Most Respectfully Submitted by
The General Santos City Chamber of Commerce and Industry,
Inc. (GSCCCII)
The Novel Coronavirus
(COVID-19) Pandemic is
currently wreaking havoc
worldwide. This allowed the world to enter into a new norm, where everyone
regardless of race and social status, is affected. This
pandemic limits the
movement of people,
goods, and services,
putting governments and businesses in crisis, and inexorably
altering everyone’s way of life. As of this writing, the Philippines has a total of 2,311
confirmed cases, where a total of 96
deaths and 50 recoveries has also been recorded.
In General Santos City, we are fortunate enough to not
have any confirmed cases as of the moment, and we should continue to be hopeful
that this crisis will be over soon.
Due to this
pandemic, economic activities
were greatly affected.
People are fighting
for their survival as most
have lost their
livelihood due to
the closure of
the businesses and
various restrictions
brought by the
imposition of community
quarantine. We understand
that this measure is temporary and necessary for everyone.
Despite the restrictions and effects of this pandemic, we
in the business sector will continue to be of help to the people. We will not be sitting down
just to wait for this to be over, rather, we want to maximize
our means to reach out and
help. Besides, there are countless cases
where private sector participation in addressing health crisis
are proven to be extremely helpful. One case is the Ebola Outbreak in Africa, where the
government and the private sector collaborated to stop the dangerous outbreak. After all, all we want is
to survive and overcome this crisis together.
We want to commend the efforts of the local government of
General Santos City in implementing certain policies that are vital these times. Aside from
that, we in the business sector would also like to collaborate
to bring your
attention to other important
concerns and be of help
to the community. Through our bayanihan, we shall overcome this
situation we are having right now.
We in the
business sector believe
that the following
recommendations could be
of help in properly addressing the COVID-19 issues in the city:
ON PROPOSED LOCKDOWN
The primary purpose of implementing lockdown is to stop
the spread of the virus so that no one will be infected or at least minimize the number of
infected persons, and be able to survive.
However, we have to accept the reality that we cannot
implement a total lockdown, else we all die also. The
flow of food,
basic commodities, essentials
and other people
involved in those services must continue -
we have food to eat and our economy continue to function. We have to avoid chaos and
anarchy which effects
are far worse
than that of
COVID-19. We need
to be proactively balanced and execute our approaches with firm
decisiveness.
On checkpoint passes, identify what are the businesses
that continue to operate and serve for the issuance of passes and be allowed to pass
checkpoints. These people should also
not be included in the list that will be rationed food by the
government.
Also, identify
what are the businesses that need to be
shut down due to the current situation and how many
people that lost
their jobs –
they must be
quarantined at their
homes. These people should be among those rationed food by the
government. Data is very important so that the government could plan its resources.
We in the business sector would like to suggest that
there shall be a group or agency that will be in charge of
drafting and implementing
the new safety
standards/protocols for all
agencies, either from government or private sector that is still
operational giving service to the public. The design of
safety protocols should
include guidelines on
entering checkpoints, food preparations,
deliveries, hospital and
health workers, beverage
and water refilling
stations, public markets, malls, and others.
ON CHECKPOINTS
In addition, we propose that there shall be a strict
implementation in the checkpoints and specific penalties for violators should be in place. The local
government shall be in charge of
orientation to other implementing
government agencies like PNP,
military, etc. monitoring and compliance mechanisms must be in place.
We would also like to suggest that the motorists and
commuters, if possible, should not be asked to get out of their vehicles to reduce the risk of
infecting others, or getting infected with the virus. Social distancing includes avoiding contact with
potential virus carriers.
In addition, we recommend that the checkpoints shall be
placed only on the city’s boundaries and borders. Congestion on the checkpoints within the
city shall be avoided, take for example the checkpoint at Wilcon, National Highway. People
passing through that checkpoint are mainly residents of the city or who have been cleared in the
boundaries, majority of which are essential workers. As an alternative to the checkpoints within the
city, we suggest that patrolling on the streets by the authorities would be a better option.
COMMUNICATION FLOW
Efficient and reliable communication flow is vital in
these times. The local government should be on top of
this. Perhaps, the
Mayor can designate
only one-group-with-one-head that
will be tasked to manage content and (feedback and forward) flow
of all information to avoid confusion and speculations among people. Information from different
agencies must be verifiable and be validated by people
on the ground,
to their heads,
to the information
group, and the
public. Barangay officials should not release to anyone else any
information that is not verified by the information
group. Only the
Mayor and the
information group must
be authorized to
give information to the media, online sites , and the public.
