Thursday, June 11, 2020
BY CARLA P. GOMEZ

The leaders of Western Visayas agreed on a “Partnership for Region 6 Recovery and Development” at a meeting held in Iloilo City yesterday, former Rep. Alfredo Benitez, Negros Occidental economic consultant, said.

The details of the partnership will be threshed out by a technical working group, Benitez said.

“It was an initial meeting, basically to find out how we could stimulate the region’s economy. A TWG was suggested to consolidate ideas from each province,” Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, who was at the meeting, also said.

Benitez, in his presentation at the meeting of the governors of Western Visayas presided over by Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas, said the estimated loss to the Gross Domestic Product of Western Visayas during the COVID-19 crisis is P20 billion and that does not include the remittances of displaced overseas Filipino workers.

That is why “the only way to pump prime the economy is to spend,” he stressed.

Benitez said local governments should not rely on the national government alone to do the spending, they have to do it themselves, too.

He suggested that every provincial government assess their borrowing capacity, and spend for whatever projects they have in mind.

“Without spending out economy will not be moving,” he said.

Should there be a shortage in the lending capacity of the banks, Benitez said he is proposing that the Western Visayas provinces issue bonds.

“If we wait for the national government and business sector to come online to provide relief for the unemployment problem, it might be too late,” he said.

The provinces of Region 6 should get their acts together and start spending, Benitez added.

For the region to recover there is also a need to push for a “love our own products” drive to encourage residents of the region to buy goods made in WV, Benitez said.

Benitez also pointed out that Region 6 has no COVID-19 local transmission so movement of people within the region is relatively safe.

He suggested that within Region 6 there be no restrictions of movement to allow domestic tourism and trade to flourish.

Benitez also stressed the need for a regionwide health protocol on returning OFWs and locally stranded Individuals.

Everybody entering the region should be subjected to RT-PCR tests before being released to the community since the COVID-19 pandemic is not over, Benitez said.

“The more we can tests the safer we will be,” he said.

Benitez also proposed the use of digital technology to capture the movement of people for a unified data base for COVID-19 contact tracing, and suggested the use of the Stay Safe app.

He also stressed the need for the region to wage a “digital revolution” to boost the region’s economy.*