MANILA – Technology will be used to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) advantage so that monetary officials would be able to continue their functions despite challenges posed by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), Governor Benjamin Diokno said Thursday.
“Moving forward, we will maximize the use of technology to limit physical contact in performing our functions, while remaining proactive in carrying out the protocols advised by health authorities on Covid-19,” Diokno said in a statement.
Work at the BSP’s main office in Manila and Security Plant Complex (SPC) in Quezon City was suspended on Thursday and Friday.
The regular Thursday meeting of the policy-making Monetary Board (MB) was rescheduled to Friday and will be held at the SPC.
“It’s a go. We’ll do teleconferencing,” Diokno told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) after queried if the MB meeting would push through despite work suspension at the central bank to give way for disinfection of the buildings and its surroundings.
Diokno said he, along with Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and MB Member Philip Medalla, would be “in remote areas” during the meeting while “the rest of the MBMs (Monetary Board members) will be at SPC.”
Work at the BSP and the Department of Finance, which share the same compound in Manila, have been suspended to provide ample time for disinfection after heads of these offices said they were exposed last week to a person who tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday.
Diokno, Dominguez, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, and Bases Conversion Development Authority president Vivencio Dizon have announced their decision to undergo self-quarantine after being exposed to the Covid-19 person during the final inspection of the new 2.6-km. North Luzon Expressway Harbor Link C3-R10 section last Thursday, which President Rodrigo Duterte also attended. (PNA)
