MANILA, Philippines — Filipino-Chinese businessmen are pushing for the vaccination of “economic workers” side-by-side with health care workers to speed up efforts to revive the economy.
Henry Lim Bon Liong, president of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. (FFCCCII), said those in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) were also most battered by the pandemic and they should also “get a sense of protection from the virus.”
As the backbone of the Philippine economy, factory workers, sales ladies and even drivers “play a big role in reviving our economy amid the pandemic, and in restoring and creating jobs,” Lim noted at a forum this week.
“Having a vaccination program for our economic frontliners would give confidence to restart and further open up businesses,” he said.
Lim also called for a review of Sinovac vaccine’s efficacy on senior citizens, particularly those still overseeing their businesses.
“Since we have preference for the Sinovac (vaccine) which is developed using traditional ways, we are requesting the IATF for the re-examination of Sinovac’s emergency use authorization (EUA) for seniors or elderly aged 60 and above. Many of the country’s top active entrepreneurs and even leaders of our federation, like me, are senior citizens,” he said.
The FFCCCII is planning to acquire 500,000 doses of Sinovac for “economic frontliners.”
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) said it would include the group’s request in the agenda for its next meeting.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei Nograles, IATF co-chair, said the matter could be discussed with the task force members and experts mapping out a strategy to rev up the economy while the vaccines are being rolled out.
Nograles lauded the initiative of the private sector, but said vaccine purchases should be done under a tripartite agreement with the national government.
“The private sector’s willingness to provide vaccines for their workers would also boost confidence not just in the work force but in the entire business sector,” he said.
Mass inoculation
Meanwhile, senators yesterday pressed anew the Duterte administration to speed up the procurement of vaccines and inoculation to boost employment.
“The contagion of unemployment is a brutal side effect of this virus. Mass inoculation is the cure to mass unemployment,” Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said in a statement, referring to the report of the Philippine Statistics Authority that unemployment in the country reached a 15-year high of 4.5 million jobless Filipinos in 2020.
He described the emergency cash assistance extended to distressed sectors as just “a temporary pain killer that will lessen the symptoms a bit but will not cure the cause.”
“Opening up the economy remains a rhetoric if not accompanied by the opening up of more vaccination sites. Our recovery is through the tip of the needle,” Recto said.
The government should ramp up vaccination before the start of the rainy season, when typhoons and floods and the power and transportation disruption they cause can wreak havoc on vaccine rollouts, he said.
“Nature has a way of disturbing the best-laid plans of men. A nation weakened by the pandemic cannot withstand another calamity. The coming months should be the summer of our liberation from COVID,” the senator said.
Sen. Joel Villanueva earlier pressed for the vaccination of workers as soon as possible, saying it was the only way for the economy to recover.
Villanueva, who chairs the Senate labor committee, said he moved for the inclusion of workers in the vaccination program’s priority lane.
“We believe that we will be able to recover only if our workers are protected. Protected workers equals jobs,” he said.
Senators, led Senate President Vicente Sotto III, also backed the IATF’s decision to field more policemen to hotspots, saying the body was privy to all the data at hand.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson, chair of the Senate committee on national defense and security, noted the country remains under a state of public health emergency by virtue of Presidential Proclamation 922.
“In fact, there is a noticeable spike in the past few days, and the government must use its police power under the Constitution to make sure that the further spread of the virus is prevented or controlled,” Lacson said.
“That said, civilians should also do their part by cooperating with lawful instructions and following the proper health protocols. This is the key to minimizing the spread of the coronavirus,” he said.
Sen. Sonny Angara also cited the proclamation, noting police personnel “are always there anyway.”
Sen. Francis Pangilinan, however, said more contact tracers, vaccinators, testers and doctors, nurses and other health workers should be deployed instead of more soldiers and cops.
“After one year of arrests, military checkpoints and curfew, we remain the last in the whole of Asia (in fighting the pandemic),” Pangilinan said.
On the other hand, Sen. Nancy Binay said the IATF and other LGUs should “take a page” from Navotas City Mayor Toby Tiangco in implementing health protocols in his city.
Instead of imposing fines against those apprehended in Navotas City for not wearing masks or violating health ordinances, they are brought to centers for swab tests, she said.
“We don’t need to fine or hit people with nightsticks, or detain them, those who go out without masks or face shields because they’re trying make a living,” Binay said.
“It’s about balancing the need to open the economy, yet strictly reminding people to follow protocols in a positive reinforcement that complements public health and safety concerns,” she said. – Paolo Romero