A strong collaboration between the private and the public sector is crucial in order to bring in more COVID-19 vaccines to the Philippines and inoculate a huge portion of the country’s population, Senator Sonny Angara said on Wednesday.

Speaking at the webinar “Leadership during Crisis: Ensuring a Resilient Economy through Public and Private Collaboration” organized by the Ateneo de Manila University School of Government, Angara expressed belief that public and private partnership is key to accelerating the country’s COVID-19 vaccination program.

This way, the senator said the government can soon jumpstart the country’s ailing economy and create more job opportunities for the majority of Filipinos who were impacted by the pandemic.

“What should be clear to us now is that this heightened level of engagement between government agencies, private companies, and civil society needs to continue even after the pandemic,” Angara said at the forum.

“But most especially because of the critical tasks at hand of immunizing our people, preventing even more COVID-19 cases as we reopen and building back a more resilient and inclusive economy,” the senator further stressed.

The Senate finance committee chair also stressed that more public and private partnerships would also help ensure there would be enough professionals available to vaccinate as many people as possible.

“If we can immunize our people expediently and prevent any more COVID-19 infections, then we will survive this pandemic,” he said.

“But for us to emerge stronger and more resilient, we need to start thinking ahead and plan the seeds of our future growth and prosperity today,” he added.

Angara, who sponsored the recently-enacted Republic Act No. 11525 or the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021, said he hopes that the strong collaboration between the two sectors would continue even after the situation returns to normal or pre-pandemic period.

“We have to help each other. We need each other, not just to survive, but to thrive,” Angara said.