For the economy to recover from the battering it sustained due to the on-going Coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 pandemic, Senator Richard Gordon proposed that rampant testing should be conducted in the country’s economic zones so they could resume operations.
Gordon, chairman and CEO of the Philippine Red Cross, stressed that testing is key to getting the economy going since factories and other business establishments can operate again if their employees have been tested and can get back to work.
“Halimbawa sa Laguna, Batangas maraming pabrika diyan. You want them to start, so test them so they can go to work. Pag na-test mo na sila, they can go to work. Boracay, Siargao, etc, meron tayo diyan. Tatakbo ekonomiya natin. We can fix the problem if we really focus on testing the particular areas that need to be tested,” the PRC head said.
“Walang pambili ‘yung tao dahil walang trabaho kaya kailangan bigyan mo ng pera, binigyan ng pera ng gobyerno. Pero hindi pwedeng habambuhay bibigyan ng gobyerno ng pera. Walang tatagal na gobyerno niyan. Ang sinasabi ko sa kanila, kung gusto niyong makapagtrabaho dapat kayo ay magpa-test,” he added.
Gordon earlier said that to pave the way for the reopening of the tourism industry, the PRC is set to put up molecular laboratories in the country’s tourism hubs – Boracay, Bohol, Palawan and Siargao to enable them to advertise that workers and residents there have been tested and cleared of infection so tourists could come in.
“Gaya sa Subic and Clark, maglalagay din kami ng testing equipment sa Boracay, sa Bohol, sa Palawan at sa Siargao. ‘Pag na-test natin lahat ng empleyado roon at gagawin namin ‘yan, lahat ng mga tao dito, ite-test natin then we can advertise to the whole world, we have tested all the employees here, we have tested everybody here so now you are welcome to come down. And jobs can be generated right away here,” he said.
