Malacañang on Thursday said the country’s economy had already hit rock bottom due to the stringent lockdowns imposed in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, and “the only way to go is up.”
Palace spokesman Harry Roque encouraged Filipinos to look at the bright side as he acknowledged results of a Social Weather Stations survey that saw 40 percent of adult Filipinos expecting the economy to worsen in the next 12 months.
“Sa tingin ko po, the worst has hit us already… when we had [enhanced community quarantine] na sinarado natin ang ekonomiya. Ngayon nagbubukas na po tayo ng ekonomiya at naghahanda po tayo para doon sa pupuwedeng magkasakit din dahil nga po nagtatrabaho na tayo, tingin ko po bumabangon na po tayo,” Roque said.
The July 2020 figure was the highest percentage of “economic pessimists” since 2008.
Roque said the government has recovery plans in place to cushion the socioeconomic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. These include the “Ingat Buhay Para sa Hanapbuhay” and Recharge PH programs, he said.
“Ang tanging pamamaraan lang po para tayo po ay makabangon muli ay sa paghahanapbuhay at pagbubukas ng ekonomiya,” he said.
The economy entered recession in the second quarter of 2020 as it shrank by 16.5 percent. John Ezekiel J. Hirro