20 September 2020 – Mayor Benjamin Magalong has emphasized the importance of learning to co-exist with the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) for people and the economy to move on.
“COVID-19 will never go away hence we need to co-exist with it. We need to learn how to live with it, how to function with it and how to do business with it in our midst,” the mayor said in his address during the flag raising rites attended by Caloocan City Mayor Oscar Malapitan Sept. 14.
He said adopting the “new way of life demanded by the times” is necessary if people want to rise from and refuse to be cowed by the health crisis that had distorted the normal way of life and crippled livelihoods of many Filipinos.
Baguio City, he said, will test the waters of the new normal by reopening its tourism industry.
“On September 22, we are going to open up our economy, there is no way we are going to be held hostage by this crisis. We cannot just sit down and lock ourselves from our neighbors so we are determined to open up our tourism industry,” the mayor said.
He, however, acknowledged that the “challenge before us is huge and daunting.”
“But first things first, let us not go back to what we were before. More than anything, we must accept and adapt to the new normal. There is no turning back to where we started and to build back Baguio in far better ways, more so in extraordinary times.”
The mayor said the decision to reopen the tourism industry is necessary to restore the city’s economy and livelihood of the residents.
“Marami na pong naghihirap, maraming na rin pong nade-depress,” he said citing the rising number of suicide cases and depression due to economic problems brought about by the pandemic.
He, however, reiterated that the tourism venture will be done slowly, safely and surely without sacrificing the health and safety of residents and tourists which will remain the top priority of the city.** Aileen P. Refuerzo
