The novel coronavirus or COVID-19 has brought the entire nation to its knees. Ferocious, insidious, and infectious, the virus has already claimed the lives of over 3,000 people and taxed the resources of the government and medical institutions.
The nation is now engaged in a war against an enemy with a strange origin and identity and for which an effective antidote or cure has yet to be found.
The entire citizenry has to be harnessed as an army to confront the crisis. It has to be organized and deployed as a disciplined and patriotic as a military contingent.
The frontliners
The first line of defense or frontliners are those who are directly attending to COVID-19 patients. They are the doctors, nurses, and medical aides in hospitals and clinics to where confirmed cases are brought for confinement and treatment. They are the highest ranking officials in a medical army organized primarily to wage the war against the epidemic. A number have died while in active service. They have been hailed as heroes. They deserve the honor and recognition.
It takes courage to take a job where one’s own life is at stake. To die in a mortal combat with an enemy whose nature you have no knowledge or even an inkling of is a sacrifice of immense dimension.
The second line of defense
The second line of defense is made up of officials and members of the military and police establishments who have been tasked to enforce the orders of the president and the directives of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF). Also in this line of defense are the officials and employees of the Department of Interior and Local Government and the Department of Social Welfare and Development, down to the local government officials and DSWD field staffers.
The reserve force
The biggest contingent is composed of the civilian population and employees of temporarily-closed government institutions. They constitute the reserve force.
The last line of defense or the backliners
This group is small, barely one percent of the population. And yet it is the most formidable line. The backliners are composed of the richest individuals, the titans of trade and industry, and owners of the country’s biggest business corporations. With their enormous financial and manpower resources, they constitute the most experienced, best trained, disciplined, and reliable strike force against the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
The man directing the deployment of the entire army is President Rodrigo Roa Duterte being the commander- in- chief. Congress has given him emergency powers to deal with the epidemic.
With the most vital arteries of the national economy shut down, and the rest of the people imprisoned in their homes, President Duterte enjoys absolute power which he can exercise without accountability, except to his conscience, to his people, to his country and to the Lord.
The President has assured the people that everything is under control and that he is on top of the situation. He said that he has yet to exercise his power to call on the leaders of the business community to lend their financial and manpower in the war effort. The time has come for him to enlist their cooperation and support.
These are the people who dominate the most lucrative arteries of the national economy. The wealth of the 50 wealthiest Filipinos amounts to about $27 billion or P1.350 trillion.
The most devastating effect of the crisis is the breakdown and dislocation of the national economy. The projected growth of the economy this year is below zero which means experiencing a severe economic recession.
This is where the backliners should be called in. President Duterte could now exercise his power to enlist the services of the country;’s most successful entrepreneurs and the best and brightest minds in the private sector who have the experience in confronting a crisis and in handling damage control operations.
Even if only 10 percent of the liquid assets of the wealthiest Filipinos is earmarked to finance the productive capacities of the most vial arteries of the national economy, the country can readily recover its economic health.
This huge capital can immediately be funneled to finance corporate farming all over the country. Similar programs can be made for the fishing industry, the meat and dairy industries, and other food production concerns.
This gigantic undertaking, however, must be financed, managed, and pursued by the donors of the funds themselves. They can set up a foundation which will design and oversee the entire economic recovery program.
In effect, the wealthy contributors will not be donating or giving for free their money to the government or the people. They simply will be investing a portion of their financial resources in a collective corporate enterprise in cooperation with those engaged in any particular endeavor or occupation. This massive economic recovery program will will promote a truly inclusive economic growth and development.
The fund donors themselves could spearhead the recovery efforts in industries where they have been most successful.
The Sy family may head the distributive or the wholesale and retail trade. The Villars and the top real estate developers could draw the housing programs for the middle class and less fortunate families. Ramon Ang will surely be the top choice to handle the food processing industries. Enrique Razon could handle the capital intensive transportation industry. The Ayalas could readily and capably manage the recovery of the tourism industry.
There are highly respected entrepreneurs in other lines of business whose experiences will be most valuable. The richest citizens of the country could be the catalysts in finally overcoming the crisis and in promoting the economic ascendancy of the Filipino people.
Mr. Ernesto Banawis is former general manager of the Philippine News Agency. He is a student of government and history.