Releected Senator Joel Villanueva said Tuesday, June 14 that placing the National Capital Region (NCR) back to alert level 2 would affect the country’s growth rate.
‘’The World Bank is expecting the Philippines to grow at 5.7 percent this year, among the highest in Asia. NCR going back to Alert Level 2 would greatly set us back, and affect the 5.6 percent growth expected in 2023 to 2024,’’ Villanueva, chairman of the Senate Labor Committee, said.
The Department of Health (DOH) has warned that Metro Manila might be placed on alert level 2 because of the continuous rise of Covid-19 cases in the past few days.
Villanueva said the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) and its team of experts should be on top of providing recommendations, based on the latest data and the experience from other countries, on whether or not Metro Manila or any of local government units (LGUs) should be placed on a higher alert level.
‘’This is especially crucial at this time that our country is opening up our economy along with our neighbors, especially for tourism,’’ he added.