Employers and business groups expressed fear over the dire consequences of the renewed lockdown measures over the weekend after the government imposed an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila and nearby provinces as new COVID-19 cases surged to record levels.
“The impact on business and economy will be tremendous,” said Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) chairman emeritus Francis Chua. “We are hoping that small businesses will be able to survive another lockdown. Except for essentials, other businesses are in minimum capacity and most are closed. The government must be able to do something to help out companies in these dire situations.”
The World Bank on Friday warned that slow vaccinations in the Philippines could delay economic recovery and take away a percentage point from the potential growth in gross domestic product (GDP), which took a beating in 2020 as economic activity contracted 9.5 percent as a result of the pandemic and the fallout from a prolonged lockdown.
Earlier last week, acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua warned that imposing a two-week modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) would have resulted in a rise in the number of hungry people by 58,000 and raise the number of unemployed by 128,500. He also said the country was already losing P700 million in salaries per day under the general community quarantine.
Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) president Sergio Ortiz-Luis said companies were hanging by a thread and anything more would cause them to “fall to pieces.”
“There are more that the government can do instead of placing the NCR under lockdown, again. There are so many recommendations that they are not considering,” he said.
He said the government was responding to critical situations in a “characteristically knee-jerk” manner, “listening to the observations and recommendations of a research group that has no expertise in crisis management like what we have right now.”
He said the lack of information has led to the new spike in COVID-19 cases and said he prayed the new lockdown would not delay recovery efforts by one or two years.
Meanwhile, the Department of Tourism (DOT) issued strict new guidelines Sunday for hotels under a second lockdown, suspending Lenten ‘staycations’ within NCR Plus.
The interim operational guidelines came in the wake of the imposition of an ECQ in Metro Manila and four surrounding provinces for the seven-day period starting Monday, March 29.
In an advisory to all hotels, resorts, apartment hotels, motels and other such establishments in the country, the DOT effectively suspended the operation of “staycation” hotels for leisure guests within the so-called NCR Plus bubble, which covers Metro Manila, Laguna, Cavite, Rizal and Bulacan.
However, guests who are already billeted in these establishments by midnight on Sunday may continue to stay for the duration of their original booking. However, no new bookings will be allowed for the week.
Christine Ibarreta, president of the Hotel Sales and Marketing Association (HSMA), assured tourism officials that guests with reservations within the ECQ period will be allowed to rebook without penalty provided they booked directly with the hotels.
The DOT has classified accommodation establishments into 3, according to the nature of their operations. These are – isolation facilities, for Covid-19 positive guests; quarantine hotels, for individuals who must undergo quarantine, such as returning overseas Filipinos; foreign nationals allowed entry to the country; those unable to quarantine in their homes; and health workers who need accommodation near their place of work; and regular hotels, which are neither isolation facilities nor quarantine hotels and includes hotels with issued certificates of authority to operate for staycation.
In the advisory, regular hotels under ECQ and modified ECQ can accommodate only guests with long-term leases; locally stranded individuals or those transiting to their place of residence; and authorized persons outside of residence (APOR) pursuant to their official duties.
The DOT advised these accredited establishments to strictly enforce the minimum health and safety guidelines and quarantine protocols or face sanctions which include fines, suspension and the cancellation of accreditation.
In other developments:
Albay Rep. Joey Salceda said lockdowns should only be implemented if they would truly make a dent in the number of COVID-19 cases. Lockdowns that paralyze livelihoods should come with the guarantee that those who would suffer greatly for them would be fed and sheltered by government, he said. “So we have to make this work. I welcome the IATF recommendation to submit sources of funding for targeted subsidies during the lockdown,” he added. Salceda also expressed frustration that some national government offices have become sources of infection.
Bayan Muna Rep. Ferdinand Gaite hit the reimposition of a "militarized lockdown" beginning today to curb the surge in COVID-19 infections. "Heightened presence of uniformed personnel, checkpoints, and even house-to-house to look for infected persons? This is the same militarized response that was ineffective, and was highly criticized and rejected by the public last year, but they're doing it again,” he said. ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro said the lockdown proved President Duterte's failure in his COVID-19 response. With Darwin Amojelar