Malacañang said Thursday a return to the pre-pandemic economy was not possible at this point amid lockdowns meant to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque issued the statement after Nikkei Asia ranked the Philippines at the bottom of its COVID-19 Recovery Index, which evaluates more than 120 countries worldwide on infection management, vaccine rollouts and social mobility.
The ranking comes after the Philippines also took last place in Bloomberg’s COVID-19 resilience rankings for September, with the international site calling the country the “worst place to be in” during the pandemic.
“‘Yang Bloomberg, ‘yang Nikkei, iyan po ay mga financial newspapers. Ang tinitignan nila kung paano nakakabalik sa dati ang ekonomiya. At siyempre habang nagla-lockdown, hindi po mangyayari na makakabalik tayo sa dati,” Roque said at a Palace press briefing, adding the government’s main priority is to save lives.
(These are financial papers, they look at how economies are getting back to pre-pandemic level. Of course, that won’t happen here while we are imposing lockdowns.)
“Pero nadidinig po natin ang sigaw ng karamihan na kinakailangan magkaroon na ng hanapbuhay.”
(But we also acknowledge the call of the majority that people have to earn a living as well.)
The government has been ramping up vaccination efforts to help facilitate economic recovery.
Around 22.65 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, still far from the government’s target of inoculating 77.1 million individuals who belong to the target population.
The target population does not include minors since the pediatric vaccination will only begin on October 15. — VBL, GMA News
Palace: Return to pre-pandemic economy not possible amid lockdowns
Source: Pinoy Hub News
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