The unemployment of Filipinos arising from the coronavirus pandemic will just be "temporary" as the government moves to further open up the economy, Malacanang said Tuesday.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque discussed the imminent employment opportunities from anticipated revitalized economic activities after admitting that losing a job is not a joke.
"Mayroon pong ibang mga taong minasama o binigyan ng kulay iyong aking sinabi na nagagalak na hindi tayo 100% na nawalan ng trabaho. Malungkot po na maraming nawalan ng trabaho sa atin. Hindi po biro talaga 'yan (There were some people who took offense or gave color to my statement that I'm glad that not 100 percent of us lost jobs. It is sad that many lost their jobs. That's not a joke)," he said during a televised press briefing.
(Pero itong kawalan ng temporary po, inaasahan natin na temporary lamang dahil alam po natin epekto lang ito ng COVID. Babangon po tayong muli, magtatrabaho po tayong muli (But this unemployment is temporary. We expect it to be temporary because we know this was due to COVID. We will rise again, we will have jobs again)," he said.
Roque earlier triggered a firestorm on social media after supposedly downplaying the rise in the country's unemployment numbers based on a survey.
A Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed the adult joblessness in the country reached 45.5 percent in July, from 17.5 percent recorded in December 2019. The July unemployment number is equivalent to 27.3 million unemployed, compared to the 9 million jobless adults last December.
Roque said the unemployment numbers "could have been worse," adding he was glad not everyone lost their jobs due to the lockdown that affected economic activities. "I’m still surprised at our resilience at 45 percent pa lang ang nawawalan sa trabaho. It could have been worse kasi complete lockdown ang nangyari sa atin I’m still surprised at our resilience and only 45 percent lost their jobs. It could have been worse because we’re in complete lockdown),” he added.
The government has moved to relax the quarantine level in Metro Manila and four nearby provinces after two-week restrictive lockdown based on an appeal from the health frontliners. The general community quarantine in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal will be in effect from August 19 to 31.
Roque stressed the need to implement public health measures even as the government further opens up the economy to allow people get back to work.
"Ngayong magbubukas na nga ang ating ekonomiya para nga po makabalik na sa trabaho ang marami sa atin, siyempre po mas malaki ngayon ang banta ng COVID, pero kaya po natin ito (Now that we're opening our economy to restore the livelihood of the people, of course the COVID threat is bigger but we can do this)," he said.
"Ang kinakailangan lang po habang binubuksan ang ekonomiya, maging istrikto tayo sa pagpapatupad ng wearing of masks, ng social distancing, paghuhugas kamay at pagsusuot ng face shield sa mga pampublikong transportasyon at sa ating mga lugar na pinagtatrabahuhan (While we open the economy, we must strictly implement measures such as wearing of masks, social distancing, washing of hands, wearing of face shield in public transportation and workplaces)," he said.