Recto bats for faster vaccine rollout amid economic slump: Joblessness due to 'jab-lessness'

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto on Friday said the government should expedite the COVID-19 vaccine rollout as the Philippine economy continued to dip amid the health crisis.

"Step on the gas on vaccine procurement. 'Yan ang Artikulo Uno sa mga dapat gawin ng pamahalaan. Joblessness is a result of jab-lessness. Vaccination injects the people with immunity and it injects the economy with vitality," Recto, a former chief of the National Economic and Development Authority, said in a statement.

He stressed that the drop in consumption led to an income loss of about P1.05 trillion in 2020.

According to vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., the government targets to inoculate 50 million to 70 million Filipinos this year and the first vaccines against COVID-19 may arrive in the latter part of February.

Food security, wage subsidy

Recto also said food security must be ensured by reviewing the farm-to-table chain.

"Every step, and not just focus on the narrative na 'kasalanan ng middleman.' Many of the problems are upstream—production for one, and not just on overpricing. When traders are paraded as the usual suspects, we may not be able to find the real solution," he added.

An average Filipino family spends 43% of their income on food, while those in the bottom 30%
or about 7.4 million families allot almost 60% of their income on food, according to the senator.

"If the daily minimum wage won’t be enough to buy a pot of chicken tinola, then hunger becomes COVID’s deadliest side effect," Recto said.

Senator Grace Poe also believes that the government should provide wage subsidies to boost consumer spending.

"They’ve been telling people to go out and spend to prop up the economy. But before they can spend, they need to have the money to do so. Allowing kids to go out doesn’t address that problem," Poe said of economic managers.

"Wage subsidies would have put money in people’s pockets so they can spend... Malupit at manhid namang sabihan sa mga taong lumabas sila at gumastos kung nawalan na nga sila ng trabaho at ang mahal pa ng bilihin ngayon, lalo na ang pagkain," she added.

Ten months after strict lockdowns had been imposed to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Philippines recorded its "worst" full-year economic performance since 1947 with a gross domestic product at -9.5%. -MDM, GMA News