Start Economic Recovery, Start Public & Private Partnership – End The Lockdown Now!

Is the Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA) ready to fulfill its own nationwide agricultural responsibilities once all kinds of quarantines are down? Yes, under the leadership and planning-ahead head of Secretary William Dar.

Never. In my 20 years of blogging, after thousands upon thousands of short & long essays published online, I never wrote in favor of an advertisement – until now. I am looking at the Facebook ad of CitizenWatch Philippineswith the headline, “Public And Private Partnership Is The Key Towards Sustainable Development” (upper image above). And the lock to open it today is to end the lockdown!

CitizenWatch is saying:

We call on the government to work with the private sector in creating sustainable initiatives that will fortify a future-proofed Philippines beyond this pandemic.

"Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country[1]" – Charles E Weller. Today, we must love our country, all of it! Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country under lockdown!

Here is CitizenWatch Philippines telling us:

More than a year into the pandemic, the Philippines has yet to revive its ailing economy. In spite of this, the government maintains its stringent mobility restrictions, which hamper business operations throughout the country, especially in the National Capital Region.  Despite branding the current restrictions as a “bubble,” no differences can separate it from being a lockdown wherein businesses are only allowed to operate in limited capacities. This in turn will result into further economic slump…

Michael Beltransays, “The global crisis is first and foremost a public health issue[2]” (12 May 2020, “The Duterte Administration’s Covid-19 Response Marries Incompetence With Militarism,” The Diplomat). No. But continued lockdown has made it an economic crisis where everyone is losing! It is bad for everyone, but more so the unemployed and the poor. 

Without the lockdown, private sector to the rescue!

It is clear that after a year, no significant progress has been achieved… The most recent data from Pulse Asia survey (reveal)… Among the Most Urgent National Concerns are controlling inflation (43%), increasing the pay of workers (34%), providing assistance or subsidy to those who lost their livelihood and jobs because of Covid-19 pandemic (28%), reducing poverty (26%) and creating more jobs (26%).

And for private-public partnership, the Department of Agriculture (DA) is ready with its 12 Key Strategies for inclusive development, specifically #8 being “Mobilization & Empowerment Of Partners To Attain Scale” (undated, “The One DA Holistic Approach: Twelve (12) Key Strategies[3].” DA.gov.ph).

CitizenWatch also reports:

Pulse Asia also showed the Most Urgent Personal Concerns for Filipinos. First on the list is “to stay healthy and avoid illnesses” (74%); second is “at least to be able to have enough to eat every day” (47%); and third is “(to) have a secure/ well-paying job or source of income” (47%).

Please do not simply pray and pray for us Filipinos – end the lockdown so that we all can do something concrete for everyone!@517

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[1]https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/12/now_is_the_time_for_all_good_men_to_come_to_the_aid_of_their_country.html

[2]https://thediplomat.com/2020/05/the-philippines-pandemic-response-a-tragedy-of-errors/

[3]https://www.da.gov.ph/the-one-da-holistic-approach-twelve-12-key-strategies/