President Duterte said countries in the world can use the lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic to establish a "new normal" as he stressed that it is never too early to think of a bounce-back strategy.

Duterte made the statement as he addressed the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) for the second time this year at its 31st Special Session in Response to the COVID-19 on Friday.

In his remarks, President Duterte acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic is far from being over but said that there is already light at the end of the tunnel.

"The end to this pandemic is still difficult to see. Yet the broad outlines of the horizon are breaking through,"
he said.

"Let us seize this opportunity to establish a “new normal” using lessons from this crisis," he added.

According to the President, every country can already start thinking of how to recover from the effects of the pandemic, saying the Philippines aims
for a comprehensive and inclusive recovery with no one left behind.

"We are using all available socio-economic instruments to protect our hard-won gains in development,"
he said.

Duterte said the country's recovery plan is built on solid macroeconomic and fiscal fundamentals, with a funding allocation equivalent to 9.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Lessons from COVID-19

In his speech, President Duterte said the lockdowns have forced the Philippines to take advantage of technology and innovation.

"It has sped up the adoption of e-commerce, e-learning, videoconferencing, and artificial intelligence," he said.

The President likewise said the pandemic has inadvertently opened greener and more resilient pathways to growth and development and laid bare how interconnected societies
have become.

Solidarity
Despite these steps, President Duterte said that solidarity and cooperation between countries are still important to recover from the pandemic as one.

"Now is the time to further strengthen our networks of solidar ity and cooperation. The time is now for greater collective courage and
meaningful actions to see the end of this pandemic," he said.

"With the path clear, we see how far we can go working with each other and how much we can achieve, when
we act - not as separate nations - but as one humanity," he added.

We will rise from COVID-19

President Duterte assured the public that the country will rise again from the setback caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent
natural calamities that rocked the country this year.

Duterte's short message was featured in the State-run PTV-4's 2020 Christmas station ID titled "Tuloy ang Pasko."

His remarks were used to end the video aimed to uplift the spirit of the public this Holiday season.

In his short message, Duterte assured the public that the country will get back on its feet but asked them to always be prepared.

"Mga kababayan, maging laging handa. Babangon tayo para sa bayan (To my countrymen, always be prepared. We will rise up for the country)," he said.

The Philippines had its fair share of setbacks this year. The country first had to deal with the threat of a disastrous volcanic eruption at the beginning of the year.

Filipinos also had to deal with catastrophic calamities as 2020
neared its end.

One of the major blows the country experienced this year was the COVID-19 pandemic which entered the Philippines and kept the economy at a standstill for
months.

Despite the threat of the pandemic still being present, the government decided to slowly reopen businesses to enable people to go back to work and help revive the economy.