21st Century employers

COVID-19 is just one more tragedy that we will overcome

This is the speech I delivered in the ECOP National Conference of Employers on 3 August 2020.

After 10 years of sustained and impressive economic growth, the Philippines started 2020 with a first quarter contraction in economic performance as the initial effects of the pandemic began to manifest itself in March.

The full impact of COVID-19 became prominent from the second quarter onwards and today, this pandemic has crippled not only our economy, but likewise the world economy as it infected more than 17 million and caused 700 thousand deaths worldwide. It has afflicted more than 100 thousand Filipinos with about two thousand fatalities as I speak to you this afternoon.

The IATF claims it could have been worse if it did not impose the world’s harshest and longest lockdown of 75 ECQ and countless GCQ days, particularly in the National Capital Region and CALABARZON regions, which together account for 53 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.

It cannot be argued that saving human lives is paramount and the militaristic community quarantine was deemed necessary. But equally important is saving livelihood because human life and economic life are not mutually exclusive. As BSP Governor Ben Diokno posted on Viber: “The political leadership and the economic managers should focus on saving lives, saving livelihoods, and saving jobs. Let us first survive.”

He continued, “Let’s forget fiscal sustainability (at this time) and borrow what we need at 0.06 percent for 40 years. We can pay that. I assure you!”

Other countries like South Korea, Sweden, Japan and others were initially shocked by the unprecedented spread of COVID-19. But even without the much-awaited vaccine, these countries kept their economies open with fewer fatalities from the virus by following the same strict health protocols which the IATF has prescribed

We have a workforce of 45 million with a 5 percent unemployment rate before COVID-19. Today, we have reached a historical high unemployment rate of 17.7 percent or almost 8 million jobless workers, 52 percent shuttered businesses, raising public debt to P9.03 trillion as of end of June, growing social unrest from rising poverty and hunger, worsening negative GDP, and dampened spirit of many entrepreneurs who are hesitant to restart or afraid to continue business operations due to economic uncertainties from the threats of another lockdown and the lingering induced fear of infection.

As pessimistic as the picture maybe and even fatalistic with our doctors and nurses seemingly capitulating under COVID’s relentless siege, this is not the time to feel helpless and hopeless. We must not give up the fight. Remember, the night is darkest before dawn!

I am confident that after centuries of crises such as 300 years of subjugation by Spain, 50 years of colonization by America, 5 years of occupation by Japan, 25 yearly destructive typhoons, major volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, global economic depressions of the 30s, a decade under martial rule by a local dictator, the Asian currency crisis of 1997, and the subprime financial crisis of 2008, COVID-19 is just one more tragedy that we will overcome.

The IATF claims it could have been worse if it did not impose the world’s harshest and longest lockdown of 75 ECQ and countless GCQ days.

For sure, life and work as we know them have changed into a new normal, significantly different from the ones we used to know. But we will adapt and move on. As Robert Frost said, “Life goes on” and together we shall heal as one nation because these centuries of hardships I mentioned have made us resilient, patient, and persistent.

To facilitate and advance the transition to the new normal, ECOP is holding this yearly National Conference of Employers or NCE in virtual format.

During these times of uncertainty and volatility, our theme for the conference is, “21st Century Employers: Digital, Agile and Resilient.” ECOP recognizes the immediate need to mount a quick and effective response to the crisis facing us now before it completely overwhelms us, and one critical enabler in this endeavor is digital technology. We need to examine our current business models, organizational structures, and processes and evaluate their relevance in the midst of changing economic and social environment. Finally, with crucial challenges on liquidity and solvency we must be resolute in our drive to move our businesses forward and upward.

To these ends, we have invited resource speakers in the next five days to present and discuss with you their views, and suggested roadmaps towards economic recovery during and after the pandemic. Salient topics like automation and digital technology and their roles in the transformation of work particularly in the advent of the 5th Industrial Revolution, where the war on human talent and artificial intelligence will bring a fusion of man and machine in the workplace. They will also talk about skills development, the future of work given the new realities, business flexibility, and testimonials on best practices, to mention a few.

In closing, I wish all of you 21st century employers a most instructive and productive conference.