Robredo unveils 5-point economic recovery plan

MANILA, Philippines — Less than a week before the elections, presidential candidate and Vice President Leni Robredo yesterday unveiled her five-point economic recovery plan to address the challenges faced by Filipinos amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a video message, Robredo underscored the need to uplift the lives of every Filipino, especially those in the fringes who almost lost hope during the pandemic.

“Angat Buhay Pilipino is a broad plan for economic recovery. It is not just a promise to reduce the price of rice, electricity or gasoline,” Robredo said in Filipino.

“These are solutions to the root of the problems. My belief is that the people should be at the center of economic recovery,” she added.

First on Robredo’s priority is to provide decent livelihood to every Filipino.

“In our plan, if you lose your job, you will get assistance for three months. If you still cannot find one during this period, it will be the government that will provide you with employment,” she said.

“Age and gender should not be a hindrance to having a livelihood. You can also get training for additional knowledge and skills,” she added.

Robredo vowed to ensure the health and wellbeing of all Filipinos, citing the need to fix the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. and give every family free access to a doctor.

She also committed to further improve the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program by including mothers and the newborn in the conditional cash transfer to ensure their well being in the first 1,000 days.

“We will also expand the school-based feeding program in public primary and secondary schools so that our children will no longer be hungry,” Robredo said.

“We will also assess our educational system and identify the needed reforms. We will increase the budget to address the impact of the pandemic. We will ensure quality education for our children,” she added.

The Vice President also committed to address challenges in other sectors, including agriculture and fisheries, tourism, transportation, manufacturing as well as infrastructure.

“We will strengthen public-private partnership and we will shift to digital economy,” she said.

From northern Luzon, Robredo returned to the Visayas yesterday for the final leg of the campaign. She had sorties in Kalibo, Aklan; Tibiao, Antique; Sta. Barbara, Iloilo; Iloilo City; Bago City, Negros Occidental and Bacolod City.