THE private sector called on the government to ensure the speedy rollout of relief for the marginalized sector, along with aid to the labor force, with the extension of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) measure in the National Capital Region (NCR) and nearby provinces.
Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac) Private Sector Representative George T. Barcelon, in an interview with the BusinessMirror, said the stricter lockdown protocol that constrains mobility results in job loss, affecting source of income and household consumption.
On Saturday evening, the government announced the extension of ECQ for “NRC plus”—Metro Manila, Cavite, Rizal, Laguna and Bulacan—for one more week or until April 11, as more Covid-19 cases are logged in the country.
“Definitely, the government must be prepared to have a facility, a transfer of much-needed ayuda (subsidies) to the marginalized. I think that is very important,” Barcelon said.
This can help the severely affected sector, he explained, which includes people who lost their jobs due to pandemic-induced lockdown protocols. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the unemployment rate climbed to 8.8 percent in February from 8.7 percent a month earlier.
Barcelon stressed that the distribution of so-called ayuda should be “properly planned” and without “leakage.”
“The sooner they release it, the better it is,” Barcelon said.
Last week, the government said it was aiming to tap the P23-billion unused fund under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act to benefit 22.9-million low-income individuals with the imposition of ECQ. Malacañang said the aid may either be distributed through cash or in-kind.
For the part of the business, Barcelon said the sector “cannot expect much from the government.” Still, if there is anything the administration can do to help entrepreneurs, the Ledac representative said this should be channeled to their employees.
He likened the proposed employee relief to the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) Covid Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP).
CAMP is among the financial support programs of DOLE which aims to help private firms that transitioned to flexible work arrangements or forced to temporary closure amid the pandemic. Each recipient is provided one-time P5,000 cash aid.
Struggling
Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) National Issues Committee Chairperson Rizalina Mantaring, in a mobile message to the BusinessMirror, said that both the micro, small and medium enterprises and large businesses are struggling amid the pandemic.
“After a year of lockdowns, poverty and hunger have increased, our people desperately need aid and we hope the government can reallocate funds to distribute quickly to those most in need,” she added.
MAP earlier urged the government not to extend the ECQ as this is only seen to harm the business sector without relief measures in place.
Information gathering
The extension of ECQ could have been avoided if the government had better information gathering, Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis Jr. told this newspaper.
Ortiz-Luis, who also heads the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc., said that the country would have saved billions—in economic loss arising from another ECQ and spending on subsidies—if the government channeled funds to strengthening data collection and projection about the Covid-19 situation.
With better information management, Ortiz-Luis said that the government could have laid out a more efficient plan rather than imposing yet again stricter lockdown protocols.
“[The government] sort of abdicated in their role of information gathering [to think tank group] OCTA,” he pointed out. The OCTA Research Team has been providing data about the pandemic.
He slammed the Department of Health for “lack of foresight” and “lack of ability on information dissemination.” Ortiz-Luis said that better crisis management could have avoided the overwhelming rate of hospital occupancies amid rising cases.
The ECOP head also asked to suspend the Data Privacy Act and allow the names of the people who tested positive for Covid-19 be revealed. This way, only the infected people—especially if there are only a few in a barangay—are confined while the rest may be able to go outside, he said.
Being proactive
“We have to bite the bullet and stay under ECQ,” Barcelon said, noting the soaring Covid-19 cases.
But this does not mean that the country should just wait for a “natural occurrence” of the number of cases going down, he added.
For one thing, he said that enforcement of health protocols—such as wearing masks and social distancing—should be strictly enforced as some barangay may have been laxed recently. This is seen to better mitigate the rising Covid-19 cases instead of contact tracing, Barcelon explained.
MAP’s Mantaring, meanwhile, said that the government should take this opportunity to strengthen contact tracing, testing, isolation and treatment capabilities.
“Quarantine centers should be reactivated, and some upgraded to treatment facilities for the milder to moderate cases as hospitals are overwhelmed,” she added.
Working together
The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) said that the Inter-Agency Task Force should also consult with the business groups for feedback.
“For businesses, we are bleeding. We hope the economy to open up soon,” PCCI Chair Alegria Sibal Limjoco told the BusinessMirror.
The German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (GPCCI) said the companies, national government and local government units should work together to curb the rising cases, including in strict implementation of health protocols. “The clear objective must be to reopen the economy as fast as possible in [NCR plus],” GPCCI President Stefan Schmitz told the BusinessMirror, echoing PCCI sentiment.
“Besides this, all stakeholders need to push the vaccine campaign in the next weeks and months,” Schmitz added.
Mantaring and Limjoco also stressed the need for a quicker vaccination program rollout.
Meanwhile, GPCCI Executive Director Martin Henkelmann said that more legislation should be pushed to inject confidence in the economy, which can help the recovery.
“We hope for further positive legislative impulses, e.g. through the reform of the Public Service Act and the Retail Trade Act, as well as through cutting more red tape,” he said.