ECQ 2.0: Are we bound for another year of suffering?
The February 2021 Labor Force Survey (LFS) results released by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) show signs of hope.
NEDA noted that over the past year, employment figures showed the labor market’s sensitivity to the level of community quarantines that the government imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19. Around 8.7 million jobs were lost when we experienced the strictest quarantine from March to May 2020.
In April of last year, the nation was literally at a standstill when the government decided to impose a hard lockdown in Luzon while the provinces in other parts of the country set strict border controls. With no previous experience of a pandemic of this magnitude, the national and the local government units turned to a repressive and economically disastrous lockdown strategy. Government officials realized later that on the other side of the equilibrium lies a ravaged economy with the poor people bearing the brunt of hunger and deprivation.
As the government relaxed the restrictions, more jobs were gradually restored, and the total number of jobs created since April last year at 9.3 million led to employment exceeding pre-COVID levels in February 2021.
Just before NEDA could present better LFS results, the agency needed to revise its report to include a justification of what it sees as another round of dismal statistics this month as the government decided to impose an enhanced community quarantine in the “NCR plus” bubble.
Essentially, this was the same ECQ imposed last year with few silver linings. The bubble covers only Metro Manila and the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Bulacan, and Rizal, not Luzon’s entire island. Our healthcare workers could count one year of experience in managing those afflicted with the disease. Their knowledge and expertise can hopefully help in reducing deaths and in decongesting healthcare facilities.
However, as the government imposes the draconian measure, what unfolds before us now is a healthcare system about to collapse. Hospitals in the country’s center of the economy turn down patients. While the government promises another round of cash aid to the most vulnerable sector, it is smaller than the amount given last year.
A major criticism of the government’s lockdown strategy is that while people are forced to stay at their homes, there was no significant improvement in testing, contact tracing, and isolation of those who are infected.
A study conducted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) shows that in the Philippines, social distancing and lockdown policies are not well nuanced. Contact tracing protocol has not improved as much as testing and treating. Leadership is lacking, with several Inter-Agency Task Force members only focusing on controlling people’s movement. There are also massive communication gaps in policy: some government and police officials went unpunished for violating protocol, while several people were arrested for not wearing masks. On top of this is the government’s snail-paced vaccination program.
With ECQ 2.0 now entering another week unless the government has another better idea, we cannot help but ask the question: Are we bound for another year of suffering?
Aside from doing our share to stop this pandemic, we need to pray for the enlightenment of our leaders, who are trumpeting a successful pandemic response amid vague policy directions and lack of concrete action.