MANILA – The Philippine economy can no longer handle another extension of modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) as the country plunges into technical recession due to effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the country’s economy is bound to suffer should the MECQ status in Metro Manila and nearby areas extended beyond Aug. 18.
“Tatapatin ko po kayo, hindi na po kaya ng ekonomiya ang mas matagalan pang lockdown,” Roque said in a virtual press conference. “Mahirap na mahirap na po ang mangyayari sa ating ekonomiya kung maglo-lockdown na po tayo muli.”
Based on the report of Philippine Statistics Authority on Thursday, the Philippine economy shrank by 16.5 percent in April-June, which is the country’s worst performance on record based on the available data since 1981.
“Nandoon na po tayo sa punto na marami po ang – siguro nga po mapapabagal nang husto ang COVID-19, pero habang wala pong hanapbuhay eh paano naman po mabubuhay ang mga ordinaryong mga mamamayan,” he added.
A “technical recession” is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative GDP but is mainly caused by an isolated event – in this case a pandemic – rather than an underlying economic problem.
“Tatagal pa po ang problema ng COVID-19. At dahil tatagal nga po ito, kinakailangan matuto tayo na mabuhay nang naririyan ang COVID-19, ipagpatuloy ang ating mga hanapbuhay and, at the same time, pinag-iingatan ang ating kalusugan,” Roque said.
President Rodrigo Duterte placed National Capital Region, Laguna, Cavite, Rizal and Bulacan under MECQ for 15 days as response to the call of the medical group for a “timeout” as coronavirus cases in the country continued to surge./PN
