AFTER reopening this weekend, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has ordered business activities to shut down again in compliance with the presidential directive placing Metro Manila and nearby provinces under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).
Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez on Monday said all those recently authorized to operate in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) will have to close again for the next 15 days. This is due to President Duterte’s order on Sunday to revert Metro Manila and adjacent provinces to MECQ.
Business activities, such as dine-in restaurants, barber shops, salons, gyms, review and testing centers, personal grooming shops and Internet cafes, will have to shut down anew, even as most of them have already invested in health equipment required for their reopening.
Lopez said business owners can use the MECQ stretch as a period to streamline procedures and prepare facilities in compliance with health standards. However, this may appear impossible for a number of establishments given the ban on public transport that comes with the imposition of MECQ.
“We hope that this break will allow these businesses to sufficiently prepare for better processes and facilities for compliance with the health standards when they soon reopen,” Lopez said.
“We wish that this move back to MECQ will break the increasing trend of positive Covid cases and will eventually allow us to bring back the much needed livelihood and jobs of our countrymen,” he added.
Many business activities are still allowed to operate in MECQ areas, although their capacity is limited to just 50 percent of their maximum. Most of those permitted to do business are engaged in the delivery of essential goods and services, such as groceries, hardware, drug stores and commercial centers.
Lopez was earlier opposed to the reimposition of stringent quarantine measures in Metro Manila. He argued that the country has to live with the virus, and a return to enhanced protocols will endanger both business operations and employment of workers.
“[We] cannot go back to ECQ,” Lopez told reporters on Saturday. “[It is] damaging to people’s health, with unemployment and poverty affecting health and wellness and nutrition intake. Will affect long-term health and capacity to learn for children.”
At least 5 million Filipinos lost their jobs when the entire Luzon was placed under lockdown in March. Based on the April Labor Force Survey, unemployment rate rose to 17.7 percent—from 5.1 percent last year—translating into more than 7.25 million jobless Filipinos.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes