Leyte traders hopeful of recovery after pandemic

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TACLOBAN CITY — Businessmen in Leyte province remained optimistic they would recover their losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Members of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Tacloban-Leyte Inc. on Tuesday, Nov. 15, gathered for a two-day business conference to tackle issues affecting the sector.

Eugene Tan, the president of the group of more than 100 businessmen in Leyte and Tacloban City, expressed the hope that they could recover the losses they incurred in the past two years.

He, however, admitted that the recovery might take some time.

“During the pandemic, there was a slowdown of businesses by about 50%. Now that we are slowly reopening (the economy), we can’t say that we will immediately recover in terms of loss of revenues and business opportunities,” Tan said.

“It will take at least five years before we can say that businesses have fully recovered, just like what happened when we were hit by Super Typhoon Yolanda,” he added, referring to the devastation in Leyte in 2013.

Despite the losses, Tan said the business sector in Leyte and Tacloban City did their share in helping people and health workers during the pandemic.

He said they raised P3 million, which they partly used to donate personal protective equipment and other medical supplies at the height of COVID-19.

As part of the activities of the business conference, at least 42 firms held a job fair, offering at least 1,000 employment opportunities.

“By conducting the job fair, the business group could help the government address the unemployment problem,” Tan said.

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