DTI Chief: “The Philippine economy cannot bear another massive lockdown”

Ayon kay Trade Sec. Ramon Lopez, hindi na makakayanan ng ekonomiya ng Pilipinas kapag nagkaroon ulit ng region-wide lockdown kung saan karamihan na ng mga businesses ay nag-full scale closure na.

“Nabanggit po natin dati, we cannot bear another massive lockdown, unless the situation ay talagang bumubulusok na surge,” sinabi ni Trade Sec. Lopez sa state-run PTV’s Laging Handa briefing.

Nabanggit ng Trade chief nang nilagay sa ilalim ng enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) ang Metro Manila at yung four nearby provinces noong Marso hanggang Abril, mga P30 bilyon ang nawalang wages.

Dagdag niya pa na maraming micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) ang nag-sara.

Batay kay Lopez, kapag nagkaroon ulit ng ECQ sa Metro Manila, mangangahulugan ito ng pag-sara ng 16% ng mga establishmento mula sa kasalakuyang 8% hanngang 10%.

Ibig sabihin nito, 1.8 milyong workers sa rehiyon ang ma-aapektuhan, sabi ni Lopez.

“Still Within Manageable Levels”

Nitong Martes, nirekomenda ng OCTA Research group na ilagay sa two-week lockdown ang National Capital Region (NCR), sapagkat may average na halos 1,000 daily cases ang naitatala sa gitna ng banta ng mas mapanganib na Delta variant.

Ngunit, sa kabila ng rekomendasyon ng OCTA Research, nag-extend ng general community quarantine (GCQ) with heightened restrictions sa Metro Manila mula Agosto 1 hanggang 15 ang gobyerno.

“Together with official and reliable health experts and advisers, the IATF recommended keeping the same GCQ with heightened restrictions. Thanks to the President for approving the recommendation,” sinabi ni Lopez sa isang hiwalay na pahayag.

“COVID-19 cases are still within manageable levels. Delta has been detected but so far being monitored and contained. It is being closely watched. But we took a more holistic assessment,” dagdag niya.

Accelerate the Vaccination Roll-out

Ayon sa Trade Chief na hangga’t intensified ang vaccination roll-out at strikto ang public health standards at granular lockdown, “we can keep the economy going and save jobs and livelihood.”

Para naman kay acting President ng Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) na si Edgardo Lacson, “a declaration of another ECQ in Metro Manila will cause the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs again, not to mention business losses of enterprises, which our citizens can ill afford.”

Sabi ni Lacson, na ang dapat pagtuunan ng gobyerno ay ang pagbibilis ng pagbabakuna ng populasyon, lalo na may milyong bakuna ang kamakailan lang dumating sa bansa.

Learn from Experience

Ngunit, makiki-usap ang mga Metro Manila mayors sa national governement na mag-impose ng mas striktong quarantine measures sapagkat batay sa prediction ng mga experts, magkakaroon ulit ng COVID-19 surge dahil sa Delta variant.

Sinabi ng National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) na magiging gabay ang naging experience ng gobyerno noong Marso hanggang Abril nang nilagay nila sa ilalim ng ECQ ang NCR Plus bubble para sa kanilang response upang mabawasan ang banta ng mapanganib na Delta variant.

Ayon kay Lopez, “the key is we allow the economy to reopen in a safe and very calibrated way, but we make more restrictions on non-essential activities and mass gatherings and definitely no super-spreader activities.”

“We call on all establishments to ensure implementation of MPHS (minimum public health standards) at all times, each company having a health and safety committee and officers. In addition, we need to ensure good ventilation and prevent mass gathering and big crowding situations,” aniya.

Source: GMANews