The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major influence on the Philippines, affecting many elements of society, including public health, public transportation, the economy, skills development and social welfare.
Positive impacts that the Covid-19 brought to the Philippines
Here are some of the good and negative effects of the pandemic on communities across the country:
Health infrastructure improvement
The pandemic has emphasized the country’s need for improved healthcare infrastructure. The Philippine government has made initiatives to remedy this situation, including expanding the number of hospital beds, recruiting additional healthcare staff skills training them, and enhanced community quarantine.
Digital transformation
The change to remote work and online learning has accelerated digital transformation in many countries in a variety of areas, including education, healthcare, and e-commerce.
Community solidarity
The pandemic has united Filipinos, with many communities binding together to assist those in need, such as donating food and supplies to frontliners and the less fortunate.
Negative impacts that the Covid-19 brought to the Philippines
1. Economic downturn
The pandemic has resulted in a huge economic slowdown in the Philippines region, with businesses closing and many Filipinos losing work. Poverty has also risen, resulting in an increase in hunger and malnutrition. This also include inflation and job losses.
2. Education Disruption
The change to online learning has also exposed the country’s digital divide, with many students unable to access online lectures owing to a lack of resources such as internet access and equipment.
3. Concerns about women and mental health
The epidemic has also had an impact on Filipinos’ mental health, with many suffering from anxiety, depression, and other mental health disorders as a result of isolation, job losses, and financial hardships.
Static simulations for the economic impacts of a pandemic
Extreme economic losses resulted from the strict lockdown, which took place in the national capital region and high-risk regions from mid-March until the end of May 2020. The Philippine economy entered the recovery stage six months and half after the implementation of the March shutdown, but MSMEs are still struggling with a steep decline in demand and earnings.
Several static models and forecasts have been run to analyze the economic impact negatively of the COVID-19 in the Philippines. Here are some such examples: In April 2020, the World Bank ran a simulation that anticipated a 3.3% downturn in the growth rate of the Philippine economy as a result of the epidemic.
According to a simulation done by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in October 2020, direct impacts of the post- covid Philippines might cause the economy to decline by 8.3% in that same period next year.
What is the Impact of COVID-19 to the Philippine Tourism Industry? How the government can help tourism-related Businesses?
The Philippine tourist business, one of the fastest-growing in the nation in recent years, has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 epidemic. To stop the virus from spreading, the Philippine government implemented strict travel mobility restrictions and lockdown measures, which caused a dramatic and expected drop in numbers business activities of tourists and negative impact on their earnings.
With just 1.3 million visitors in 2020 compared to 7.4 million in the first quarter of 2019, the number of international tourists arriving in the Philippines fell by 82.3%, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. Due to health worries and financial uncertainties, many Filipinos have canceled their trip plans, greatly down demand for foreign investment and hurting the confidence and operations of the local tourist business.
A considerable number of jobs have been lost and businesses have closed as a result of COVID-19’s effects on business operations, in the tourism sector. The Philippine government may assist these companies by putting in place regulations and initiatives that aid their operations in strong recovery and contribute to financing their rehabilitation, like:
- Financial Assistance : Providing loans and other forms of funding and financing to tourism-related enterprises to help them meet their operational expenses and survive the epidemic. For instance, childcare assistance and emerging businesses capital loans.
- Tax incentives – giving tax breaks to companies in the tourism sector to keep employment, encourage them to keep operating, and aid in their loss economic recovery.
- Marketing campaigns- Launch national and international marketing programs and initiatives to advertise the tourism sector of the nation and stimulate travel.
- Health and safety guidelines- establishing policies and procedures that protect the well-being and safety of tourists and tourism industry workers and personnel.
- Infrastructure development- the process of spending money to upgrade the nation’s tourism infrastructure and create sustainable employment opportunities to draw in more tourists.
Including pandemics as part of insurance coverage
The necessity for insurance coverage that covers pandemics has been brought to light by the COVID-19 pandemic. Pandemics being covered by insurance might assist people and businesses in saving lives and minimizing the financial risks brought on by present and upcoming epedemics. Insurers would need to create new products and policies that handle the specific risks welfare losses and difficulties related to pandemics in order to include pandemics in insurance coverage. Government sectors could further support existing encourage insurers to create pandemic risk coverage by offering financial assistance or regulatory incentives.
Economic losses due to lockdown policies
The Program will work with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to co-finance a policy-based loan via the Bank’s COVID-19 Crisis Recovery Facility. Even when the economy began to recover, the pandemic shock to the Philippines’ economy had a long-lasting negative impact on employment in the country’s private sector. The working-age population as well as the elderly, particularly women, have suffered the most. In May 2021, the government unveiled the National Employment Recovery Strategy (NERS) in response to this labor market scenario. NERS aims to increase access to employment, sources of income, and training opportunities. It also supports established and startup companies in their efforts to generate long-term employment prospects in light of the pandemic-induced job losses were seen among informal workers such as laundry women, hairdressers, and workers in small canteens; and in informal retail like “ sari-sari ” stores , street vendors, and markets. The farming sector also saw significant job losses.
Focus on creating job-rich recovery strategies or employment recovery program.
As countries around the world start to recover from the coronavirus disease, there is a growing focus on using skills training and creating job-rich recovery strategies that can help to boost employment, improve access opportunities and strengthen the economy in other countries. Here are some ways that recovery could be achieved:
- Investment in infrastructure: One way to create jobs is by investing in infrastructure projects, such as building new roads, bridges, and public transport systems.
- Support for small businesses: Small businesses have been hit hard by the post- covid Philippines, but they are also a key source of job creation. Providing financial support, such as grants, loans, and tax breaks, can help small businesses to recover and grow, creating new job opportunities.
- Skill training and reskilling programs: As the economy shifts towards new industries and technologies, there will be a growing need for workers with new skills. Providing training and reskilling programs can help to prepare workers for these new opportunities and help them to find new jobs.
- Green jobs: The transition to a more sustainable economy is creating new job opportunities programs in renewable energy, clean transport, and other green industries. This will help to meet post pandemic employment rate.
- Digitalization: The pandemic has accelerated the shift towards digital technologies, creating new job opportunities in areas such as e-commerce, software development, and digital marketing.
Negatively Affected people
Different kinds of vulnerable communities including seafarers, household domestic workers, garment industry workers, the homeless, indigenous peoples, women, the elderly, and displaced communities. While these different types of vulnerable communities have unsurprisingly different experiences and needs, common themes emerge from their disparate experiences and their varied approaches to coping with the pandemic provide interesting insights
