Business presents 10 recommendations

The business sector has proposed a ten-point recommendation to the Duterte  to push for economic recovery.

At the Sulong Pilipinas Pre-SONA forum of the Economic Development and Infrastructure Clusters, Ambassador Benedicto V. Yujuico, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI)  said the top ten actionable recommendations would “help the country to quickly recover from the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and grow at a much faster pace even beyond this Administration.”

1. To further assist and sustain farmers and organizations recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Agriculture and local government units should provide farmers with aid.
2. To improve learning outcomes and encourage innovation, the DepEd, DBM, and DOST must work together to identify how to strengthen the curriculum's focus on science and technology as well as to pinpoint opportunities for investments in self-sufficient research facilities by 2022.
3. The government should provide a one-stop-shop of all government services and portals and integrate various government services within the year.
4. The government, through the DOH, should provide more strategic investments, increased support for human resource, upgraded facilities, and up-to-date technology that will create long-term impact post-pandemic by 2022.
5. The DOTr should come up with an integrated transportation and logistics roadmap that focuses more resources on mass transit and rail systems within 5 to 8 years.
6. The DTI must work together with manufacturers and importers of construction materials and craft a long-term plan to balance trade to achieve cost-effective targets by August 2021.
7. To ensure effective policy enforcement, the government agencies and the military should have a faster coordination and strategic communications strategy.
8. To attract regional investments, the LGUs, DepEd, and CHED should establish programs to enhance skills and talents to support sectors and industries as part of the economic recovery program starting 2021.
9. To enable women with young children to work and provide access to jobs, the DTI, DOF, DOLE, NEDA, and DSWD should increase investments for universal social protection by 2022.
10. The he DOTr, DPWH, and MMDA should increase investments on urban mobility infrastructure and public transport reform by 2022.

The implementation of past Sulong recommendations such as the Build, Build, Build program, Comprehensive Tax Reform Program, Philippine Identification System or National ID, Ease of Doing Business Act, Universal Health Care, among others, has shown the government’s strong resolve to consider private sector’s ideas on key priorities.

Since 2016, Sulong Pilipinas has served as a powerful platform to promote participatory governance. Yujuico also assured the government that PCCI will continue to support the government in reviving the economy by providing employment opportunities and interventions for people in a relatively safe and sustainable manner.

“As we continue to face the COVID-19 pandemic, we look forward to seeing these recommendations transformed into concrete government actions,” he said.