Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo on Saturday expressed confidence that the Philippine economy will be more robust after the country’s jobless rate in March fell to its lowest level since the start of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
Panelo issued the statement during his commentary show “Counterpoint,” after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported Thursday that the unemployment rate went down from 8.8 percent in February to 7.1 percent in March.
“Ang puwersa ng manggagawa ang siyang malakas na partisipante sapagkat sila, ‘pag sila ay naibalik sa trabaho, oh eh di malago na naman ang industriya (The labor force’s participation is strong because if they return to work, the industrial production will continue to bloom),” he said.
Preliminary results of the PSA’s March 2021 round of the Labor Force Survey (LSF) found that around 3.441 million Filipinos are jobless in March, down from the 4.187 million unemployed in February.
The March LSF revealed that around 45.33 million Filipinos are working in March, up from 43.2 million employed in February.
Panelo said employment recovery amid the Covid-19 pandemic is a good sign. “Ibig sabihin, bumaba ang bilang ng mga walang trabaho (Meaning, the number of jobless Filipinos went down),” he added.
“Mukhang ang mga senyales ay nagpapahiwatig ng magandang balita sapagkat dahan-dahan tayong nakakabalik doon sa daan patungo sa kasaganahan (The signs are indicting a good news because we are moving towards development),” he said.
On April 29, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases allowed the resumption of dine-in services, as well as the reopening of barbershops and beauty parlors, and nail spas in areas under the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) in a bid to revive the country’s economy amid the pandemic.
Indoor dine-services of food establishments are allowed in MECQ zones at a 10-percent seating capacity, while beauty salons, beauty parlors, barbershops, and nail spas can operate at an initial 30 percent of the venue capacity.
Panelo encouraged workers to get inoculated against Covid-19 to protect them against the coronavirus.
“Magpabakuna kayo at kayo ay kwalipikado na para mapanatili natin ang magandang takbo ng ating ekonomiya (Get vaccinated because you are qualified in a bid to keep our economy vibrant),” he said.
The country’s economic team attributed the drop of the employment rate in March to eased movement restrictions and the requirement to heed public minimum health standards.
