and Irma Isip
THE government has to make sure help is available to small businesses once the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) is lifted to ensure enterprises will cope up with a new business environment brought by the new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, members of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) said.
The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) meanwhile said gradual return to business of its members will depend on the success of the expanded testing of Filipinos of the coronavirus.
At a membership meeting of MAP held online yesterday, BDO Unibank president Nestor Tan said government support will allow for the “winners” in the “new normal” scenario post-COVID-19 to weather the ensuring economic crisis.
Tan said the support could come in the form of low-cost financing so that small businesses can operate smoothly.
He said government should make sure the economy’s demand side also remains strong.
Arthur Tan, chief executive officer at Integrated Micro-electronics Inc. (IMI), said the Philippines will have to exert effort to be part of the global supply chain now that various industries are revving their engines back to operation, particularly the automotive industry.
“Whether the Philippines will continue in this extended lockdown and to what level do they want to allow manufacturing to operate is going to have an effect,” said Tan.
IMI operates in 21 sites in 11 countries including the COVID-19 epicenter, China.
“On a post-April 30 scenario it will be very realistic if we were to continue, we should come up with a more extensive testing for everyone so that we can contain the workforce necessary in order to support to economy. Be it in MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) or large manufacturing areas. The rest of the world are operating on that condition, they’re coming unto different cycles. The Philippines will have to play along these cycles,” said Tan.
The “new normal” entails adjustments on costumers’ response to the changing environment.
Mario Jordan Fetalino III, chief executive officer of Acudeen Technologies Inc., said businesses had stretch their capacities following the quick imposition of a lockdown in Luzon.
“It only took two days to move from partial lockdown to an expanded lockdown. Because of that we have to be fast, making a cut, furlough a number of employees and renegotiate with suppliers. All of these we had to decide in a fast manner,” said Fetalino whose Acudeen operates a receivables discounting platform for businesses. Tully Moss, management consultant at John Clements Inc., in a speech before MAP members said the Philippines “could come out in better shape than other countries” in the post-COVID-19 scenario.
This is particularly feasible given the expectation that Asia will be the first to rebound from the crisis. This could see the Philippine economy post a “flatline” growth instead of a decline vis-a-vis other emerging markets.
Moss said a base case for the COVID-19 pandemic is that the worst of the health crisis is over by June and the global economy returning to normal starting this second quarter.
Moss said the crisis made a good case for brands to be amplified, acceleration of digitalization, putting production facilities close to demand market, and globalization slowing down.
Moss also said that companies better bet on the future and take a long-term perspective.
Expanded testing
Meanwhile, PCCI president-emeritus George Barcelon said at the Laging Handa press conference yesterday, business organizations are in discussions with government agencies through presidential adviser Joey Concepcion on the plans post ECQ on how industries can resume operations without compromising the possibility of a spike in the coronavirus disease 2019 cases.
Barcelon said at their meeting with the technical working group led by the National Economic and Development Authority on Monday, the business groups took note of the approval of the conduct of rapid testing at the local government level to determine whether or not there are clusters of virus infections in specific barangays.
This, he said, would enable the government to implement a modified or localized ECQs only in areas where there is a prevalence of COVID-19 cases.
Areas where the number of cases has been controlled could allow manufacturing and industries to operate in phases.
“With this, hopefully, there would be no need to extend the ECQ, and gradually normalize,” Barcelon said.
He said a data-driven proof the country is indeed flattening the curve will give business the confidence to resume operations.
“The testing would hopefully give us a good indicator,” Barcelon
said.
He noted the need to still observe social distancing and practise good hygiene in the workplace.
PCCI welcomes the approval of the subsidy to be given to workers of MSMEs as a relief for both employees and employers feeling the impact of the lockdown.
