President Rodrigo Duterte wants to consult the business community to discuss probable action steps that will ensure the early recovery of the Philippine economy from the crisis due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), Malacañang said on Tuesday.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte is confident that the business sector could help his government come up with plans for faster economic recovery.
“So siguro ‘yung pagpupulong ni President, tatanungin niya paano pa ba natin lalong mapapabilis yung ating pag-tayo o pag-recover dito sa Covid-19 na naging problema natin (Perhaps, the President will ask [the businessmen] as to how we can quickly recover from the problems we encounter due to Covid-19),” Roque explained said in a virtual presser.
In his public address aired late Monday night, Duterte also mentioned his plans to hold a meeting with businessmen either by Tuesday or Wednesday.
Duterte added that his decision on the latest quarantine classifications in the country might be changed after his consultation with the business sector.
“After I shall have talked with the businessmen, then we can decide whether or not we can still modify the modified lockdown that we have imposed,” he said.
Duterte placed Cebu City enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), the most stringent community quarantine, until June 30 since the area recorded the highest cases of Covid-19.
MECQ was implemented in Talisay City, while general community quarantine (GCQ) was imposed in Metro Manila; the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Tarlac, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon, Occidental Mindoro, Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental, Siquijor; and the cities of Santiago, Olongapo, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu, Zamboanga, and Davao.
The rest of the country was put under modified GCQ.
Roque clarified that the possible revisions to new quarantine classifications might take effect after June 30.
”I think that [plans to modify quarantine classifications] will be post-June 30,” he said.
