May 29, 2020

The Inter-Agency Task Force Technical Working Group for Anticipatory and Forward Planning (IATF-TWG for AFP) recently released the online copy of the We Recover as One report. The report details a comprehensive set of measures to mitigate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and enable the economy to recover and transition to a new normal.

“The IATF-TWG for AFP acknowledges that things will not go back to what was considered normal even when the ECQ is lifted. Thus, the report provides guidance as to what priority policies, programs, and projects the government can undertake to facilitate transition to, not just a new, but a better normal”, NEDA Acting Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said.

The said TWG, formed on March 27, 2020, is under the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).

Using data analysis and online public surveys and consultations, the IATF-TWG for AFP sought to understand Filipinos’ varied situations and laid down a set of measures to address people’s concerns and needs during the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), as well as their expectations and outlook in the near future.

The report also estimates the social costs and economic losses during the ECQ and provides a set of mitigating measures and policies and programs to rebuild consumer and business confidence.

The 76-page document presents recommended actions which aim to limit transmission and provide health care to those who need them; mitigate some of the adverse social and economic impacts of the pandemic; as well as define and adapt to the new normal.

NEDA chairs the IATF-TWG for AFP consisting of the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Finance, the Department of Budget and Management, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Tourism, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the University of the Philippines Resilience Institute, the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, the Department of Education, the Department of Health, and the Department of Information and Communications Technology.

Other agencies and resource persons from the private sector and academe were also involved in the initiative.

The report will be used by various agencies in government as they rethink their priorities for the rest of 2020 and for full year 2021.

NEDA added that it will use the report in updating the targets and strategies of the Philippine Development Plan, which will aim for a healthy and resilient Philippines.

The full report can be accessed through this link: https://depdev.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/We-Recover-As-One.pdf

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