Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez insisted that the national government isn't belittling the highly-transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) despite its decision to not budge from the current general community quarantine (GCQ).
Lopez stressed that the move to retain GCQ status, albeit with "heightened restriction" wasn't meant to underestimate the Delta variant but to keep the economy going while preventing the spread of the dreaded respiratory disease.
"Hindi natin minamaliit ang Delta. Kaya nga ngayon, kung kaya natin mag-restrict ng movement, mag-restrict po tayo even you must be proactive personally. Kung hindi importante, sa bahay na lang po muna tayo (We are not belittling Delta. That's why we should restrict movement wherever we can, even you must be proactive personally. If there's nothing important to do outdoors, just stay at home)," the secretary said during the Laging Handa public briefing on Thursday, July 29.
"Binalanse with the economy. Ni-rekeep lang yung GCQ with hightened restriction dahil nagiging manageable na yung cases at yung Delta na na-detect so far controlled and is being closely watched (We balanced it with the economy. We kept the GCQ with heightened restriction because the cases are becoming manageable and the detected Delta cases are so far controlled and closely watched)," Lopez added.
The entire Metro Manila and several other areas in the country will remain under GCQ with heightened restrictions from August 1 to 15.
The latest quarantine classification level was recommended by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) on Wednesday, July 28. It was later approved by President Duterte.
The DTI chief further said that should the regions revert to the proposed two-week enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector will take the hit, leading to further unemployment.
"Yung MSME, nung nakaraan talagang dapang-dapa na sila. Kapag nag-ECQ pa, wala nang mapupuhunan dito (In the past, MSMEs were already on their knees. If we enforce ECQ, they will no longer have capital)," Lopez said.
At present, the unemployment rate in the country is at 7.7 percent. Lopez said they are aiming to bring it down "closer to maybe 6 percent and eventually to 5 percent."
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Benhur Abalos reiterated in a virtual press briefing Thursday that the Metro Manila mayors prefer a two-week implementation of the stricter ECQ, but at the same time acknowledged that the national government must first ensure that it can provide social amelioration to their constituents.