Makati Business Club supports reopening of economy, says people ‘frustrated and desperate’

The Makati Business Club (MBC) on Wednesday expressed its support for the reopening of the economy, noting that people are getting frustrated and desperate amid the quarantines.

In a statement, the MBC said the group welcomes strategies such as bakuna benefits and granular lockdowns, provided that these are supported by contact tracing, quarantine, isolation, and testing systems which would prevent recurring surges.

“This will take a lot of work but the private sector is always prepared to help the local and national government to craft measures that can enable the safe reopening of our economy,” the statement read.

“This is on top of the vaccination program that the private sector has been undertaking to complement governments efforts, and continues to need to be accelerated,” it added.

Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Jose Ma. “Joey” Concepcion III has repeatedly cited the need for “bubbles” for individuals fully vaccinated against COVID-19, providing them benefits such as entrance to select business establishments.

Metro Manila was initially announced to undergo granular lockdowns under the pilot general community quarantine (GCQ) with alert systems, but this was deferred and the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) was retained until September 15, 2021.

According to presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr., the granular lockdowns were targeted to be implemented on Wednesday, September 8, but guidelines were not ready.

“Our people are frustrated and getting desperate. We need to get more and more people safely back to work,” the MBC said.

The Philippines on Tuesday, September 7, reported 18,012 fresh confirmed cases of COVID-19 to bring the country’s active cases to 158,637. The total caseload is at 2,121,308 which includes 1,928,173 recoveries and 34,498 deaths. — RSJ, GMA News