Income Losses to Reach ₱83 Billion as Lockdowns Continue

According to National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Acting Secretary Karl Chua, the losses in income and wages could amount to approximately ₱83 billion as stricter localized lockdowns persist within the NCR Plus Bubble.

Based on NEDA’s computations, around ₱19.6 billion in the income of workers is lost for every week of Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) and ₱14.7 billion for every week of Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ). These figures were presented by Chua during President Duterte’s public address on Monday.

A two-week ECQ was implemented in the NCR Plus Bubble — which includes Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal — from March 29 to April 11 in hopes of addressing the sudden spike in Covid cases. The restrictions have since been relaxed to MECQ, which will last until the end of April.

“Dahil two weeks na po ’yong ating ECQ at may madadagdag pa na almost three weeks na MECQ, so total of almost 5 weeks, ang epekto po sa ating tao ay ₱83.3 billion in foregone wages,” (Because the ECQ lasted for two weeks and almost three weeks will be added for MECQ, so a total of almost 5 weeks, the effect on our people is ₱83.3 billion in foregone wages,”) said Chua.

Before the implementation of ECQ, Chua noted that the economy was already beginning to reopen, improving the jobs situation in the country. Around 9.3 million jobs were generated in February offsetting job losses in the previous months.

“Ang hinahabol natin sana by next year ay bumalik na sa 4-5% unemployment rate,” (“We are targeting to bring down the unemployment rate to 4-5% by next year,”) Chua explained.

On the other hand, reportedly 647,827 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) lost their jobs due to the pandemic, said Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III. The government has repatriated over 519,000 of these “displaced” workers so far.

“They were displaced. Meaning, they lost their jobs or even if they did not lose their jobs, they could not earn a living because they were prevented from reporting to work,” said Bello.

Another 49,000 are still in the process of repatriation. Meanwhile, 79,000 OFWs have chosen to stay in their host countries.

“They don’t want to go home, because many of them got vaccinated, particularly in the Middle East. So with their vaccination, the opportunity for reemployment was very high, so they opted to stay,” Bello explained further.

As of June 2020, there are 8.74 million Filipinos living and working overseas, 1.58 million of which are undocumented and 3.8 million are permanent migrants. In February, OFW remittances amounted to $2.477 billion, which was an annual increase of 5.1%.

Source: Business World