Sara Duterte wants end to lockdowns, to focus on jobs creation if elected

FILE PHOTO: Sara Duterte-Carpio. Photo from the Davao City Information Office

CALATAGAN, Batangas — Uniteam vice presidential candidate and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio is seeking an end to lockdowns and loss of jobs for many Filipinos brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.

Duterte-Carpio said she will focus on reviving jobs if she is elected vice president in the May polls.

“Tigilan ang lockdown o alert level. Bukas, sarado. Bukas, sarado ang mga negosyo. Ibalik natin ang mga negosyo. Ibalik natin ang mga trabaho na nawala dahil sa pandemya,” Duterte-Carpio said Thursday during a rally in Calatagan town in Batangas.

(Let’s put an end to lockdowns or alert levels. Businesses just open and close, open and close. Let’s bring back businesses and revive the jobs lost due to the pandemic.)

“Ang dami po sa ating mga kababayan ang nawalan ng trabaho dahil sa pandemya. Doon po muna tayo tututok, ibalik natin ang trabaho na mawala dahil sa pandemya,” she added.

(We have a lot of countrymen who lost their jobs due to the pandemic. Let’s focus on that and bring back jobs lost.)

Her father President Rodrigo Duterte’s government imposed prolonged lockdowns — among the longest in the world — in order to curb rising cases of coronavirus cases and so as not to overburden the health sector.

The younger Duterte said her focus, if elected, will be on entrepreneurship, peace building in communities, and child protection.

The unemployment rate in the country slightly increased to 6.6 percent—or 3.27 million Filipinos—in December 2021. The Philippine Statistics Authority  said the December 2021 unemployment rate was an increase from the 6.5 percent—or 3.16 million Filipinos—recorded in November 2021.

EDV