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CONCEPCION: ON-AND OFF LOCKDOWNS BAD FOR BUSINESS
- By The Financial District
- Apr 1, 2021
- 2 min read
Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion bewailed the on-and-off lockdown citing its repercussions on the economy and said the immunization program is needed to let business revive.
In a virtual media forum at "Kapihan sa Manila Bay," Concepcion said the back and forth lockdown and reopening of economic activities, and staying in the middle of lives and livelihood is “extremely difficult” for Filipinos.
“Wearing face masks and face shields is very important to maintain and contain the infection level, but it’s not really the solution to our economic problem today,” he said.
Concepcion said the health problem can only be solved by the vaccines that are arriving in the country, helping Filipinos to get protection from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
“As we manage the health situation through the deployment of the vaccine, then we can see us being able to at least keep the economy open and running. The only way we can only balance much better lives and livelihood is through the vaccine,” he added.
However, Concepcion admitted that the challenge for the government is convincing the people to get vaccinated.
“For us to be able to win this war, we really have to get our citizens vaccinated and hopefully all of them will want to be vaccinated, regardless of whatever brand, it’s better to have protection than no protection,” he added.
Concepcion said vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. told him that the vaccine donation of the private sector could be directed to a particular sector.
He added the private sector has formalized the request to the government to focus half of the vaccine donation to Metro Manila, particularly for micro and small entrepreneurs who are not capable of buying their own vaccines.
“So moving forward, I believe that we still have the chance in really bringing back the economic momentum in full upswing, and I believe the fourth quarter is the quarter that we can really push,” Concepcion said.
He cited consumer spending during the Christmas season, the start of election spending, and the impact of the inoculation program with the arrival of the bulk of the COVID-19 vaccines in the second half of the year.
