ECOP: Alert Level 4 will affect millions of employees

The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) on Thursday expressed opposition against raising Alert Level 4 of quarantine classification that may affect millions of workers.

Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB, ECOP president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. said the stricter quarantine would affect around 3 million employees.

“Madali lang kasi sabihin na dapat Alert Level 4 tayo…’Yung mahihirap hindi kaya ‘yun, Mga 3 million na naman ang apektado, ang gugutumin mo na walang ayuda,” he said.

(It is easy to say that we should be under Alert Level 4. The poor cannot live through with that. Around 3 million again would be affected, face hunger without assistance.)

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) earlier said it is prepared to set aside P1 billion for workers affected by the Alert Level 3.

Earlier, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III raised the possibility of upgrading the quarantine status in the National Capital Region (NCR) to Alert Level 4 as COVID-19 cases continue to surge.

According to him, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF) is considering it as healthcare care utilization rate in the region is nearing moderate risk.

Amid the surge of cases, World Health Organization (WHO) Country Representative to the Philippines Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe on Wednesday said there is no need yet to escalate the existing Alert Level 3 in Metro Manila.

On Monday, Malacañang also said there is no need to place Metro Manila under stricter Alert Level 4 despite the region's healthcare utilization rate. —LBG, GMA News