(We yield this space to the statement of Nagkaisa! Labor Coalition due to its timeliness. – Ed.)
WE MARK the 117th International Labor Day amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The world is on a standstill. Ill-prepared to face an invisible enemy, many governments, including ours, bungled their way in handling the crisis after initially downplaying the threat posed by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The toll on human lives is immense. The socioeconomic fallout is unprecedented. Like in all other crises, the working people are the biggest victims, especially the poor. According to the Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development, almost 25 million workers have been displaced. Many were locked down without means to survive. And when they try to do something to alleviate their hunger, they end up violating the quarantine. At least 120,000 have been arrested and incarcerated since the lockdown begun, which is why the United Nations Human Rights Council called out the government for its repressive “action under the guise of protecting health.”
For many, the worst is not over. As the world enters a deep recession, workers are expected to lose their jobs. According to the latest estimates of the government, unemployment is expected to hit eight percent. This is a very conservative figure.
The initial government response was allotting P250 billion (US$5 billion) to a pandemic with an economic impact worse than the 1997 and 2008 financial crisis. We have an economy of more than $355 billion (2019) screeching to halt. The $5 billion to fight its effect when Congress enacted the Bayanihan To Heal as One Act is only 1.4 percent of our Gross Domestic Product. This is comparable to a one-foot dike on a river about to be run over by a 10-feet surge of raging water. Certainly a small dike cannot stop a 10-feet surge.
The government could do better. What we need is a robust budget to fight the economic effects of the coronavirus – robust enough to address the enemy that is about to set us back 10 years if we will not act.
People are getting frustrated of the slow and confusing delivery scheme of the promised help (Social Amelioration Program fund). Also, asking workers to return to work without the most effective mass testing method may end up wasting whatever gains of the quarantine.
Aside from having a clear national plan for defeating the virus, there must also be a plan to protect the people from the impacts of economic recession. Improve protection to all our workers who are disproportionately victimized by the virus and start building up the public healthcare delivery. COVID-19 may be considered an occupational disease. There must be guidelines on the availment of sickness benefit, and even hazard pay.
COVID-19 will be with us until a vaccine could be developed. It will create a different world. We must be prepared for the new normal.
