CENTRALIZATION ON STEROIDS!

The headline of one news article read, “After entering recession, Philippines set for record collapse this year”.

We should treat this as a signal for a bold revamp of our corona virus strategy. Time to reconsider the centralization approach and put more premium on intergovernmental coordination and cooperation.

The current command and control structure must be streamlined. For the national government side, designate the Cabinet Secretary and the DOH as the lone and unequivocal decision-makers.

For the local government level side, approach and organize LGUs per region. The MMDA, CAR and the BARMM are already fully functioning regional organizations. For the others, organize the provincial governors and city mayors in the region as the regional task force.

Let these two sides work on crafting and implementing a testing, tracing and treatment regime on a per region basis following the principles of intergovernmental coordination and cooperation.

With this change, Malaca?ang and Congress can then focus on preventing the collapse of our national economy and put more attention on leading the country on the path to a “better normal”.