CALOOCAN CITY, June 8 (PIA) — Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III on Wednesday called for further opening up of the Philippine economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the “Tatak ng Pagbabago 2020: The Pre-SONA Forum,” powered by the Presidential Communications and affiliate media, Domiguez said Filipinos should be allowed to gradually return to their livelihoods after most Filipinos experienced what he referred to as the “toughest economic crisis” that was brought by an unforeseen or “black swan” event.

“In a country whose median age is below 25, the COVID-19 health emergency is perhaps the toughest economic crisis most of our people will live through. This pandemic is a ‘black swan’ event that no one anticipated and was truly prepared to deal with,” he said.

Dominguez, together with the country’s economic team, emphasized the need to further open up three regional economies that contribute up to 70 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). These are Metro Manila, CALABARZON and Central Luzon.

He, however, cautioned that there should be a “reasonable balance” between “restarting the economy” and “safeguarding public health” as health and livelihood is “not a binary choice.”

“The reality is that this virus will not go away until a vaccine is found. In the meantime, we must get back to work while staying safe. We need to strike a reasonable balance between safeguarding public health and restarting our economy,” Dominguez said.

“Health and livelihood is not a binary choice. We must protect lives in ways that do not prevent us from earning a living,” he added.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the COVID-19 cases in the Philippines totaled 47,873, of which 34,178 were active cases. Of this tally, 12,386 have recovered while 1,309 had died.

Health authorities have so far recorded the biggest single-day spike of 2,434 cases on July 5, followed by 2,099 on July 6 and 1,540 on July 7, respectively.

To recall, this year’s pre-SONA forum carries the theme “Patunay ng Pagkalinga” and will be discussing how the Duterte administration is working to ensure that the needs of the Filipino citizenry are met amid the health emergency crisis while staying true to the President’s promise of genuine change.

The second part of the Pre-SONA forum will be held on July 15 at 11:00 am. with the Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cluster (HDPRC) and the Participatory Governance Cluster (PGC).

With its third and final installment, the Pre-SONA forum will end on July 22 at 11:00 a.m. spearheaded by the Security, Justice, and Peace Cluster (SJPC) and the Climate Change Adaptation Mitigation and Disaster Risk Reduction Cluster (CCAMDRRC).

The presentations delivered by the Cabinet clusters are available upon request by sending an email to tatakngpagbabago.pcoo@gmail.com.

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is expected to deliver his SONA on July 27, Monday. (PIA NCR)