‘Pandemic brought together public, private sector’

MANILA, Philippines — If there was anything good that the COVID-19 pandemic brought, it was the coming together of the public and private sectors.

This was the insight of Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion following President Marcos’ lifting of the state of public health emergency.

“The pandemic brought public and private sectors together. It showed that government and industry coming together can make a strong team against any adversity,” said Concepcion. “It’s the best time as the President delivers his State of the Nation address.”

Concepcion, who served as Presidential Adviser on Entrepreneurship under the Duterte administration, became one of the most visible public figures during the pandemic.

Together with members of the private sector, he led the Project Ark initiative to make mass testing accessible, and spearheaded A Dose of Hope, a world’s first tripartite agreement that made vaccines available despite bureaucratic hurdles.

Concepcion also organized townhall meetings and supported the participation of doctors and scientists in forming policy regarding the pandemic.

“Credit should go to the leadership of people like Sec. Ted Herbosa, Sec. Francisco Duque, Sec. Charlie Galvez, Sec. Delfin Lorenzana, Sec. Eduardo Año, Sec. Dominguez, Sec. Nograles, Sec. Vince Dizon, Usec. Rosette, the doctors and scientists who were all ready to work with one another,” he said.

He also cited the efforts of the private sector. “The first vaccine the private sector brought in was AstraZeneca. With the help of government it was granted an EUA (emergency use authorization), which allowed us to bring it in at a special price and donate half to the government. That is one great effort that showed teamwork was key,” he said.

“The pandemic destroyed  lives and livelihoods, but on the bright side brought us all together to survive and win this war. It also pushed many Filipinos to digitalize, starting with e-wallets for contactless transactions. Today digitalization is bringing about greater inclusivity, with almost all Filipinos using e-wallets. This is one reason why economic recovery bounced back strongly,” he added.

Concepcion warned, however, that COVID still remains, and that people should continue to be vigilant. “We should focus on producing more nurses and health care professionals. The Philippines is now at the center of this huge opportunity; we need to upskill those who want to be in this field as the world needs our nurses.”

“Now we need to grow our economy and create more jobs and livelihoods.”