Duterte admin to blame for ‘worst economic collapse’ in PHL history —IBON chief

The Duterte administration is to blame for the "worst economic collapse" in Philippine history, the executive director of IBON Foundation said Thursday.

IBON chief Sonny Africa said the government's "incompetent" response to the COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated its impact and will continue to distress millions of Filipinos.

The Philippine economy contracted by 16.5% from April to June, its worst performance on record based on available data since 1981. This brings the country to a technical recession.

"Growth falling to -16.5% in the second quarter from 5.4% in the same period last year is an unprecedented 21.9 percentage point drop," Africa told GMA News Online, adding that the Philippines' second quarter performance is the worst among its neighbors Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

"The pandemic’s impact is much worse than it should be because of the Duterte administration's slow, poor and incompetent pandemic response. The economy will falter as the virus continues to spread," he said.

As of Thursday, the national confirmed COVID-19 case total was 119,460, making the Philippines the new virus "hotspot" in Southeast Asia.

The economy was at a standstill in the latter part of the first quarter as the government enforced strict community quarantines intended to slow down the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Restrictions were relaxed beginning June 1, but Metro Manila and four nearby provinces were placed under the stricter modified enhanced community quarantine from August 4 to August 18.

"Our less credit-worthy neighbors in ASEAN acted more rationally, did not rely as much on lockdowns, and are spending more on their people and economies. This is why they're not as bad off as we are," Africa said.

Africa said the Philippines has the smallest COVID-19 response in the region to date, citing the International Monetary Fund.

"The indifferent response of the economic managers to the recently released data showing the deepest recession in the country’s history is going to make things worse," he added.

The IBON chief claimed the government "refuses to give any more financial assistance to poor households" and is instead harping about creditworthiness and its flagship infrastructure project.

"As it is, the economic managers are only willing to support a Php140 billion Bayanihan 2 package which is barely 0.7% of GDP," he said.

Africa said as many as 27 million Filipinos are unemployed and underemployed because of the pandemic, and cited the labor department as saying that over half a million Filipinos overseas have sought assistance.

"At this rate, it may take the economy two years or more to even just get back to where it was before the pandemic. That was not even a good place to begin with," he said.

To rise from the recession, Africa said the government should contain the virus with "rational" testing, tracing and isolation instead of "desperate lockdowns," provide financial assistance, and support small businesses.

He said IBON initially estimates that the country needs a P1.5-trillion recovery and reform package that is worth 7.7% of the GDP. — BM, GMA News