While the coronavirus disease pandemic has caused misery to many people, President Rodrigo Duterte has seen good things brought by this health crisis.

In his intervention at the 36th ASEAN Summit through a video conference on Friday, Duterte said "not everything in the horizon is bleak."

"Viewed through the lens of the environment, lockdowns have led to decreased energy consumption, thus reducing pollution," he said.

Duterte said the pandemic has also taught the people to choose to be nature’s stewards, not its abusers.

Aside from the good effect on the environment, Duterte added the lockdowns have forced people to take full advantage of technology and innovation.

"The adoption of e-commerce, e-learning, videoconferencing, and artificial intelligence have all been accelerated by the crisis," he said.

"We expect many positive outcomes from this development. [For instance, cross-border e-commerce] could expand the export opportunities of businesses, especially smaller ones. Forced experimentation with remote work could spur more services offshoring. These will spread [growth across] regions while minimizing harm to the environment," Duterte said.

As in previous crises, Duterte said pandemic has opened opportunities for green alternatives for recovery.

Duterte joined his ASEAN counterparts in tasking their respective ministers to craft a recovery plan that is "innovative and ambitious, and one that will lead us to a greener and more sustainable future."

Due to the pandemic, most economies, including the Philippines, have contracted in the first quarter of this year.

In the Philippines, thousands of people lost their jobs as many businesses have closed shop. Celerina Monte/DMS