Timeout and probable recession

At the outset of July, many of the representatives of the Philippine Medical Association, the Philippine Nurses Association and the Philippine Association of Medical Technologists jointly demanded the government a “time-out” – a return to the original Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ).

Heeding the call, President Rodrigo Duterte decided to revert back to “Modified ECQ” (MECQ).

The president’s move was more of a compromise since the original stringent ECQ was what the health workers recommended.

Indeed, the President is facing extreme pressure. He understood how weary are the health professionals due to the resurgence of COVID cases, primarily in Metro Manila and nearby areas.

The contagion also surged in many provinces around the country including our very own province of Ilocos Norte which as to date has 31 COVID positive cases.

But the government faces a dilemma: How to address the economic plight of millions of people who need to go back to work for survival or else they will die of hunger, if not mass starvation.

Worse comes to worst, the government had reassured the public that it will find ways and means with utmost concern what is best for the medical frontliners, for the people who need to work, and for the Filipino nation as a whole.

Indeed, this Covid-induced crisis has shaken the economists’ circle to foretell a probable recession in our country. (IS)