Government officials should consider lifting curfew hours and shifting to granular lockdowns to revive the Philippine economy amid the COVID-19 crisis, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) President Emmanuel Leyco said.

Leyco, a public finance professor, said the long curfew hours imposed by the government left thousands of workers displaced, spanning from the retail, transportation, and food service sectors.

“I believe there shouldn’t be any curfew. In fact, we can use that time to rotate staff deployment. Some people can work at night, let’s make it a 24-hour cycle making sure that social distancing is maintained,” he said in an interview over One News’ "The Chiefs." 

The PLM president also proposed to move away from wide lockdowns and deescalate to granular lockdowns, limiting movement only in barangays or areas with high infections. 

“We lock down and do mass testing, we do quarantine and contact tracing. Most important is the ayuda because if you lock people down, they will go out because they do not have anything to eat,” he said.

“I think we can start reopening but selectively. We know where the hotspot areas are," he added. 

Leyco reiterated his call for budget realignments through legislation to allot funds for cash aid and other forms of assistance to get people through the pandemic.