Face the facts, admit the shortcomings, and learn from other countries.
Vice President Leni Robredo said on Thursday that these are the first steps to strengthen the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Robredo, a leader of the opposition, spoke at the webinar hosted by the American Chamber Commerce of the Philippines, where she underscored the need to address the COVID-19 crisis “head-on.”
“If we want to turn things around, the first step is facing up to these facts. We have to acknowledge where we have come short; find out what we’re doing wrong, look at what others have done right, and learn from them. This is what it entails for the nation to get its act together,” she said.
“Best practices in the world have shown: An effective healthcare system yields a more resilient economy. Stop the virus, and businesses open earlier, employees get to work safer, and our clientele walk into our doors sooner,” Robredo noted.
The vice president highlighted the dialogue between the public and private sectors must be intensified in the fight against COVID-19.
Robredo said she believes that “partnership between sectors is less a question of opportunity than it is of willingness. There is always going to be an opportunity to work together.”
“We are not in a zero-sum game, and we cannot allow different sectors of society to be pitted against each other, as if one set of interests should take precedence over another,” she added.
Robredo also called for efficient leadership by crafting solutions in dealing with the current pandemic.
“Leaders do not merely sit at the head of the table, listen to everyone argue, then choose which argument wins,” she stressed.
“Leaders craft the best, most efficient pathway towards a solution—and this almost always involves considering how each step, each work stream, each component affects the other,” Robredo said.
“We connect the dots. We find the constellations amidst the individual pockets of light,” the opposition leader added.