MANILA, Philippines — The Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine which is now being enforced as a measure to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) could cost the Philippine economy as much as P1.157 trillion, Albay 2nd District Rep. Jose “Joey” Salceda said on Sunday.

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Speaking at the Laging Handa press briefing hosted by the Presidential Communications Operations Office, Salceda said the gross domestic product growth in the country could also slow down to 2.57 percent.

Salceda, however, explained that the country could have experienced an economic recession had the Luzon-wide quarantine not been enforced by the national government on March 17.

“‘Yung virus kasi ay pwede mo lang patayin kung ang ekonomiya ay patitigilin mo. Kasi ang virus na ito ay nagta-thrive through economic activity, so kailangan po nating pigilan muna ‘yung pagtakbo ng ekonomiya,” he said.

(The virus can only be contained if you’ll stop the economy. This virus thrives in economic activity. So we really need to stop the economy from moving for now.)

But according to Salceda, the country’s economy could still grow faster than other countries once the quarantine is lifted.

Congress is scheduled to hold a special session on Monday to pass a bill that would allow President Rodrigo Duterte to realign the funds. Salceda said lawmakers will also propose solutions to fill “any gaps” present in the prevailing “orderly lockdown.”

He also revealed that Congress will allow Duterte to realign P275 billion from the available budget to sustain the quarantine efforts. He added that approximately P144 million of this amount will be provided to an estimated 17.9 million Filipino households that had their sources of income held back by the quarantine.

The government had placed Luzon under an enhanced community quarantine following a spike in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases. Under the EQC, strict home confinement in all households is to be strictly enforced, there is a suspension of transportation operations, and the presence of uniformed personnel to enforce isolation procedures will be heightened.

/MUF

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