COVID-19: Here’s what you should do when COVID-19 crisis ends
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) posed a serious downside risk to the global economy. With the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring this a pandemic, it required an urgent and aggressive action. Of course, this also includes the Philippines going into a Luzon-wide quarantine.
NEDA reports social and economic impact due to COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the Philippines currently experiences the second chapter of the crisis. This refers to the pandemic becoming into an economic crisis. In the report titled Addressing the Social and Economic Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic, economic drivers like tourism, trade, remittances, and consumptions will continue to hurt with the said lockdown.
Here’s what you should do after the COVID-19 crisis ends
Let’s help our economy rise again and support Filipino products, as well as businesses. After this lockdown and the government already deemed it safe for us to interact and go outside, we should support companies that have had difficulties due to low or lack of sales. Of course, this also includes the companies that helped in the fight against the pandemic.
Support Philippine tourism.
For a little background, South Koreans are recorded as the top tourists of the country with a total of 1.98-million arrivals or 22.48% growth. Chinese people comes in second with 1.74-million visitors or a 38.58% increase while Americans come in third with 1.06-million arrivals and 2.90% increase.
According to NEDA, if tourist arrivals would continue to dwindle until June due to COVID-19 situation, the total number of visitors will continue to drop by 1.42-million. This will result in billions of pesos in losses in the tourism industry.
China is Philippines’ top trading partner that accounts for 18.8% of total trade, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). In November 2019, 22.9% of Philippines’ exports went to China, the biggest importer for the country. Chief economist for Union Bank of the Philippines Ruben Carlo Asuncion noted that the COVID-19 could cost the Philippine economy $600-million or 0.8% of economic growth.
So, what do you say Villagers? Let’s make this an opportunity to immerse in our own culture and of course, support our own country.
