Maintaining a general community quarantine (GCQ) level in the National Capital Region and neighboring provinces (NCR Plus) ensures continued reopening of the domestic economy, Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said.
This is in contrast to the position of Economic Planning Secretary Carl Kendrick Chua that there is no need for GCQ anymore despite the threat of the Delta variant. The country’s chief economic strategist even proposed for a face-to-face classes.
Lopez made his position clear during a press conference after the San Juan Vaccination Program led by Mayor Francis Zamora, Congress Ronnie Zamora, and government officials Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, Architect Renee Bacani, vice-president of Ortigas & Co. and general manager of Ortigas Malls, among other government officials.
“Yes, we see that (number of closed establishments) improving as long as we continue with our GCQ in most areas,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.
The trade chief noted that that the number of closed establishments fluctuate according to the level of quarantine status. He said that only 10 percent of establishments in NCR Plus remained closed in June.
He explained that the number of closed enterprises had gone down to 4 percent already in February this year from 38 percent last year for the NCR Plus. However, when the ECQ was reimposed in March and then the MECQ in April, the number of closed enterprises went up again to 16 percent.
As more restrictions were eased up with the GCQ status in the NCR Plus, the number of closed establishments further improved to 10 percent in June, an improvement from 16 percent.
Thus, he said, there is a strong possibility that this figure will further improve if there is no surge in cases and the GCQ status is maintained. He cited the possibility of going back to 4 percent and back to the pre-COVID situation when most establishments were opened for business.
“The key really is vaccination and compliance by our fellow Filipinos so there will be no surge in cases and we will not go back to the ECQ level,” he said.
In a speech at the San Juan Vaccination Program, Lopez announced that DTI is working for the establishment of another “Go Local” outlet in the Greenhills Mall to allow more micro and small enterprises a display their products in heavy traffic areas.
“We are working with Ortigas Land for ‘Go Lokal and OTOP Hub’ so MSMEs can display their products free of charge,” said Lopez.
He said that Ortigas Land can run the ‘Go Lokal and OTOP Hub’ and also tap the MSMEs as their suppliers for their other malls outside of Greenhills.
Lopez cited Greenhills as the “Go to” shopping center for everything, especially electronics and gadgets because of the skills and talents of the techie vendors inside the sprawling mall.
There are now a total of 20 big retailers that have joined the ‘Go Lokal’ program, providing free space to MSME products in 144 stores or malls nationwide. So far, 788 MSMEs have participated in the ‘Go Lokal!’ program since its inception in 2016.
Of this number, 352 MSMEs have already been mainstreamed and become regular suppliers of retail partners, generating sales of over P381 million.
As the economy continues to open up, Lopez urged Greenhills vendors to avail of the loan facility of the DTI under the SB Corp. CARES Program, which offers zero interest and no-collateral loan.
Aside from SB Corp., he urged MSMEs to take advantage of the free trainings and seminars under various DTI programs, including starting a business online and product promotion.
Greenhills has gained its popularity among Filipinos as the hub for all-electronics issues and trades, from purchases to repairs.
Lopez further noted that the economy has been improving and that even the very gradual reopening of sectors has made significant improvements in terms of jobs and production volume, value, and exports performance.
“This is because we have solid economic fundamentals. We have 110 million population that is our market,” he said. By observing health protocols, get vaccinated, Lopez is confident of the continued recovery of the domestic economy.
It could be recalled that the first COVID-19 transmission happened in San Juan City. As such, Mayor Francis Zamora quipped, “The first local transmission happened here in
San Juan has already given over 96,000 of its 110,000 population their first dose of vaccines. The target is to achieve herd immunity by August this year. The city is accelerating its vaccination to 5,000 doses a day from the current 3,000 doses, once all of its three vaccination sites are fully operational. The mayor also vowed to help other cities in their vaccination program.
For his part, Congressman Zamora, the father of Mayor Francis, said “We are determined that what started in San Juan, we will finish in San Juan.”
“We can finish this if we are together,” he said in Filipino.
To further support the reopening of businesses in San Juan, the older Zamora bared plans to start a history trail tour in the city, featuring the city’s special historical sites such as the Pinaglabanam, El Deposito and El Pulvorin in the fight against the Spanish colonizers.
“San Juan has a history to be proud of,” said Zamora, who revealed he got vaccinated twice over. He said he got the first set of Sinopharm doses in December, but since it was a “bootleg” he cannot get a documentation to show. That is why, he was given another two shots as booster for a total of four doses already.