SOME 15 million Filipino workers have been dislocated by the lockdowns in various parts of the country that crippled business at half their capacity the past three weeks, according to Sergio Ortiz-Luis, president of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines.
Ortiz-Luis said these workers have either stopped working altogether or are working at reduced hours and slashed pay as their employers have either shut down or scaled down operations.
He said about 4 million of these workers are in Metro Manila.
Ortiz-Luis, also president of the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc., said only 30 percent of exports coming from Luzon are moving as destination markets are also on lockdown.
“Until last week, we were happy that those in export processing zones are not affected but we have started to see that some have been (scaling down) operations,” Ortiz-Luis said.
He said exporters and even domestic-oriented companies especially those in food processing are hoping to be able to move around more conveniently even with skeleton staffing and quarantine requirements.
Business groups in an informal survey proposed to Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez and Presidential Adviser Joey Concepcion the modified lifting of the enhanced community quarantine to avoid more economic damage.
According to Ortiz-Luis, hardest hit are the micro, small and medium enterprise, including exporters, which account for some 65 percent of the country’s employment.
“Orders had either been cancelled or suspended and employees have left for the provinces, not confident to come back soon. In the meantime, employers’ bills are piling up: rents, raw material expenses, salaries and wages, utilities. It will not be surprising to find most of them starting from scratch when they operate again,” Ortiz-Luis said.
Ortiz-Luis said with gradual lifting of the quarantine, manufacturing and exports should be allowed to fully operate especially if these are in areas where the outbreak of the coronavirus disease has been put under control.
Then, he said, cargoes and people should be allowed to move freely in these areas.
Ortiz-Luis said public utility vehicles (PUVs) should also be allowed to operate but only to ferry exempt employees and workers with identification cards.
He said these PUVs should be subsidized through fixed fuel vouchers.
Government agencies meanwhile should have skeletal force and should be equipped with hotlines.
Companies that are allowed to operate should ensure they strictly comply with social distancing and hygiene requirements.
Ortiz-Luis said the opening of the Rizal Memorial Complex, World Trade Center and Philippine International Convention Center on April 10 as quarantine sites is also a right step to confidence building.
“But this is not enough. It is best for local government units to put up or rent quarantine facilities for persons under investigation (PUIs) and persons under monitoring (PUMs) and even healthcare providers if needed,” he said.
Ortiz-Luis said government should then proceed to mass testing to get the complete picture.
“This will isolate virus carriers from their families and get needed care, while the rest can go on with their lives. The idea is to focus resources on patients, PUIs, PUMs and frontliners. Healing, data gathering and monitoring should be easier, and virus spread is contained,” he said.
