Since March 16, 2020 Luzon has been under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) to slowdown the spread of COVID-19. But in addition to slowing down the virus, the ECQ has also slowed down the nation’s economy, leaving millions without jobs and completely reliant on the government subsidies to survive from day-to-day. And while the government has been given the power to re-allocate funds in the national budget to respond to the crisis, the rollout of its Social Amelioration Program is rushing to make up for delays because of distribution problems.

Fortunately, other sectors of society have stepped up to try and fill the gaps left by the government’s slow response.

Democracy Watch extends its utmost gratitude to civil society and the business community for sharing their time and resources to mobilize a response to this crisis. Initiatives such as Project Ugnayan represent what civil society, religious groups, LGUs, and the country’s top business groups can accomplish when joining forces.

#ProjectUgnayan is a fund-raising initiative led by Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF) in cooperation with the country’s top business groups. Project Ugnayan Lead Fernando Zobel de Ayala said that the unprecedented assembly of the country’s corporations and business families coming to the assistance of the most vulnerable in our society illustrates and speaks of the heart and generosity of the business community. In just a month’s time, the project has raised over 1.6 billion pesos and provided 1,522,569 families living in the vulnerable communities of Greater Metro Manila with assistance in the form of grocery vouchers for food and essential supplies.

In addition to helping so many vulnerable families, the group has also been forthcoming with the details of their efforts. The number of funds raised and their sources, the number of packages delivered and their destination, their targets and their timelines. Refreshing yet unfamiliar for Filipinos who are so used to being kept in the dark by its public institutions and officials.

PDRF’s co-chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said that he was proud to be part of Project Ugnayan’s extraordinary collaboration of industries which will prove most valuable in getting the economy back on track.

Indeed, because of the government’s seeming lack of urgency, collaboration between industries and between sectors such as this will be extremely important to helping low income families make it past the ECQ. And furthermore, because of the government’s seeming lack of transparency, this spirit of collaboration between civil society, businesses, and ordinary citizens will be just as important in demanding for accountability from our officials after the ECQ is over.

Be safe, Be healthy. Be vigilant.

#UgnayanCOVID19

Paco A. Pangalangan
Lead Convenor, Democracy Watch Philippines
Executive Director, Stratbase ADR Institute

 
 
 
 
 
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