An official of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said that at least one million Filipinos have returned to their jobs after Metro Manila and other areas were placed under the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).
“Meron tayong tantsa na around one million workers ang nakabalik (We have an estimate that around one million workers have returned to their jobs) because of the relaxation from ECQ to MECQ,” said DTI Undersecretary Ireneo Vizmonte during an online forum hosted by the Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday, Aug. 24.
“So ibig sabihin niyan, medyo lumiit na yung numero ng workers na nananatiling hindi nakakapagtrabaho, dahil alam naman po natin na marami pa ring establishments ang hindi pa napapayagan under MECQ (So that means, the number of workers who remain unemployed has decreased a bit, because we know that many establishments are still not allowed under MECQ),” he added.
Vizmonte, however, said that they are still getting the exact figures on how many employees have yet to return to their jobs. He also noted that some businesses only closed temporarily.
“Hindi namin nakikita na it's a permanent closure. Nakikita natin, maybe tumigil po sila either because one, hindi po sila allowed mag open dahil alam naman natin pag sinabing ECQ ay maraming establishments ang hindi talaga napapayagan magbukas, even MECQ (We don't see it as permanent closure. Maybe they stopped operating either because one, they were not allowed to open because we know that during ECQ, many establishments are not really allowed to operate, even under MECQ),” he explained.
Metro Manila, Laguna, and Bataan were initially placed under ECQ due to the spike in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases. Their quarantine classifications has been downgraded to MECQ until Aug. 31.
On Aug. 20, the DOH said that dining and personal care services, which are considered as “high-risk” activities, are not allowed to operate in areas under the MECQ.
Related story: DOH: Indoor, outdoor dining; personal care services not allowed in MECQ areas