BUSINESSES are starting to feel the impact of restricted movement of people and goods due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak, as they adjust schedule of operations and work, taking into account the community quarantine imposed on Metro Manila.
Firms based in the nation’s capital are assessing their next moves in dealing with the “community quarantine” (authorities refuse to call it a lockdown, since people are allowed to leave their homes) imposed on the region. President Duterte’s directive last week to prohibit all domestic land, air and sea travel to and from Metro Manila has left businesses searching for answers on how they should operate temporarily.
George T. Barcelon, director of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), said the best option that many firms found is to either allow their employees to work from home or go on rotational schedules.
“Most are still assessing the community quarantine implication on their business,” Barcelon told the BusinessMirror. “Many will start work-from-home arrangements.”
American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Executive Director Ebb Hinchliffe disclosed business-process outsourcing (BPO) firms called off work for Sunday and Monday to steer their employees clear of the expected long lines at checkpoints.
“I am not aware of any company that has halted operations,” Hinchliffe said in a text message to the BusinessMirror.
“Some in the BPO sector have closed for Sunday and Monday with pay just to avoid the possible delays at the various checkpoints.”
“All have assured me there is absolutely no plan to halt operations,” he added.
Manufacturing
On the other hand, those in the manufacturing sector are slowing down production, as their inputs face shortages due to factory shutdowns in China, the source country of Covid-19. As such, manufacturers are resorting to rotational schedules to maximize labor in spite of the decrease in their output.
“Some industries, [including] electronics and chemicals, affected by lack of raw materials and components, have initiated work rotation,” Barcelon said.
Unctad report
The Philippines is seen to suffer as much as $300 million in export losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad). Exports of communication equipment will likely go down by $115 million, while those of office machinery by $76.8 million and electrical machinery by $41.8 million.
The Unctad’s assessment also reported that Philippine exports of auto parts and various machinery could drop by $22 million and $16.9 million, respectively.
However, Barcelon said losses resulting from the Metro Manila community quarantine are the necessary sacrifices the business sector must make to ensure that Covid-19 is contained. He, therefore, called on malls to close their establishments for the duration of the lockdown.
“Since the Covid-19 is a serious matter which we can’t afford to trivialize—[and] the public is made aware of its danger and as such may have voluntarily avoided malls—the owners [have] to temporarily close,” the business leader explained.
Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez last Saturday said malls will be mandated to close during the community quarantine period, but supermarkets, hardware stores, pharmacies, clinics, banks and other basic services inside will be allowed to remain open. Outside of malls, business will be as usual, he clarified.
In spite of this pronouncement, however, mall operators Ayala Malls, Robinsons and SM Malls just trimmed their operating hours from 11 in the morning to 7 in the evening.
Labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines is not in favor of a total closure of malls in Metro Manila. It argued for a select, partial shutdown of malls only, as closure across the region would result in job losses. The President last week ordered the nation’s capital placed under community quarantine from March 15 to April 14, prohibiting travel to and from Metro Manila, and extended by one month the class suspension on all levels.
The government vowed supply of food and nonfood items in the Metro will be stable during the lockdown, as cargo trucks carrying essential supplies are exempted from being stopped at the checkpoints. Also, workers from rural areas employed in Metro Manila firms are exempted from the travel restriction.
Image credits: Roy Domingo, Bernard Testa