MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has called for a full Cabinet meeting next week to discuss the further reopening of the Philippine economy and address public transportation issues, Malacañang said Tuesday.
The increase in hunger incidence and malnourishment in the country as presented by Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Chua during their meeting Monday night prompted the President to order for the full Cabinet meeting, according to presidential spokesperson Harry Roque.
“Tumaas po ang pagkagutom, tumaas po ang malnourishment ng ating mga kabataan. Ito po ang dahilan niya bakit hinikayat niya (Chua) ang buong gobyerno na buksan pa lalo ang ating ekonomiya. At importante na bigyan ng katugunan ‘yung kawalan ng transportasyon,” Roque said in an online briefing.
(Hunger incidence and malnourishment among children increased. This is the reason why he encouraged the government to further open our economy. And it’s important to address the lack of transportation.)
“Ito po ang dahilan kung bakit nagpatawag po ang Presidente ng full Cabinet meeting sa susunod na Lunes po, a las kwatro nang hapon upang discuss pa ang mga opsyon na buksan ang ekonomiya at bigyan ng kasagutan ang kawalan ng transportasyon,” he added.
(This is why the President called for a full Cabinet meeting next Monday at 4 p.m. to discuss the options of further reopening the economy and address the transportation woes.)
A recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey has shown that some 7.6 million families experienced hunger in the past three months.
“Talaga pong nakakalungkot ‘yan although inaasahan po natin na temporary ‘yan dahil po sa mga lockdown,” Roque said.
(That’s saddening although we expect that it’s temporary due to the lockdown.)
Meanwhile, it was Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III who earlier sought to increase public transport capacity to complement the government’s decision to allow more businesses to operate.
Roque had said the government’s COVID-19 task force is already discussing the proposal.