The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) today said that it will provide incentives for businesses that will open outside Metro Manila in support of a program called “Balik Probinsya” (“Return to the Province”).
Senator Christopher “Bong” Go yesterday proposed the program which pushes to provide livelihood opportunities for people in the provinces. He said this will encourage more Filipinos to leave the city and move back to their hometown, which will help curb the spread of COVID-19 in the congested capital.
“Let us be ready for this ‘new normal,’ and one of the most important steps we should take is to move people from the cities to the provinces…If we just allow the continued congestion of people in Metro Manila, then the chances are higher that the virus will spread again,” Go, who hails from Mindanao, said, The Philippine Daily Inquirer reports.
DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez told reporters that more businesses propping up in the provinces will translate to more job opportunities, ABS-CBN reports.
“We will give more incentives to those going to the provinces, instead of those located in Metro Manila. It means we are making areas outside [Metro Manila] more attractive to those [looking to work] outside [the city],” he said in English and Filipino.
“When the incentives are there, the jobs will follow, too,” Lopez added.
The trade secretary said the government will also dispense financial aid to people seeking micro, small or medium enterprises in the same areas, though he did not specify the amount to be disbursed.
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Under the proposed program, the government will shoulder the free transportation of Metro Manila residents who choose to be relocated to the provinces, provided that they test negative for COVID-19, The Daily Tribune reports.
“LGUs (Local Government Units) must also ensure that necessary quarantine measures and mass testing for COVID-19 are in place to prevent those possibly infected from spreading the disease,” Go said.
“As soon as the ECQ [enhanced community quarantine] is lifted and travel is gradually normalize[d], the government must encourage Filipino families to move out of Manila and other metropolitan areas,” he added.
In his speech today, Duterte backed his ally’s Balik Probinsya program, saying starting fresh in the provinces would give “hope” to Filipinos. The president was the mayor of Davao City, which he often visits, before he was elected as the country’s chief executive.
“Some of them might really leave the Manila for good… what is really very important is we give them hope,” he said.
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