In maximizing online
media, the local
government must maintain
only one official
account in every leading social
media platform such
as Facebook, YouTube,
Instagram, and Twitter.
The current practice of having too many accounts with
different confusing contents is not helping in satisfy the information needs of residents and the media,
which news, by the way, is only good as the information it gets. A constant flow of validated
and verified information helps prevent
speculations and disinformation.
Through the information group, the city may, perhaps,
consider help residents be aware that the public health crisis may last beyond April 14. Many are
still pinning their hopes on the April
14 timeline and this
may just result
in disappointment among
some residents and
add to their growing
anxiety. It would
be good if
the city also
steps up in
responding to the
needs of an increasingly sensitive and edgy public. This may be done
through quick, effective and reliable information dissemination, and if possible, be more clear
in issuing EOs after EOs, which may satisfy legalities of certain actions/remedies to be
taken but not quite clear and confusing
in the minds of many, if not, most residents.
In addition, we request that the issuances of new
executive orders or implementation of
new guidelines shall not be done on a Friday or the City Hall
should be open on weekends if there are new issuances to entertain queries or process exemptions.
PERSONAL PROTECTION
It would be necessary for the government to require
footbaths in every possible place, set up decontamination
tunnels/tents in all
barangays and disinfectant
misting systems in all checkpoints/entry points of the city. It has to be checked first if these
disinfection procedures are proven to be effective and not harmful to the
citizens.
All front liners,
including but not
limited to hospital
workers, policemen and
soldiers in checkpoints,
other healthcare workers
and food handlers,
shall be provided
with personal protective gear. The government should prepare isolation
areas for them in case any of them manifests symptoms due to exposure.
Also, the face masks shall be a must for all people,
especially those going outside of homes or in their work areas.
Transmission of COVID-19 is through droplets from the respiratory system, mouth, and
nose. The virus will stay on surfaces
and will infect through the respiratory system also – mouth,
nose, eyes, but
the source is
the droplets coming
from the mouth
and nose. By strictly implementing the use of face masks in public or
even inside our homes, we are protecting ourselves, our loved ones and friends, the
same as they are also protecting us, thereby, we can control the spread of this virus.
To be serious
about this, an
ordinance/order must be
hammered to penalize
violators. The massive use of face masks is widely proven to have
contributed to “flattening the curve” in other countries such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Czech
Republic, and other countries.
There should be massive production of washable
masks. The government may encourage
local tailoring or sewers to produce washable masks because
this is cheaper than the disposal ones. Face masks that will be produced locally should be
purchased by the LGU to be given freely to front liners and residents. The number of washable face
masks to be produced should be based on our population
and has to
go with directions
on how to
alternately use and
sanitize the reusable ones. People will have no reason not to wear
masks in public, by then, it will be easier to implement the law and penalize violators.
Also, we recommend
that there shall
be a massive
use of alcohol
in all open
establishments, alcohol bottle or dispensers every 5 meters distance. Mobilize available
laboratories in the city to produce alcohol
from available materials
and according to
regulations required ratio
and measurements.
There shall be
a strict implementation of
massive social and
physical distancing in
all public places, and violators should be penalized also. Massive
sanitizing of all handles, doorknobs in all establishments for public every hour, depending on the
volume of people. Educate people about the importance of sanitation, like the use of alcohol,
disinfectants, and sanitizers at home, before and after touching doorknobs and handles.
All
deliveries, using motorcycles
or four-wheel vehicles,
should practice duly
accepted safety protocols. It is recommended that there will be an online platform, the same with Uber that will be rated by the customers. People that will be involved
in this service should be regulated by the government. Violators should also be penalized.
ISOLATION AREAS FOR COVID-19 PATIENTS
With fewer test
kits, distant test laboratories, and no known cure against COVID -19, we have
to consider that
the hospital should be our last
recourse. Our first line of defense is
at the family level in every household, and the community through
quarantine or the stay-at-home scheme. The government should designate isolation areas, rooms,
buildings for people with symptoms of COVID-19 with a
minimal number of
nurses supervised by
visiting physicians. Anyone
with symptoms should immediately be isolated into the said
place, patients themselves will take care of their health, undergo medication in accordance with
accepted protocols.
