Garments factories have yet to go back to full capacity as shipments have yet to go back to pre-pandemic levels.
Marites Agoncillo, executive director of the Confederation of Wearables of the Philippines said big factories which employ 2,000 to 3,000 workers are operating at 70 to 80 percent while the smaller ones are running just half their production rate,
Conwep members have shed 20,000 workers as of end 2020 due to the lower global demand induced by the pandemic. The workforce is now down to 270,000.
As of May. exports are up compared to their 2020 levels: 38 percent for apparel to $276.76 million; 42 percent for travel goods to $223.7 million and; footwear 42$42 million.
But these levels are nowhere near the figures in 2019 when exports stood at $377.72 million for apparel; $233.5 million for travel goods and $51.7 million for footwear,
Agoncillo noted the imposition of the 12–percent value-added tax on domestic purchases can affect the garments exporters’ competitiveness at a time when buyers are placing orders to countries that have a well rounded vaccination program.
