MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte prefers a more cautious approach in reopening the Philippine economy as the confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to rise.
In his address to the public aired past midnight on Wednesday, Duterte said the country needs to be cautious in reviving its economy as it cannot afford a second wave of COVID-19 infections.
“So mga kababayan ko ginusto ko man — ako, ako mismo personal gusto ko nang lumabas. Ayaw ko nang magpapigil. But we have to be very circumspect in reopening of the economy. Dahan-dahan lang,” Duterte said.
The President mentioned China, Japan, South Korea, and the United States, which reopened their economy but are now experiencing another wave of COVID-19 cases.
“Now what really happened in these countries was that although they opened their economy for money to come in to the government coffers, what happened is there was a spike. They were having a problem of almost a relapse, like relapse in the totality of the number. That is the hard consequence of it,” said Duterte.
“Because if you open the entire Philippines and thousands upon thousands of new cases would happen, then we are in deep shit. Talagang mahirapan tayo. Unang-una wala tayong pera,” he added.
Based on the latest data from the Department of Health, the country now has 47,873 confirmed COVID-19 cases along with 1,309 deaths and 12,386 recoveries./PN
