Cayetano: We need to adapt, innovate and manage to aid Filipino families

Former Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano on Tuesday emphasized the need for a proactive rather than reactive approach when it comes to finding solutions that can aid Filipino families with the upcoming implementation of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the National Capital Region.

In an interview with Bombo Radyo Baguio on August 3, Cayetano said while the public is able to see the effort from the national and local governments, a lot of the national government’s effort is still reactive.

He said the issue of the Delta variant was raised weeks prior but it is only now that the lockdown is being implemented that they are discussing how to support small businesses.

Cayetano said in order to move forward, the country needs to “Adapt, Innovate and Manage,” or AIM for short.

“Alam mo nung nasa Congress po kami, sa Speaker’s office, may mantra na AIM, sa Tagalog ay pag-asinta, kasi walang goal na walang inaasinta. At ang ibig sabihin ng AIM sa amin ay Adapt, Innovate, and Manage. Nag-mamanage tayo ng problema pero hindi tayo nag i-innovate at hindi tayo nag-aadapt.

(You know, when we were in Congress, in the Speaker’s office, we had a mantra — AIM. There’s no goal without an aim. The meaning of AIM for us is Adapt, Innovate, and Manage. We manage our problems but we don’t innovate and we don’t adapt).

He said government actions are focused on managing problems when what the country needs to move forward is to innovate and adapt. This, he said, will enable it to foresee possible problems that may arise and work ahead of them.

“Kung titingnan mo ang 2021 (national) budget, walang budget para sa ayuda. Ang Taguig may nakatabi po talaga for ayuda for 2021 kasi nga alam natin na uncertain ang times katulad nitong Delta variant. Walang nakapredict nito pero alam natin na pwedeng ganito ang mangyari,” he said.

(If we take a look at the 2021 national budget, there’s no budget for monetary assistance. Taguig set aside a 2021 budget for it because we know that times are uncertain especially with the Delta variant. Even though we could not have predicted this, we knew that there was a possibility of this happening.)

Cayetano said with today’s advancements in technology, the government can make use of resources such as the QR code, national ID, vaccination cards, and digital wallets to distribute monetary aid, particularly the 10K Ayuda which he and his allies have been pushing for since February.

Acknowledging that the announcement for the reinstatement of the ECQ starting August 6 does not give much time for preparation, Cayetano said government units will benefit from providing food supplies using a house-to-house system rather than asking people to line up.

“Kung bibigyan natin ng ayuda sa magandang timing, it will help prevent the spread. Katulad ngayon, wala pang guidelines kung paano ibibigay so kung hihintayin natin sa Friday na mag ECQ dito sa Metro Manila, papipilahin mo ang mga tao. Pinapalabas mo na naman ng bahay at magdidikit-dikit na naman sila. That’s what I meant by being proactive,” he said.

(If we give them financial assistance using better timing, it can help prevent the spread of COVID. Like now, we do not know the guidelines of how aid will be given so if we wait until Friday when it will already be ECQ here in Metro Manila, the people will have to line up. You’re making them leave the house and they will form big crowds. That’s what I meant by being proactive.)####