Aid sought for two-week curbs

MANILA, Philippines — The government should still provide social amelioration to people affected by the two-week movement restriction and temporary work stoppage in Metro Manila and four other provinces battling the coronavirus surge.

Refusing to do so would be failing to fulfill the government’s duty, a group advocating economic reforms said on Tuesday.

Malacañang earlier said it need not provide financial aid anymore to Metro Manila, Laguna, Cavite, Rizal and Bulacan since people were allowed to work in the quarantined areas.

“Hunger, unemployment, non-COVID diseases, these are all consequences of the pandemic. It’s not just the rise in [COVID-19] infection,” said Filomeno Sta. Ana, coordinator of the nongovernmental economic think tank Action for Economic Reforms.

Although most businesses were allowed to operate, leisure or nonessential and indoor establishments were told to limit the capacity.

Sta. Ana said even if people wanted to work, some did not have the means to or feared catching the virus.

“Their animal spirits are dead,” he added.

A group of medical professionals, meanwhile, said “band aid” solutions to the pandemic such as restrictions on movement were not meant to solve the cause of the problem.

“This may stem the tide, but cannot permanently mitigate the spread of the virus. We reemphasize our stand that economic and mobility restrictions are but short-term interventions,” the Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19 said.