Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan said Monday, Octorber 11, said solutions to address the hunger and joblessness brought by the pandemic should be the focus in the upcoming elections and not political colors.

“Our problem is not colors, our problem is COVID-19...Unless we contain COVID and manage it with interventions, everything else will remain stagnant,” Pangilinan said in response to question on Vice President Leni Robredo’s use of pink instead of the Liberal Party’s (LP’s) yellow.

In an online media interview, the aspiring vice president stressed that efficient COVID response would be key to addressing hunger and joblessness, given the worst economic contraction in 40 years.

He noted the July, 2021 Social Weather Station (SWS) survey which stated that some 4.2 million Filipinos experienced hunger in May 2021, 16.8 percent of Filipino families experienced hunger due to lack of food at least once in the past three months or “involuntary hunger.”

Recent data also show that unemployment ballooned to almost 3.9 million in August 2021- nearly a million more than the July 2021 record of 3.07 million, according to the PSA.

This is credited to stricter lockdown measures that have led to the closing of establishments and fresh college graduates seeking out employment for the first time.

For Pangilinan, hunger and joblessness are issues of food security that require strengthening support for the agriculture sector.

Asked about interventions within the first 100 days should the Robredo-Pangilinan tandem gets elected, Pangilinan mentioned three.

“We have to manage COVID-19 correctly, we have to address contact tracing, better vaccine roll-out, siyempre (of course) root out corruption,” he said.