DTI chief: Let 10-year-old kids out

To boost consumer spending and further revive the economy, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said on Tuesday that he would propose to the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to let 10-year-old children go out with their parents.

In a radio interview, he said that families accounted for 30 to 50 percent of outdoor consumption after he was asked to explain the logic behind his proposal to lower the age restrictions for those allowed to leave their houses in areas under quarantine.

“If you ask the SMEs [small, and medium-sized enterprises], the small businesses, those who have stores whether [in] malls or commercial centers, [business was] more sluggish even last December when compared to the previous years because the market is still limited. Those who go [outside] are still limited,” Lopez said.

“The logic there is 30 to 50 percent of consumption [or] expenditure when outside is of course brought about by complete families, or when kids come with their parents. They tend to consume more, [like] when they eat outside,” he added.

In a separate Viber message to reporters after the radio interview, Lopez, who contracted COVID-19 last year, said that the figure was based on the “feedback from malls and restaurants.”

“Why 10 years old? We’re thinking these kids are not naughty [hindi malilikot] when they’re outside, as long as they follow the protocol, that they wear a [face] mask and a [face] shield,” he said at a Laging Handa briefing last week.

The last time the IATF eased age restrictions was in October. Before then, those under 21 or above 65 were required to stay at home. The scope then widened with Resolution No. 79, which moved the minimum age from 21 to 15.

The proposal to lower age restrictions, however, might be considered ill-timed following the discovery of the more infectious variant of the COVID-19 virus in the country.

Earlier, Socioeconomic Secretary Karl Chua also pushed for easing restrictions on children to help revive the economy, saying a large part of the economy could not function because they were stuck at home.

Citing data from the family income and expenditure survey in 2018, he said that families with at least three members accounted for around 90 percent of total nonessential spending.

The head of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) added that a study commissioned by a private firm in 2019 showed that parents were the largest contributors to the P574-billion total informal eat-out market which included quick-service restaurants. Parents accounted for around 48 percent of the spending or around P277 billion. Chua did not name the study or the private firm, but noted that it was shared with Neda.

“However, the community quarantines have restricted economic activity from children and families. In fact, non-essential spending contracted by 51 percent in the third quarter,” he said.

“Since children are not allowed to go out of their homes, even to study, family activities are restricted, and thus a big part of the economy is not functional. If there were no such restrictions, gross domestic product growth in the third quarter could have been 4 percentage points better at negative 7.5 percent rather than the negative 11.5 percent recorded,” he added.