MB sees PHL economy shrinking in 1st qtr By Bianca Cuaresma
B
@BcuaresmaBM
ANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Monetary Board bel ieves t he Phi l ippine economy is bound to have another quarter of gross domestic product (GDP) contraction early this year before bouncing back to growth territory. I n it s re c e nt l y p u b l i s he d h i g h l i g ht s of t he mone t a r y polic y stance board meeting, the BSP said they project the e c o no m y t o “c o nt r a c t u nt i l 2021” stil l due to the measures imposed to restr ict movement as a means for curbing Covid-19 cases. “Domestic economic activity is projected to contract at
a slower pace in the first quarter of 2021 before recovering in the second quarter of 2021 onwards. The decline in GDP is seen to be driven primarily by further deterioration in the services sectors, which remained heavily affected by the pandemic despite the easing in quarantine measures,” the BSP said. The Philippine economy contracted by 9.5 percent in 2020, the worst in more than half a century. In particular, the BSP said the services sector is likely to continue to contract due to the slowdown in transport, tourism, and other service activities. T he a g r ic u lt u re se c tor, meanwhile, is projected by the
BSP to ex pand slight ly due to improved weather conditions dur ing the quar ter. T he BSP a lso said the industr y sector cou ld beg in to gradua l ly ex pand as manufacturing activ it y picks up based on ev idence from high-frequenc y indicators. In February, the Philippines’s Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) remained at 52.5, keeping its pace unchanged from the previous month. A country’s PMI is meant to gauge the health of its manufacturing sector. It is calculated as a weighted average of five individual subcomponents. Readings below 50 show deterioration in the industry while readings above the 50
threshold signal a growth in the manufacturing sector. This is the first time that the Philippines’s PMI hit two consecutive months of being in growth territory since the beginning of pandemic-induced lockdowns and restrictions. The BSP also said consumer and business sentiment have been aided by expectations of vaccine rollout. “Greater fiscal support could also help minimize possible economic scarring and sustain the country’s nascent recovery,” the BSP said. In its February 11 meeting, the BSP decided to keep all monetary policy levers unchanged. The BSP will have its next monetary policy meeting on March 25.
SOLONS BACK MAV HIKE BUT NIX PORK TARIFF CUT w
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Tuesday, March 9, 2021 Vol. 16 No. 149
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 18 pages |
STUDY: MORE WOMEN LOST, FORCED TO QUIT JOBS IN THE PANDEMIC By Cai U. Ordinario
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Manila Mayor Isko Moreno joins Global Electric Transport (GET) Philippines CEO and former Taguig Mayor Freddie Tinga at the ceremonial launching on Monday of the BEST Bus electric minibus at the Kartilya ng Katipunan in Manila.The electric buses will ply the route from Manila to North Edsa in Quezon City starting this month, to serve an expected rise in the number of commuters. The buses can run 100kph and can be recharged in only 30 minutes. It is also a PWD-friendly bus. With its GET PASS App, BEST bus enables easy contact tracing of passengers, thus ensuring safety protocols. ROY DOMINGO
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By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie & Butch Fernandez @butchfBM
KEY House panel and two senators on Monday weighed in against a pending proposal sent to the President to slash tariffs on imported pork, saying it will have little impact on putting a brake on inflation while gravely damaging the domestic hog production sector.
