Time to reopen the economy (1)

This ‘second wave,’ hospitals called for hot meals to provide nourishment for their medical and utility personnel

After two weeks of being under the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), leading businessmen, economists and entrepreneurs agree that it is high time to open the economy in a calculated manner to help those who have lost their jobs and livelihood due to the pandemic

The Philippine economy was among the fastest growing in Asia before the Covid-19 pandemic, but strict and lengthy restrictions to limit the coronavirus contagion have dampened consumer spending and left millions jobless.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), some 4.5 million Filipinos became jobless due to the pandemic as the government imposed stringent lockdown to contain the spread of the new coronavirus. Reports said in January this year alone, four million Filipinos were jobless as the nation’s unemployment rate reached a 16-year-high.

Early last month, no less than President Rodrigo Duterte said during one of his sorties: “I have to reopen the economy. I’ve given a timetable of just weeks. We cannot forever be in the strict protocols because we have to open the economy. People are hungry, people have to work, to eat, to survive.”