All hotels,
lodging houses, pension houses near hospitals should be used for health
workers while they are in quarantine so that they need not go home and
be able to protect their family members. All people serving in these entities should comply high
level of standards in safety protocol. Isolation buildings and rooms for patients, and
quarantine hotels or rooms for health workers should be paid by the government, including food and
services.
ODD-EVEN SCHEME PROPOSAL
We support this
proposal provided that
essential workers must
be exempted from
this. Establishments doing essential service and delivering
essential products are currently short of manpower due to existing travel restrictions. If this
will be implemented, it may further affect them and they
will soon find
it impractical to
operate which could
affect the source
for our essential needs.
For
non-essential travels, it
may be necessary
to drive the
point right at
the start. Deploy barangay patrols to remind residents and refrain them
from going out of their houses. The city may provide a safe mass transport scheme to
control the flow of people and to ferry those who will be affected, particularly essential
workers and those who will use their HQPs. We believe the e-jeepneys
are better alternatives
for public transportation as it will
be easier to implement social distancing. A routing scheme for e-jeepneys
may be put in place first if this is implemented.
Food is the
main reason why
many people leave the
confines of their
homes, especially daily earners. It may be necessary to distribute all the relief
goods before implementing such schemes to avoid people from going out and going to work for them
to buy food.
FOOD SECURITY
The biggest challenge in food security and how to survive
in this war is the sustainability of our Supply Chain Management
System (SCMS). It
goes from people
involved in the
process of financing,
sourcing, farming, harvesting,
milling or processing
(if applicable), transporting, displaying to the market, wholesaling, retailing, buying,
and bringing it to the household before cooking for food consumption. The long process takes
months or more than a year, depending on the kinds of products to be produced. With the
situation that we have, there is a big disruption of the supply chain on the flow of raw materials, tools
and essentials from other places or even globally,
(our importations and
exportation are affected)
aside from the
lockdowns being implemented by other places.
With this disruption of the flow of goods today in the
city, we need to re-imagine and redesign our supply chain management system by possibly maximizing
our available resources. Part of this is the identification of what businesses will open
as part of the long process of supply chain management systems like hardware, construction, farm, and
agri-vet supplies, etc so that we can identify who will be
working. We may
need somebody expert with
a relevant track
record in supply chain management system to get on board of this
process.
LGU-Gensan should start identifying our local sources of
food, such as rice, fish, canned goods, vegetable, fruits, hogs and poultry, aquaculture
products. Negotiate and work out on prices with the local sources.
If this will
happen, there’s a
possibility that food
manufacturing and other businesses for essential products and services could go back
slowly to their operations, as long as they will
follow strictly the
new standards of
safety protocols in
their workplace. Slowly people could go back to work while maintaining safety
protocols and a lesser number of people will be fed by the government.
The
government should allow
“neighborhood economy” to
flourish by designating
sari-sari stores and grocery shops as extension outlets of big
supermarkets, thus, minimizing people from traveling the distance, risking social-distancing,
stay-at-home and quarantine protocols. These shops, however, have
to adhere to proper safety protocols set by authorities before they can
be accredited by LGU-Gensan. Barangays may also come up with
a system for this. They can cluster the puroks into 30 or so families and put one person in
charge. The smaller the unit, the effective and efficient the
system can be.
If there will
be a need
to subsidize the
sellers of foods
and essential items to sell in their puroks, we may ask
private institutions to shell out or perhaps, adopt a cluster scheme.
The companies in
the food chain may be able to
provide transportation for essential workers, adhering to required
safety protocols and
if these companies
have enough vehicles
for this purpose. If none, the city may consider renting public
transportation. However, there will be a need to hear also from concerned companies.
Most importantly, the LGU should help the business sector
to have a business recovery plan. With this, we can sustain our survival, because we do not know
when all these will be over. By having this, we are planning also the source of living with our
people.
In the meantime,
these are the
recommendations from the
business sector to
the local government to address
the pandemic. We
are also in
the process of
consolidating other recommendations from other private sectors to ensure
their cooperation and collaboration in these efforts.
Through this, we believe that we could be of help to the
local government by providing inputs for your consideration. If there is anything the private
sector could do to help the government in implementing its plans to combat the crisis, we are
willing to do so. Through cooperation, collaboration, and unity, together
we will be able to successfully defeat the effects of this pandemic.
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