Says ECQ extension not the only way to address COVID-19 rise, urges gov’t to look at response of other ASEAN nations
(Eagle News) – The president of the Economic Confederation of the Philippines appealed to the Philippine government not to concentrate on lockdown as the only solution to the rapid rise in COVID-19 cases.
ECOP President Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr., in an interview with NET25’s Balitalakayan, said that while they note that the move of the government to place Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal under lockdown until Sunday, extending this would be too much of a burden already to the economic sector.
-ECQ timing-
The timing of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) this week is preferable since most of the days – from Thursday until the end of the week—are holidays.
“Hindi masyadong mabigat ito. Ang apektado actually yung mga no-work, no pay na empleyado,” Luis said.
He said that they are also appealing to the larger companies to already shoulder the lost income of daily wage earners from Monday to Wednesday, to help their workers.
Micro and small industries, which comprise 90 percent of the businesses in the country, would not be able to cover this lost income, he noted.
Luis, who also serves as the honorary chair of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) said that if the Philippine government decides to extend the week-long ECQ would be too difficult for companies.
“Kami naman sumusunod lang kami. Kami sinasabi namin na hindi maaaring mag-extend pa yan na hindi magbibigay ng ayuda ang gobyerno. Dahil pag hindi, talagang maraming mahihirapan, magugutom,” he told Balitalakayan anchor Weng dela Fuente-Deimoy.
“Matagal tayong makakarecover dito,” he said.
The ECOP president also urged government officials to look for other ways to address the increase in COVID-19 cases in the country.
-Extending lockdown, may not be the only solution- ECOP
Luis said that enforcing a lockdown or an ECQ, especially if it would take more than a week, would not be the best option for the economic sector, and would mean more people getting hungry.
He asked the government to ask how neighboring countries had tackled the problem. He said other countries in the ASEAN region did not resort to long lockdowns but they were able to bounce back and addressed the pandemic problems.
“Baka naman hindi na yan ang sagot. Baka may maaari tayong ibang gawin. One year na ang sitwasyon natin sa quarantine. Hindi naman nagbabago ang sitwasyon. Tingnan natin ang ginagawa ng ating mga kapitbahay na nakalagpas na dito,” he told Balitalakayan.
“Masyadong tayong nag-co-concentrate sa lockdown. Baka hindi naman yan lang ang sagot dyan,” he said.
Luis said that he cannot grade the government’s COVID-19 response as a whole, but he pointed out that there were just certain departments of the government which had “no sense of urgency” and did not perform well.
But he did not identify these departments.
-ECOP welcomes decision to open vaccine importation to private sector-
Luis also welcomed the decision of President Rodrigo Duterte to allow the private sector to import vaccines.
He said that they want to help the Philippine government which he said faces a gargantuan task of vaccinating all of the population.
The ECOP chair said he would also seek more details on this from the government.
“Good news yun. Yung detalye siguro, gusto ko lang makita.”
He said that the private sector can help the government a lot when companies are allowed to import vaccines to be used on their employees or workers.
(Eagle News Service)
