Marikina 2nd Rep. Stella Quimbo says cash aid to help make lockdowns more effective: In NCR, we have about 1.58M no work, no pay workers. In a lockdown, you need to ensure they have enough to feed their families. This will ensure they will stay home. 
Rep. Quimbo: While Congress has been pushing for more economic stimulus, there's not a lot of push from Senate, the executive. We still have to keep convincing our counterparts to push for this.
Rep. Quimbo says Congress consolidating various versions of Bayanihan 3: When we reopen sometime in May, perhaps we can discuss this in more detail and hopefully approve.
Rep. Quimbo: What we need to do is find additional funding sources, we're working this out with them [economic managers] so Bayanihan 3 could be viable.
Rep. Quimbo says one possible source of additional funding is a Bayanihan 2 provision increasing the amount BSP can lend to gov't: There's like ₱280B the BSP can lend to national gov't. (1/2)
Rep. Quimbo: Borrowing from the central bank is the most generous kind of loan, hopefully econ managers can look into this. (2/2)
Rep. Quimbo says PH's current debt-to-GDP ratio still 'manageable': As of today, I believe nasa 57% pa ito and ayon naman sa economic experts, kakayanin natin hanggang 60% na debt-to-GDP ratio. A ₱400B Bayanihan package is equivalent to 2 percentage points more.
Rep. Quimbo: Thanks na rin to our economic managers, maganda ang ating credit rating. Ibig sabihin, we're judged as able not only to take out loans but to pay them back.
Apart from logistical and supply issues, Rep. Quimbo says vaccine hesitancy also another issue gov't needs to address in vaccination program.
Rep. Quimbo: Kailangan natin di lang asahan ang vaccination program especially in the short term. Ito rin ang dahilan why we're pushing for additional cash assistance.
Should private sector be able to buy vaccines directly from manufacturers?
Rep. Quimbo: Yes, absolutely. They've actually been very proactive. Under the 2021 GAA, we set aside about ₱72.5B for vaccines. That's probably not gonna be enough.
Rep. Quimbo: Yes, absolutely. They've actually been very proactive. Under the 2021 GAA, we set aside about ₱72.5B for vaccines. That's probably not gonna be enough.
Rep. Quimbo: Kailangan pagtulungan ng national gov't, local gov't and pati private sector so we can roll out the vaccine program as fast as we can.
RestoPH President Eric Teng on constantly changing gov't rules for dining: It can be quite confusing between cities and towns, they have different rules. There are also some restaurants in the malls, some aren't.
RestoPH on effect of restrictions on member restaurants: Definitely short-term losses are guaranteed, but I'm more worried of the long-term stigma of public's perception of indoor dining. (1/3)
RestoPH on effect of restrictions on member restaurants: We're generally a safe industry inside malls, plenty of filters of safety checks around from the mall's entrance to the restaurant's. (2/3)
RestoPH President Eric Teng on effect of restrictions on member restaurants: I can consider restaurants safe zones but public may think differently once this normalizes. (3/3)
RestoPH on outdoor dining: I think the demand is there. We haven't really killed demand by closing restaurants but rather diverted it to other venues like home parties. We don't want this because these are among the reason for virus spread.
RestoPH: Restaurant owners are creative people. Some restaurants have adapted to parking lots for dining, opened up their rooftops...this is about public safety, we need to take a backseat so our industry helps curb the surge.
RestoPH on adapting to outdoor dining: Give me any open space -- roof deck, balcony, fire escapes -- if we can put a table there, candles...it's a table, it's a restaurant, it's al fresco.
RestoPH: We have allotments for some vaccines from India. We also placed orders also for Sinovac. We're hopeful we can get a lot of the vaccines by May, our workers are part of the A4 [vaccine priority] economic frontliners. (1/2)
RestoPH: Getting them vaccinated immediately is critical to our survival. (2/2)
Araneta City Vice President & Zone Manager Morriel Abogado says they have set up necessary assistance for their retailers, business partners like online services.
Araneta City: We provided rental concessions to all our business partners. This pandemic should bring out the best in us, helping one another overcome this health crisis.
Araneta City on improving foot traffic in malls despite tighter restrictions: Despite having a 50% drop in traffic, business is still coping at the moment.
Araneta City on helping personnel amid pandemic: We advised some non-essential employees to work from home, only essential workers are required to be on site. Benefits are given in advance to help them cope.
Araneta City says procuring vaccines 'in the pipeline': We just have to wait for them.
Araneta City: This is the first time we experienced this kind of public health emergency. Nonetheless, the key words to be remembered are we're able to adapt to the current situation, do some innovations and hope to overcome this crisis.
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