A group of manufacturing companies backed the call of President Duterte’s chief economic manager to relax the quarantine measures in Metro Manila and other major urban centers to restart the local economy.
The Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI), an umbrella organization of over 100 manufacturing firms, said that the further easing of mobility restrictions in the National Capital Region, Calabarzon and other urban hubs will help sustain economic recovery.
For this reason, Jesus Arranza, FPI chairman said they are backing Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III in his call for looser quarantine measures as soon as possible while strictly observing health and safety protocols.
Metro Manila and the provinces of Laguna, Cavite and Rizal remain under General Community Quarantine (GCQ) while Batangas and Quezon are under Modified GCQ until July 31.
Earlier, Dominguez cited the need to strike a “reasonable balance between safeguarding public health and restarting the economy” on the back of a healthcare system better equipped to slow community transmission of COVID-19.
Dominguez said that while the people’s health and safety remain the government’s top priority, Filipinos cannot keep retreating from the virus at the cost of their livelihoods, especially in Metro Manila and Calabarzon, which collectively account for 67 percent of the domestic economy.
He stressed that the government will never take the threat posed by the pandemic lightly, as it must continue protecting lives in ways that do not prevent people from earning a living.
The FPI agreed with Dominguez’s call, pointing out that the pandemic had dealt the economy a strong
blow that “halted (its) robust growth” when the national and local governments imposed strict quarantine measures in March to prevent COVID-19 spread.
Arranza said the lockdowns “affected 75 percent of the economy, shrank gross domestic product by 0.2 percent in the first quarter and its extension starting April resulted in a 15-year high unemployment rate.”
“FPI fully agrees with Secretary Dominguez that there are already signs of economic recovery when the quarantine restrictions were relaxed starting this June 2020 as import volumes improve, reflecting rising economic activity,” Arranza said. The FPI also recommended to start allowing the use of road-worthy public utility jeepneys (PUJs) as these are “much safer than airconditioned versions in reducing the viral load during transport.”
“This is very critical because the ordinary workers could not report for work since this (mode of) transportation is not available particularly in the economic centers,” the FPI said.