The Filipino ability to adapt and survive amid adversity, colloquially known as “diskarte,” is solving the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical frontliners fighting to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Senator Imee Marcos said.

Marcos urged the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to speed up approval of a PPE prototype submitted by the garment exports industry, whose 300,000 workers are ready to augment the country’s short supply of PPEs amid a global shortage in medical equipment.

The PPE prototype’s approval will mean continued employment for  garment workers in Taytay and give hope to more sewers in Cavite and other garment-producing communities in the country, Marcos added.

“Diskarteng pinoy ang pag-asa natin para makaahon at malampasan ang krisis dulot ng COVID-19. Walang mangyayari sa atin kung lagi lang tayo maghihintay ng supply o donasyon galing sa ibang bansa,” Marcos said.

Marcos, who chairs the Senate committee on economic affairs, said that funding industries badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and helping them adapt their production to crucially needed goods is part of the coping mechanisms of the P750-billion “Pag-ASA: Alaga, Sustento, Angat” program that she proposed via Senate Bill 1414.

Marcos also said that the government can ensure a more reliable supply of food and other basic goods if it does not burden suppliers with documentary requirements and instead allow “substantial compliance.”

“Luwagan na ang red tape para mapabilis ang daloy ng pagkain at mga kinakailangang medical supplies. Ang bigas, gulay, poultry na manggagaling sa Norte dapat binibyahe na papuntang Metro Manila,” Marcos said./Stacy Ang