Even before affected communities could fully recover from the phreatic eruption of Taal Volcano on January 12, the Philippines was dealt another blow. This time, it came in the form of a virus, which is believed to have originated from the city of Wuhan in China. The outbreaks have spread to other countries, including the Philippines where authorities confirmed the death of a foreigner due to the virus—the first death recorded outside of China.
The outbreaks of the 2019-novel coronavirus (nCoV) have forced countries, including the Philippines, to impose a ban on the entry of Chinese tourists as a precautionary measure given the fact that there is no existing vaccine that can fight the virus. However, the closure of the country’s borders to Chinese tourists also means that the Philippines would have to live with fewer dollars as China has become the top source of tourism revenues for the country (See, “Beyond tourism, virus to cost P20B a month,” in the BusinessMirror, February 10, 2020).
Unfortunately, tourism is not the only sector that is bearing the brunt of nCoV’s onslaught. Last week, traders revealed to the BusinessMirror that Chinese buyers have canceled their orders for Philippine Cavendish bananas, a development that could make it difficult for exporters to grow export receipts by 6 percent this year (See, “NCoV fallout: Chinese buyers halt orders for PHL bananas,” in the BusinessMirror, February 7, 2020). China has become an important market for Philippine bananas in recent years, with receipts reaching $1.448 billion in January to September 2019, 47.76 percent higher than the previous year’s record of $979.93 million.
Outside of the Philippines’s borders, economists are scrambling to measure the real impact of the virus, given the importance of China to the world’s industries. The virus has also brought together businessmen in the Philippines to find means to cushion the impact of nCoV on the tourism sector (See, “Airlines, hotels cut rates to boost domestic travel amid nCoV crisis,” in the BusinessMirror, February 10, 2020). The Tourism Congress of the Philippines told this newspaper that resorts and airlines will focus on domestic programs to cut losses from the nCoV travel ban.
Policy-makers and the private sector should follow the lead of resorts and airlines so they can help other economic sectors weather global headwinds, such as trade tensions and the nCoV. Now is the best time to look at how sectors, such as agriculture, could come out stronger after the nCoV crisis is over. Exporters of Cavendish bananas are in need of immediate help, and would need more in the coming months if the halt in shipments would continue.
The disruption in trade should also give policy-makers the impetus to strengthen programs that will ensure the country’s food security. The Philippines is still a net food importer even after years of pouring billions of money on the agriculture sector. The country imports many food items, even monggo or mung beans, which is widely consumed by the poor.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) indicated that the country bought 31,603.86 metric tons of mung beans valued at $26.85 million (P1.36 billion) from January to November last year. Monggo, which is also used as a raw material for making other food items, can be grown in the Philippines. Government should encourage the cultivation of these types of food crops as this will benefit Filipino planters, and ultimately, the consuming public.
