PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has issued an executive order (EO) adopting a 10-point agenda aimed to accelerate and sustain economic recovery amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.Duterte signed EO 166 on March 21, 2022, identifying the 10-point agenda on economic recovery as follows:* Strengthen healthcare capacity with alignment on global standards of health workers and other health resources to population ratios* Accelerate and expand the vaccination program* The further reopening of the economy and expand public transport capacity with high consideration to public safety* Resume face-to-face learning* Reduce restrictions on domestic travel and standardize local government units requirements* Relax requirements for international travel* Accelerate digital transformation through legislative measures to further improve connectivity and facilitate country’s digital transformation* Provide for enhanced and flexible emergency measures through legislation* Shift the focus of decision-making and government reporting to more useful empowering metrics* Medium-term preparation for pandemic resilienceDuterte ordered the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases and the National Task Force Against Covid-19 to ensure the proper implementation of the 10-point agenda and ensure its alignment with the measures relating to the government’s policy on Covid-19 pandemic response.“The economic cluster through the Neda (National Economic Development Authority), Department of Finance and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) shall be consulted prior to the implementation of all such measures,” read the EO.Based on the record of Neda, 10.1 percent of businesses temporarily closed while .4 percent permanently ceased operation during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, which resulted in unemployment to around 8.7 million Filipinos.It said there has been a P1.04 trillion worth of loss to household wage and income, or an average of P23,806 per worker, as well as increased hunger incidence to one in every four families in the National Capital Region in 2020.Following a surge brought about by the Omicron variant in January 2022, the country is now under minimal risk for Covid-19 with continuous decrease of Covid-19 cases.This caused the easing of quarantine protocols in all areas in the country, allowing mobility of the people and reopening of more businesses. (SunStar Philippines)