President Duterte's goal for the final 10 months of his term is to prepare the country for its 100 percent reopening following the adverse effects on the economy by the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
This was stated by Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar during a radio interview Tuesday morning, Aug. 31 as he spoke about the remaining days of the Duterte administration.
"Lahat ng gagawin ni Presidente (All of the President’s actions) in the next 10 months is to prepare the country, to prepare the population, to prepare the citizenry for the eventual reopening of the economy, reopening 100 percent of the government, at lahat po ng aspeto ng ating bansa ay mabuksan na para makabalik po tayo doon sa normal na alam natin (to reopen all aspects of our country in order to bring back the normalcy that we know)," he said.
Doing so, Andanar said, would make the job easier for the next administration when the new Philippine leader takes over.
'Pag nagkaroon po tayo ng maayos na preparasyon, at kapag nalabanan po natin ang COVID-19 ng husto, eh 'pag nag-transition na po tayo sa 2022 at bagong pangulo, mas madali na po para sa bagong administrasyon na makabangon at maka-bounce back sa problema natin na naging...resulta ng lockdowns (If we make the right preparations and we fight COVID-19 properly, then the new administration will find it easier to rise and bounce back from the problems caused by lockdowns once we transition to the new president in 2022)," he explained.
Andanar said that the Duterte administration's efforts to upgrade the economy in its final months will result to the generation of much-needed jobs.
"Napakalalim po ng epekto ng COVID-19 sa ating bansa (The effects of COVID-19 to our country is very deep)," the PCOO chief noted.
"Isa po sa nadisgrasya dito ay ang ating ekonimiya. Napakadami pong nawalan ng trabaho, napakadaming negosyo ang nagsara, pero kailangan pong magtrabaho ang gobyerno (Among those ruined was out economy. A lot of people lost their jobs and a lot of businesses closed down, but government needs to work)," he said.
"Matulungan po tayo mga kababayan, mag-bayanihan po tayo for the remaining 10 months (Let's help each other, let's unite for the remaining 10 months)," he further said.
President Duterte has said that he Intends to run for vice president in the May 2022 elections.