NEDA sees economic slowdown amid extension of Luzon quarantine

The National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) is expecting an economic slowdown as a result of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine implemented to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon said Tuesday.

Edillon made the position amid the extension of the enhanced community quarantine, a measure that banned public mass transport and stopped work in many industries to prevent mass gathering.

"Hindi pa po namin masyado ma-quantify, pero ini-expect namin talaga na magkakaroon ng slowdown ang economy during the first quarter," Edillon said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV.

Edillon, however, conceded that the worst is yet to come at this point, considering that restrictions during the COVID-19 quarantine period have hampered the flow of goods, among other issues.

"Two weeks lang ng enhanced community quarantine ang nahagip ng first quarter, kaya slowdown [ang expectation]. The second quarter is a different story," Edillon said.

"Depende rin kasi sa pagpapatupad ng quarantine. Supposedly, unhampered ang flow ng essential goods and services, dapat may special lanes [for them], kaso mahigpit sa checkpoint. Sana may pagbabago na by next week, kapag ipinatupad na iyong Rapid Pass," she added.

She was referring to the RapidPass system which will issue QR codes to healthcare workers and other employees of essential services so as to limit contact between exempted individuals and personnel manning checkpoints.

“Kung may QR code na, mas mabilis na ang verification,” Edillon said.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III earlier said that the enhanced community quarantine has already affected 1.8 million workers.

The government has initially alloted P100 billion as social amelioration aid for 18 million low income families and has increased subsidy for beneficiaries of the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

This social amelioration aid, however, excludes those senior citizens receiving monthly pension as retirees and the formal sector workers whose assistance will be sourced from the Labor Department.

Likewise, the release of social amelioration aid is taking time since the government has no registry of affected COVID-19 families except for those who are already listed as CCT beneficiaries since they are classified as poorest households.

As of 4 p.m. of April 6, the Philippines has already recorded 3,660 COVID-19 cases. Of this number, 163 have died while 73 others recovered. --KBK, GMA News