Deep shit: Duterte fears opening economy too soon

By Prince Golez

Fully reopening the economy after months of strict coronavirus (Covid-19) lockdown would put the country in “deep shit,” according to President Rodrigo Duterte.

In a pre-recorded address that aired Wednesday, Duterte said the Philippines could not afford to follow other nations that totally reopened the economy.

“Whether we open a modified lockdown or we totally open it in wild abandon kagaya ng America pati Brazil, well ang mga presidente doon medyo matatapang. May pera itong si [Jair Bolsonaro]. Medyo may pagka ano rin may pagka-[Donald] Trump and devil-may-care- attitude,” the President said.

“Tayo hong pobre we cannot afford really a total epidemic or pandemonium. Mahirap tayo hindi tayo puwedeng sumugal. I cannot follow the example of other countries because as the experience have shown as of now, there were a lot of countries also opening up. And first was Japan, then Korea, followed by China and the United States,” he also said.

“Now what really happened in these countries was that although they opened their economy for money to come in to the government coffers, ang nangyari is there was a spike. They were having a problem of almost a relapse, parang relapse sa in the totality of the number. Iyon ang mahirap.”

Duterte stressed the need to be “circumspect” in reopening the economy amid the rising Covid-19 cases.

As of July 7, the Philippines has recorded a total of 47,873 confirmed cases, with 12,386 recoveries and 1,309 deaths.

“Ako mismo personal gusto ko nang lumabas. Ayaw ko nang magpapigil. Eh kung gusto ko nga makipag-away na ako. Ang problema is ‘yon ang gusto ko pero ang gusto ko hindi makapabuti sa ating lahat. And that is true for your choice and my choice. And so we have to be very circumspect in reopening of the economy. Dahan-dahan lang,” the chief executive said.

“Because if you open the entire Philippines and thousands upon thousands of new cases would happen, then we are in deep s***. Talagang mahirapan tayo. Unang-una wala tayong pera,” he added.

Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)