Features
SAP exaggerated, millions left behind
July 28, 2020
FEATURES
It has been over 130 days since the start of COVID-19 lockdowns, yet government help for families most affected by the crisis remains snail-paced, measly, and even much less than promised.
Beyond capacity and overwhelming incompetence
July 19, 2020
FEATURES
The entire Philippine economy will suffer if Filipinos are not protected from this disease. The government cannot afford another lockdown since it will not only endanger the economy but will also bring intense hunger and more hardship. It must act now and prevent the health system from collapsing and the Filipino people from succumbing to both the pandemic and to poverty.
The unbelievable indifference of the Duterte administration
July 16, 2020
FEATURES
The Duterte government insists that it is successfully responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The reality is a little bit different – it hasn’t done enough, and is planning to do even less.
On the BBB fix: Why do you build me up?
July 11, 2020
FEATURES
The government is still hell-bent on pursuing a grand infrastructure program amid the pandemic and despite its actually bleak accomplishments so far. The government says it will revise its list of infrastructure projects to adapt to COVID-19. But does it really have the will to shift the focus of its infrastructure program, or even the capacity to fully implement this?
Extend Preparation through a 6-month Bridge Period, and Postpone School Opening to January 2021
July 7, 2020
POLICY NOTE
The EFD shares in the objective of ensuring the right and access to education of Filipino learners, and believes that learning should continue despite the pandemic. But we cannot support any rushed implementation without ensuring the maximum support to the three most important stakeholders – teachers, learners and parents.
Hatid Probinsya and Balik Probinsya, more harm than good?
June 29, 2020
In the absence of a mass testing program, Balik Probinsya and Hatid Probinsya are turning out to be additional sources of COVID-19 transmission in some provinces. It is a disaster slowly unfolding especially with the healthcare capacity in rural areas much lower than in the NCR.
Part 2: The anomaly of transport modernization
June 27, 2020
FEATURES
The Duterte government can address the transport crisis in the time of COVID-19 and in fact can look at the pandemic as an opportunity to overhaul the system. The health protocols may be followed indeed if only the government recognizes and addresses the transport crisis in a scientific manner.
The anomaly of transport modernization
June 26, 2020
FEATURES
If there is anything that COVID-19 has emphasized, it is the fact that the Philippine transport sector is in its worst crisis – a reality that the Duterte administration had repeatedly denied before the pandemic. If the economy has to transition to a genuinely better shape, the government has to address the basic woes of the transport sector. Vice versa, if the mass transport system has to be more efficient, the economy has to be transitioned to a genuinely better one.
PH Debt: All’s well that swells
June 13, 2020
The finance department underscores the need for government to borrow from foreign sources to fund its economic recovery plan. Multilateral and country creditors have unsurprisingly exploited the situation and recycled funds to lend. But do we really need to borrow for COVID-19 response? How are we going to pay for all of these debts?
