THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Sunday defended the government’s decision to allow cinemas to open, saying that “extra safety protocols” will be put in place.
Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon M. Lopez told reporters over the weekend that cinemas will be required to provide ventilation and limit their capacities to only 30 percent.
Last week, the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases Resolutions allowed cinemas to open in General Community Quarantine areas like Metro Manila.
“This was reviewed by experts in TWG (Technical Working Group) of IATF with DOH (Department of Health); DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment); DTI; DOT (Department of Tourism); DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government); and DOF (Department of Finance),” Lopez said.
“Cinemas in MGCQ areas have been opened already. So it’s approximately half of the economy that is still in GCQ, where cinemas will be opened,” he added.
Lopez said opening cinemas in GCQ areas would help boost the industry, which has been significantly affected by the lockdowns that government imposed to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
He said around 300,000 workers rely on the industry for their livelihood. Further, the P13 billion worth industry shrank to P1.3 billion in 2020, he noted.
In a survey last year, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) and DOF found that the industry that was most affected by the lockdown was the arts, entertainment, and recreation sector, where sales declined by 82.3 percent.
It is estimated that 18,661 firms in the sector were closed due to the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) and only 1,874 firms were open. The Neda and DOF said that as early as May last year, firms in this sector would be closed for the rest of 2020.
Next among the most badly hit sectors is tourism, which saw revenues plunge 81.9 percent with 29,147 firms closed during the ECQ and only 2,686 firms open during the lockdown.
In terms of job losses in the top 10 hardest-hit sectors, the construction and education sectors were the most affected with 689,974 and 130,514 jobs lost, respectively.
This was followed by the repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (74,758 jobs lost during ECQ), tourism (51,446), and finance and insurance activities (41,027).
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