By Raymund Antonio
The office of Vice President Leni Robredo is working with the Quezon City government to provide a platform that will help ordinary vendors reach more customers and sell their products online.
Vice-President Leni Robredo (OVP / Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Through what she called a project like Naga City's "Community Mart," Robredo said this seeks to give the vendors an “online presence” with the country’s transition to the “new normal” brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Ang dami na ngayong online na pa-order. Baka kasi iyong ordinaryong vendor sa market wala naman siyang capacity na magkaroon ng online presence, so gumagawa kami ng isang proyekto with the Quezon City government na ipa-pilot namin,” she said in an interview on Instagram.
(There are many merchants taking online orders nowadays. The ordinary vendor in the market might not have capacity to establish an online presence, so we are working on a pilot project with the Quezon City government.)
Naga City, Robredo’s home town, has launched an app-based e-commerce platform called Community Mart to help stores in communities reach more customers and serve their orders via delivery.
Representatives from both the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Quezon City government met on Saturday at Robredo’s office to finalize the project.
The vice president said she hoped the project will be launched this week.
”Hopefully, mabigyan ng pagkakataon iyong mga ordinaryo na magkaroon din ng online presence, kasi iba na ’yung normal natin even after May 15. Talagang mag-iiba so dapat tulungan natin sila makasabay kasi sila talaga yung maiiwan,” she said.
(Hopefully, the ordinary vendors will be given the opportunity to have an online presence because the normal will be different even after May 15. It will really change so we need to help them to keep up because they are the ones that will be left behind.)
Metro Manila and some parts of Luzon and the Visayas deemed “high risk” for COVID-19 remain under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) until May 15, as the government extended the original deadline last April 30.
The Philippines is moving toward expanded online shopping as the new normal after the lifting of the ECQ.