Robredo appeals to business owners: Keep workers to avoid economic slump

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo on Wednesday asked business owners to keep their employees so the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the economy will not worsen.

Speaking before the online Philippine Business Conference and Expo 2020, Robredo stressed the need to reach out to as many people as possible not only to keep the economy afloat but to help families cope with the health crisis.

“When MSME’s [micro, small and medium enterprises] fold, the jobs go with them. And when wages stop, families go to sleep fearful of where they will get the next meal. Anxiety builds up, both because of the threat of infection and the difficulty in meeting basic needs,” Robredo said.

“I say this to drive home the point: We operate under a single economic ecosystem, and when the most vulnerable among us suffer, everyone suffers…For one, let us do the best we can to keep our staff employed,” she added.

While risks of coronavirus transmission persist, Robredo reminded businesses to ensure that minimum health standards are being followed.

“Let us also work to ensure that we minimize the health risk for our workers. Social distancing and minimum safety practices must become entrenched in the culture of our offices and shops,” Robredo said.

“It might be more strategic and even more beneficial if we look at the long term already, reorienting all our systems and technologies to conform with the demands of the new normal, bearing in mind that we might never go back to exactly where we used to be,” she advised.

The Philippines is gradually reopening its economy following a strict lockdown imposed in March.

Recently, the Department of Trade and Industry allowed more business sectors to resume full operations in areas under general community quarantine.

Meanwhile, President Rodrigo Duterte has called for a full Cabinet meeting next week to explore the possibility of further reopening the economy to address hunger, unemployment, transportation woes, among others.

KGA