Business closures down to 8% as quarantine eased

by Louella Desiderio (The Philippine Star), 29 May 2021

MANILA, Philippines — The number of businesses that stopped operations has declined to eight percent as the government eased quarantine restrictions, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said.

Speaking at the launch of the 3R: Resilience for Recovery and Rebuild Program for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the number of closed businesses due to the pandemic is now estimated at eight percent.

He said this is down from 16 percent in March and April when the government placed the National Capital Region (NCR) and nearby provinces Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal under enhanced community quarantine due to a surge in coronavirus cases, and the 12 percent when the community quarantine restrictions were eased.

Last year, he said 38 percent of businesses closed due to the pandemic.

He said more businesses are expected to reopen next month as the government is looking to continue the gradual reopening of the economy while preventing a surge in COVID-19 cases.

“Now that we are under GCQ (general community quarantine) but with restrictions, we expect good numbers, we can still extend the GCQ. We can continue the GCQ starting June,” he said.

He said the government is looking to increase the allowed operating capacity of businesses.

In addition, he said the DTI is pushing to expand the definition of those part of the A4 priority group for vaccination to include more workers.

“We are encouraging all economic frontliners to start getting vaccinated,” he said.

He said there is strong focus on the rollout of vaccines in NCR Plus as these are densely populated areas, hot spots for the virus, and serve as the center of economic activities.

“When we have herd immunity and many have been vaccinated, we can expect a faster reopening moving forward and a return to strong economic growth,” he said.

In the same event, Trade Undersecretary Blesila Lantayona said the 3R was launched to help MSMEs reeling from the impact of the pandemic to shift from survival to thriving mode.

Under the 3R, there would be six master classes and intensive mentoring for participating MSMEs to be identified by DTI provincial and regional offices to enable them to face challenges of running a business amid the pandemic and economic crisis.