Reopening Personal Care Sector Could Employ Over 200,000

As the government continues to discuss lockdown restrictions for May, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez pushed for the reopening of personal care services in areas under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).

While President Rodrigo Duterte is yet to issue a decision on the lockdown for the coming month, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, alongside other health experts, has called for an extension of the MECQ that’s already been implemented over Metro Manila and adjacent provinces.

Allowing personal care services like barbershops and salons to reopen despite the extended MECQ can significantly help workers in the sector resume their operations. Approximately 200,000 workers belong to the personal care services in the Greater Manila area, Lopez estimates.

“Kung mag MECQ man, sana may opening ng labor-intensive sector na pinili pang nakasara ngayong MECQ,” said Lopez. “Kung gusto natin makabalik ang mas marami sa trabaho, kung gusto man mag-MECQ, at least mabuksan itong sector.” (“If we will remain under MECQ, I hope we can reopen the labor-intensive sector that was closed during MECQ. If we want to stay under MECQ and we want more people to return to work, I hope we can at least open this sector.”)

Lopez hopes to shift into a general community quarantine to help unemployed Filipinos. He affirmed, however, that he’s only in favor of scaling down the community quarantine status if the healthcare capacity improves and Covid-19 cases drop.

On Tuesday, Duque said that a significant decline in Covid-19 cases has not been observed yet despite the implementation of stricter localized lockdowns in the Greater Manila area.

Lopez suggests that indoor stores limit their operations to just 10% if the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infection Diseases (IATF-EID) approves the reopening of personal care services. Local government units should also find avenues to provide outdoor services, he advised.

Source: CNN PH