Firms lose P1.5 trillion in sales monthly as lockdown bites

MANILA, Philippines — Metro Manila and nearby provinces  lost an estimated P1.5 trillion in sales for every month that these areas were on lockdown, according to the Department of Finance (DOF).

Citing estimates from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said during the Sulong Pilipinas Forum on Tuesday that imposing new quarantine measures would inflict more pain on the economy.

“NEDA estimates that for every month of lockdown of Metro Manila and adjacent areas, we lose around P1.5 trillion worth of sales as only around 32 percent of the economy is effectively open,” Dominguez said.

“Unemployment and reduced incomes due to lockdowns have public health consequences, too,” he said.

Dominguez said the government is “doing its utmost” to prevent the need for further lockdowns by keeping the virus at bay.

Luzon was placed under enhanced community quarantine in mid- March. Restrictions were eased starting June, when Metro Manila was placed under the less restrictive general community quarantine.

The region as well as some provinces in Calabarzon were reverted to modified enhanced community quarantine from Aug. 4 to Aug. 18 due to a spike in COVID-19 cases.

Dominguez emphasized that the imposition of these lockdowns at the onset of the pandemic was necessary to save lives and protect public health.

“It enabled us to strengthen our prevention, testing and isolation, as well as treatment capacities. The decisive move helped us to avert an estimated 1.3 to 3.5 million infections, according to university researchers,” he said.

Dominguez said rebuilding the economy “is a condition for ensuring public health.”

“We cannot fight a pandemic with a weak economy, nor can we restore economic vigor without solving the public health crisis. The health of our people and the strength of our economy are mutually reinforcing,” he said.

The finance chief said there are signs that the economy is already starting to recover, particularly in terms of employment, manufacturing and revenue collection.

“As we gradually reopened our economy, the unemployment rate in July   significantly dropped to 10 percent from a high of 17.7 percent in April, when strict lockdowns were still in place,” Dominguez said.

He also said there has been a continued slowdown in the contraction of manufacturing production, which signals rising economic activities.

Both the Bureau of Customs and the Bureau of Internal Revenue also managed to exceed their revised targets for August by 33 percent and 46 percent, respectively.

“These are strong indicators that the economy is starting to recover,” the secretary said.

“Improvements in our employment numbers and other economic indicators will depend on how we will continue to ease mobility restrictions by opening up additional modes of public transportation that are safe and adhere strictly to health standards.  People cannot go back to work if they do not have public access to transportation,” he said.