Bangko Sentral will still require
bankers to take coronavirus tests
for the 2023 New Year reception
Facial masks outdoors are no longer mandatory worldwide except in communist China and Hong Kong.
Even better, negative RT-PCR test results had been done away with when travelling within the Philippines and the rest of the world, again with the exception of China and Hong Kong.
But for still strange unexplained reasons, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, like its interest rate tools amid the resurgent inflation, is falling behind the curve when it comes to coronavirus pandemic guidelines.
The country's central monetary authority, believe it or not, will still be requiring VIP guests to take rapid antigen tests when the Bangko Sentral resumes its annual, face-to-face reception for the banking community, in mid-January, to welcome the new year.
It does not matter that the reception will be held outdoors at the adjoining Fort San Antonio Abad park, and with the optional face mask-rule already an IATF policy. Each and every invitee is expected to take and clear the coronavirus test, period.
Proof?
Check the attached screenshot.
In it, the Bangko Sentral is soliciting quotations for an outdoor supplier that will administer rapid antigen tests for 300 "external guests and performers" expected to attend next year's reception.
For this extra safety measure, the Bangko Sentral has approved a budget of P141,750, or P472.50 per test, loose change in these times, in order to maintain a China-like zero-covid policy within the country's monetary temple.
This early, the mandatory-test policy has already placed the bank's Corporate Affairs Office in a protocolar dilemma.
What if, heaven forbid, Teresita Sy of BDO or Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala of BPI tests positive. Or if the IMF representative or Benjamin Diokno himself turns in pink/purple lines post-testing?
Should the CORAO receptionists gently lead these banking gods to a corner and discreetly inform them of their, how do we say it, delicate condition?
And what if any guest pulls rank or, worse, creates a scene? Would Governor Felipe Medalla hold the BSP line or quietly intervene for his A-listers facing ejection?
Masaya ito!
0 Comments