President Rodrigo Duterte isn't keen on the idea of abruptly restarting the country's economy amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"If we open the entire Philippines and thousands of new cases will happen, we are in deep shit," he warned during his regular public briefing aired past Tuesday midnight. "Talagang mahirapan tayo."
Duterte added that we must be "circumspect" in doing an economic reboot, with the possibility of a spike in COVID-19 infections, not to mention the government's lack of funds. He cited the United States and Japan as nations that almost suffered a "relapse" when lockdowns eased.
The president also doesn't believe that the country is already in the second wave of coronavirus transmissions, describing our current situation as a "double whammy" in public health and economy.
"Governance is not made of guesses. It has to be anchored on pure science," said Duterte, who's confident that there will be a vaccine for COVID-19 by December.
