisure and recreational activities for all indoor and outdoor venues, but [their] most important activity—going to school and learning fully—continues to be restricted,” the Neda chief explained.

“Better management of COVID-19 risks has enabled the economy to grow above expectations in 2021. With a shift from a pandemic to an endemic mindset, the country can build on these gains to minimize the long-term scarring effects of the pandemic and mitigate the impact of external shocks, such as the Russia-Ukraine crisis,” said a statement issued by the administration’s economic team last week. Dominguez, who heads the economic team, has committed that the Duterte administration will “not slow down in the final months’’ of its term.

Too bad that the Duterte administration fell short of its own COVID-19 response and has deemed it fit to leave the bulk of the unfinished business to the succeeding administration. Still, the 10-point agenda outlines basic directions — a clearer pathway — that the country needs as it navigates a post-pandemic era. It’s a nonpartisan guide that the next president can pursue in earnest without feeling any less capable or empowered in the new role.