They also have a consensus that the right move, if inflation were a concern, is to allow more pork importation, but keep the tariff rates
as they are. Citing its oversight powers over tariff-related matters, the House Committee on Ways and Means
on Monday recommended to the Committee on Tariff and Related Matters (CTRM), through the Department of Agriculture (DA), the reversal of its proposal lowering tariffs on pork. During a hearing, House Ways and Means Chairman Joey Sarte Salceda told the DA the committee is against a reduction of tariffs on pork. “Reverse the policy—that’s the consensus of this committee. We are recommending to you to keep the tariff and increase MAV [minimum access volume] because if you reduce the tariff you will just pad up the profit of meat processors,” Salceda told Agriculture
Secretary William Dar. “We’ve run the numbers, and our findings are that, at the levels the DA is trying to propose for importation, the tariff reduction will only impact average consumer pork prices by 50 centavos. This is not worth the pain it will cause farmers, and it is certainly not worth the trouble of more inspections,” Salceda said. In a separate development, Senators Imee Marcos and Cynthia Villar, taking up the cudgels for the local hog industry, asked Malacañang to junk plans to cut tariff on imported pork. Continued on A4
No more Covid tests for visitors at Puerto Galera By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo
@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror
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HE white-sand beaches and rich marine resources of Puerto Galera are more accessible now to holidaymakers as the provincial government of Oriental
Mindoro fully reopens its borders. Following this and the decision of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to ease travel restrictions in the country by way of uniform health and safety protocols, Puerto Galera Mayor Rocky D. Ilagan has issued Executive
PESO exchange rates n US 48.5990
Order 21-2021, scrapping RT-PCR and antigen test requirements for travelers starting March 10. He told the BusinessMirror in an interview that tourists only need to log-on to their Tourist Registration app and submit their health declaration form and pre-approved booking in a Department of Tour-
ism-accredited hotel and resort. The tourist registration app may be downloaded via the municipality web site or Google Play. “Our economy relies fully on tourism, and I’ve been seen how the pandemic has impacted our residents’ lives. Continued on A2
@caiordinario
S unpaid care and domest ic work increased, more women in the Philippines lost or were prompted to quit their jobs during the pandemic, according to a study authored by a team from the United Nations Women (UN Women). This was part of the findings of the study, titled “Gendered Impacts of Covid-19 in Asia and the Pacific: Early Evidence on Deepening Socioeconomic Inequalities in Paid and Unpaid Work.” The study, authored by UN Women Research and Data Section Chief Papa A. Seck, Inter-Regional Advisor on Gender Statistics Jessamyn O. Encarnacion, Statistician Cecilia Tinonin and Regional Advisor on Gender Statistics Sara Duerto-Valero, was published in the Feminist Economics journal of the Inter national A ssociation For Feminist Economics last week. “Results show that women are disproportionately shouldering the burden of unpaid care and domestic work triggered by the lockdowns, and they are losing their livelihoods faster than men,” the authors said. “Worsening mental health also emerges as a critical area affecting women disproportionately.” T he re s u lt s i nd i c at e d around 69 percent of women saw an increase in unpaid care work and 66 percent of women saw an increase in domestic work for at least one activity. For at least three activities, around 19 percent of women saw an increase in the time they allocated for unpaid care work, while 40 percent saw an increase for time spent for unpaid domestic work.
However, the authors said men are helping more with household chores and providing unpaid care work in the pandemic. For those in the Philippines, 67 percent of men saw increased unpaid care work for at least one activity, but only 16 percent for three activities. In terms of unpaid domestic work, 81 percent of men in the Philippines saw an increase in their chores for at least one activity and 32 percent for three activities. “Overall, women in employment are receiving less support with household tasks in comparison to men in employment. This is particularly concerning, as the increased workload may lead some working mothers to abandon paid jobs or older women to leave the labor market before retirement age,” the authors said.
Stress, anxiety
Meanwhile, the study also showed that the emotional and mental health impact of the pandemic has also fallen on women’s shoulders. The authors said women surveyed in the study showed higher rates of stress and anxiety. As many as 70 percent of women—and only 50 percent of men—said their mental health was affected by the pandemic. The data also showed that more women (24 percent) saw their physical health affected by the pandemic. This is higher than the 19 percent of men. “In Maldives and the Philippines, where women’s labor force participation is relatively higher, there appears to be an association between women who reported a decrease in working time and those whose mental and emotional health were affected,” the study stated. Continued on A2
n japan 0.4485 n UK 67.1492 n HK 6.2596 n CHINA 7.4808 n singapore 36.2166 n australia 37.3678 n EU 57.9349 n SAUDI arabia 12.9552
Source: BSP (March 8, 2021)