MANILA, Philippines — The government’s pandemic task force has adopted a ten-point policy agenda that aims to sustain the economic recovery from the pandemic and has ordered state agencies to ensure that all programs are consistent with its principles.

The decision is contained in Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) Resolution No. 166 issued last Tuesday and is in line with Executive Order No. 166 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte last month.

Duterte’s executive order approved the policy agenda, which outlines measures that seek to strengthen healthcare capacity, reopen the economy, and prepare the country for future pandemics, among other objectives.  

“In this regard, all government agencies are directed to ensure all related policies, measures and programs are aligned with the ten-point policy agenda. Local government units are likewise enjoined to adopt the same policies, measures and programs,” the IATF resolution read.

The National Economic and Development Authority was tasked to ensure, monitor and report about the compliance of government agencies with the policy agenda.

The ten principles of the economic recovery policy agenda are:

• strengthen healthcare capacity
• accelerate and expand the vaccination program
• further reopen the economy and expand public transport capacity
• resume face-to-face learning
• reduce restrictions on domestic travel and standardize local governments’ requirements
• relax requirements for international travel
• accelerate digital transformation through legislative measures
• provide for enhanced and flexible emergency measures through legislation
• shift the focus of decision-making and government reporting to more useful and empowering metrics
• and medium-term protection for pandemic resilience.

The IATF has also adopted the recommendation of its data analytics sub-technical working group for workplaces to continue reporting COVID-19 cases to their respective local epidemiology and surveillance units pending the completion of the pilot implementation of the sentinel surveillance systems.