The Duterte administration has laid out “concrete” measures to ensure the recovery of the Philippine economy amid the prevailing coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, Malacañang said Thursday.

This, after the Social Weather Stations (SWS), in its Dec. 12 to 16, 2021 survey, found that 51 percent of adult Filipinos were optimistic that the Philippine economy will improve in the next 12 months.

Some 30 percent were convinced that the country’s economy will remain the same, while only seven percent believed it will worsen.

The poll results yielded a net economic optimism of “excellent” +44, the “highest since the ‘excellent’ +44 in September 2016,” SWS noted.

“The December 2021 Net Economic Optimism was a continuing recovery from the mediocre -9 in July 2020, mediocre -5 in September 2020, and high +24 in November 2020,” the private polling firm said.

Reacting to the results of SWS survey, acting Presidential Spokesperson and Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said this proves that the government’s policy on economic recovery is gaining ground.

“This indeed demonstrates that government has concrete plans to sustain our economic rebound,” Andanar said in a press statement.

The Palace, Andanar said, viewed the latest net economic optimism as a “clear indication of how effective our calibrated strategy of shifting to Alert Level System to further reopen the economy.”

Andanar said the adoption of the 10-point policy agenda for the country’s economic recovery would help spur economic growth.

He added that President Rodrigo Duterte had likewise ordered the adoption of a whole-of-government approach to align all economic recovery programs and measures of the national government.

“More businesses are operating and more Filipinos are able to go to work while ramping our Covid-19 vaccination drive,” he said. “Our people have more reasons to feel confident about the future.”

On March 21, Duterte inked Executive Order (EO) 166 directing all government departments and offices to adopt the 10-point policy agenda to fast-track the recovery of the Philippine economy from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Under EO 166, all state departments, bureaus, offices, agencies, and instrumentalities, including government-owned or -controlled corporations and state universities and colleges, are mandated to ensure that all related policies, measures, and programs are aligned with the adopted policy agenda. (PNA)