Salceda projects P405.3-B losses from NCR-Calabarzon-wide ECQ lockdown

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is seen to lose over P225 billion from the two-week re-imposition of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the National Capital Region (NCR)—and a whopping P405 billion if the lockdown will include the Calabarzon region, House committee on ways and means chairperson Joey Salceda said Thursday.

Salceda, an economist, said that based on his projections, the country may lose P112.69 billion per week from an NCR-wide lockdown. This is equivalent to P225.37 billion for the two-week ECQ from August 6 to 20, said the House leader.

In his report shared to the media, Salceda said P189.4 billion of this will come from the services sector, P35.22 billion will come from the industry sector, and P310 million will come from the agriculture sector.

Salceda, however, noted that the numbers are larger if the whole Calabarzon region will be included in the ECQ lockdown, with his estimates reaching over P405.3 billion.

“In terms of billions, the total cost is P405.34 billion lost output. P225.37 billion of that in NCR and P179.97 billion would be in the Calabarzon,” Salceda said during the Ugnayan sa Batasan press forum.

“The model estimates that the NCR ECQ will be P112.69 billion per week while the imposition of a Calabarzon-wide will cause an additional P89.9 billion per week in lost gross domestic product,” he added.

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier placed the NCR under ECQ from August 6 to 20 to curb the threat of the more dangerous Delta variant of COVID-19.

But on Wednesday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the national government is studying proposals to put Region 4-A or Calabarzon under ECQ, similar to the NCR. The region includes the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon.

Duque III said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) will discuss the issue during the meeting on Thursday.

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