Malacañang urged the public to cooperate with the government in efforts to revitalize the economy, saying the Philippines has already hit rock-bottom and the only way to go for the country is up.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque made the statement after a recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed that two out of five Filipinos, or around 40 percent, are expecting the economy to worsen in the next 12 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The said figure is also the highest in over 12 years since the 52 percent recorded in June 2008.
In his Thursday presser, Roque said the Palace understands the public sentiment but assured the people that the country has already experienced the worst.
"Naintindihan po natin kung bakit pessimistic ang ating mga kababayan. Pero sinasabi naman ng mga economic managers (We understand why the people have grown pessimistic but our economic managers are saying): We have hit rock bottom and the only way to go is up," he said.
"The worst has hit us already at the worst, of course, was when we had ECQ dahil sinarado po natin ang ekonomiya (the enhanced community quarantine because we closed the economy)," he added.
"Kapit-bisig po tayo, hanapbuhay po tayong lahat, buksan po natin ang ekonomiya (Let us unite, let us all go to work so we can open the economy)," Roque said.
"Nandiyan pa rin po si COVID, pero kaya po nating pag-ingatan ang ating mga sarili, at sama-sama po tayong babangon (COVID-19 is still here but when we take care of our health, we will rise as one)," he added.
Based on the said SWS national mobile phone survey conducted from July 3 to 6, 24 percent of Filipinos expect the economy to stay the same, while 30 percent expect it to improve.
The net economic optimism likewise dropped from a "very high" +38 to a "mediocre" -9. This is the lowest since the "low" -19 recorded in February 2009.
Net economic optimism refers to the expectations about the Philippine economy while net personal optimism is one's expectations in personal quality of life.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported in August that the country has fallen into recession, the first time in almost 30 years, as the second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) was recorded at -16.5 percent.
The SWS likewise found out last month that adult joblessness in the country hit a record high 45.5 percent or 27.3 million Filipinos who lost their jobs during the pandemic.