Gov. Arthur Yap reveals that Bohol’s economy is losing P33 billion due to the response by the government to fend off the spread of the virus causing the coronavirus disease (Covid).
He mentioned the figure through a report he released through the Capitol media on Thursday, August 27, 2020.
He also mentioned in the report that the P33 billion loss is based on his computation.
Due to the lockdown imposed as a response to the Covid threat, the local economy has taken a huge hit, he said.
In the report, he posed the question asking which sector of the local economy has been badly hit by the lockdowns and Covid-related interventions.
“We must find out who has been hit more than the others; and find out how the hit has been for them and try to see how we can focus on helping these people at least in the next one—one and a half to two (2) years,” the governor said.
The challenge now is to determine the worse hit sectors of the economy.
Yap mentioned the need to let all sectors understand the economic situation and the available interventions being done by the provincial government to revive the economy.
He said that in the province today, there are people who think that the government has done enough help for them. While, there are some who think the provincial government has not done enough help for them. As others thought that the provincial government has done nothing for them at all.
The governor said that the biggest challenge in Bohol society today is to let people understand that there is no way to move forward economically without considering the health implications.
“We must have a working modus with all the sectors that health, primarily, has to be protected. After that, we must look at the sectors that are more vulnerable than the others and try to tighten over; and who has been most affected will determine what sectors of the economy we are going to open and how we are going to open them,” the governor bared.
Right off the bat, the governor sees the wellness sector and the tourism industry as among the hardest hit.
In 2019, 1.5 million tourists visited Bohol. This year, the governor said, the tourism industry “evaporated” as the government imposed lockdowns and travel bans shunning away tourists from other places who are potential guests for Bohol. .
Bohol is under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ), which allows more economic activity compared to a stricter enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
Some of the allowed economic activities under MGCQ include dine-in operations in restaurants, although limited to 50% of the venue’s capacity, and some essential businesses. Internet cafes are allowed as long as only 50% of the venue capacity is filled and the clients come to the café for educational purposes only. .