BY CHARISSA ATIENZA
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The Philippines cannot afford another lockdown after it was estimated that the country’s economy incurred a monthly revenue loss amounting to P21 billion due to suspension of public transport operations since mid-March.
During a virtual House joint panel meeting on the “Economic Aspect of Public Transport Issues”, AAMBIS-OWA partylist Rep. Sharon Garin expressed the Lower Chamber’s all-out support to the Department of Transportation’s relief measures to assist the transportation sector, which was heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In terms of public transportation, the estimated loss on a monthly basis is P21 billion. That’s high impact, that’s just land transportation,” she said as the House Committee on Economic Affairs which she chaired, and the House Committee Transportation, chaired by Samar 1st District Rep. Edgar Mary Sarmiento jointly tacked the economic issues hounding transportation sector.
“This is something that while our operators, our drivers are suffering losses, at the same time, it trickles down to losses of workers because they cannot go to work, and if the workers cannot go to work, the businesses cannot operate,” she pointed out.
Garin warned that if the airline industry is limited in its operations, the impact of the pandemic crisis on the tourism sector “will even more worsen.”
“In terms of flights, departing in 2019, there were 61,000 at 2020, we’re halfway. Arriving international flights at 61,000 and we’re at 12,000 right now so the operations are very limited,” she said
“What’s the effect? Originally, PAL, Cebu Pacific, Air Asia, had a total of about 13,000 workforce, now they’re down to about 2,500,” she noted. (Charissa Atienza)
