by Louella Desiderio (The Philippine Star), 13 Jul 2021
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) expects the number of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that have closed due to the coronavirus pandemic to go down in the coming months, provided there would be no shift to stricter quarantine restrictions.
“We see that improving as long as we continue the GCQ (general community quarantine) we have now in many areas,” Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said in a press conference yesterday.
Based on the latest survey covering 33,145 respondents conducted by the DTI, 10 percent of MSMEs remain closed as of June amid the pandemic.
Lopez said however that this was an improvement from the 16 percent that closed their operations in May based on a survey covering 24,087 MSMEs.
He said the percentage of MSMEs that were closed even reached over 30 percent last year and went down to four percent in February this year.
The number rose to 16 percent in May after the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus was placed under the strictest quarantine classification or enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in March and modified ECQ in April.
To avoid any surge in COVID-19 cases that would lead to imposition of stricter quarantine measures, Lopez said it is necessary for the public to continue to observe minimum health protocols and to get vaccinated.
“The key is vaccination and compliance of the public so we do not have a surge [in COVID-19 cases] and we do not go back to ECQ,” he said.
NCR, Bulacan and Rizal are under GCQ with restrictions, while Laguna and Cavite are on GCQ with heightened restrictions until July 15.
Lopez also encouraged establishments to get their employees vaccinated as this would help increase consumer confidence.
“Consumers would not have fears going to establishments if they know that 100 percent of the workers are vaccinated,” he said.
He said while there is currently no policy on allowing establishments with 100 percent of their employees vaccinated to operate at a higher capacity, it is a matter the government could look into.
“That is a policy that we can discuss in IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases),” he said.
July 2025
Nutrition Month
“Give us much more than P50 increase
for proper nutrition!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations
against serious violations of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.
Accept National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar. Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands #Distancing #TakePicturesVideosturesVideos
July
3 July – International Day of Cooperatives
3 July – International Plastic Bag Free Day
5 July – World Youth Skills Day
7 July – Global Forgiveness Day
11 July – World Population Day
17 July – World Day for International Justice
28 July – World Nature Conservation Day
30 July – World Day against Trafficking in Persons
Monthly Observances:
Schools Safety Month
Nutrition Month
National Disaster Consciousness Month
Weekly Observances:
Week 2: Cultural Communities Week
Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise
Development Week
Week 3: National Science and
Technology Week
National Disability Prevention and
Rehabilitation Week
July 1-7:
National Culture Consciousness Week
July 13-19:
Philippines Business Week
Week ending last Saturday of July:
Arbor Week
Daily Observances:
First Saturday of July:
International Cooperative Day
in the Philippines
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