Drilon sees recession coming as Philippines keeps fight on pandemic

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Wednesday warned of a looming economic recession as the Philippines continues to stave off the further spread of COVID-19.

"There is no question. The economies define recession as two quarters of economic contraction. In the first quarter, we already contracted by 0.2% and for the second quarter prediction is worse," Drilon said when asked in an ANC interview if he sees a possible recession.

"This means that the next six months will be a question of how to survive. They say that to survive in today’s situation is already a success. We must be able to survive so that we can set the stage for economic recovery," he added.

The Philippine economy contracted by 0.2% in the first quarter of 2020. This was the first time the country saw a negative GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth since 1998.

Fitch Solutions Country Risk and Industry Research also forecast that the Philippine economy would be falling

Drilon said this is why President Rodrigo Duterte's 5th State of the Nation Address would be the perfect platform to lay out a concrete masterplan on how to handle the adverse effects of the pandemic.

"On the economic side, we have five million of our people unemployed, 40 percent of our MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises) [are] closed. According to SWS, which came out in today’s media, 5.2 million Filipinos experienced involuntary hunger in the last three months, the highest in the last five years," Drilon, a former Labor Secretary, said.

Further, Drilon expressed dismay over the repeated lockdowns which he said should not be the ultimate solution.

"A lockdown, to my understanding, is to give us time to plan and implement things... I would like personally to hear comprehensive plans on the part of the administration how we address this," he added.

Malacañang, for its part, assured the public that Duterte will present the country’s COVID-19 recovery plan on July 27 as he delivers the SONA. —LBG, GMA News