Four hundred thirty-seven days .
As the Philippines enters its 437th day in community quarantine , one cannot help but notice how more and more people have begun begging on the streets just to put food on the table . These people did not come out of nowhere . These 437 days of lockdown have not just been a lockdown against the virus . It has been 437 days of people not being able to go to work , make a living , and feed their families . And as thousands go into hunger , it is now more important than ever to end this protracted lockdown and safely return to the normal we once lived .
Back on March 27 , Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque announced that Metro Manila , Bulacan , Cavite , Laguna , and Rizal - now known as ‘ NCR Plus ’ - would be placed once again under enhanced community quarantine ( ECQ ), just over a year after the first ECQ was imposed . During that two-week ECQ , it is estimated that P180 billion was lost and 1.5 million Filipinos lost their jobs according to Department of Trade and Industry ( DTI ) Secretary Ramon Lopez .
With thousands forced into their homes with no way to provide for their families , the lockdowns exacerbated our longstanding economic problems to an all-time high . The poverty rate in the country is set to reach 17.5 % in 2021 , while the National Economic Development Authority ( NEDA ) announced last March that four million Filipinos were unemployed last January 2021 .
To add insult to the injury , the country ’ s economy experienced its worst contraction since 1947 , with the gross domestic product ( GDP ) shrinking by 16.9 %. At the same time , the Philippines ’ outstanding debt climbed to a staggering P10.3 trillion by January 2021 - the highest in history . Yet , as people become poorer , food prices rose as the country ’ s inflation rate rose for the fifth consecutive month to 4.7 % last February 2021 , only easing to 4.5 % this March .
Despite all these , however , the national government seems set in its plan for a prolonged national lockdown to stem the spread of the coronavirus - a move that seemingly ignores the repeated calls of