THE Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) is urging the government not to extend the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) period as this will do more damage to the businesses, regardless of size.
“We obviously hope there will be no further extensions of ECQ as, after a year of lockdowns, even large businesses are hurting and many smaller ones are on the verge of closing or have closed,” the business group said in a statement on Tuesday.
The government put “NCR Plus”—Metro Manila, Cavite, Rizal, Laguna and Bulacan—under ECQ again from March 29 to April 4 amid the surging cases of Covid-19 in the country.
While the ECQ extension is still under review, the Department of Health recommended on Tuesday that the lockdown measure remain for another week. On the same day, new Covid-19 cases reached 9,296, bringing the total number to 741,181.
The business group said it understands that implementing a stricter lockdown protocol is necessary, to curb the rising Covid-19 infection rate but stressed that more is needed still to be done to make sure the economy is not at the losing end.
“[We] hope the government also takes appropriate measures to avoid further collapse of the economy, such as providing support for businesses to help them mitigate the impact of the pandemic,” MAP stressed.
“The current lockdown and any further extensions should be used to quickly augment our health-care capacity and infrastructure, including massive testing in areas with high case counts,” it added.
Citing Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) President Benedicto Yujuico, PCCI Chair Alegria Sibal Limjoco told the BusinessMirror that implementing a lockdown will not resolve the rising cases.
With this, the PCCI said that the country should fast-track the vaccination program instead.
“The pronouncement of the President on private sector procurement of vaccines is welcome and we hope the legal issues surrounding this can be addressed immediately,” MAP said.
Malacañang recently explained that the private sector is allowed to procure its own supply of Covid-19 vaccines via a tripartite agreement.
Earlier this month, Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council Private Sector Representative George T. Barcelon told this newspaper that the recent move by the government to tighten lockdown measures anew was a “knee-jerk reaction,” showing its lack of preparation in handling the increasing Covid-19 cases.
Barcelon said he also understands the rationale behind the stricter lockdown measures, but stressed that it appears the government has no other plans to mitigate the rising cases except through mobility restriction. Similar criticism was lodged against the Philippine government response by World Bank officials last week.
While mass vaccination has not yet started, Barcelon earlier said that the government should focus on strengthening the immune system of the public. It can be as simple as providing vitamins to the Filipinos to improve the Filipinos’ health, he explained.
“I hope that the government will listen more to the private sector on how to mitigate [the rising Covid-19],” Barcelon added, explaining they have ground visibility and can bring up issues from the private sector, especially the micro, small and medium enterprises.
Image credits: Roy Domingo
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