Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon M. Lopez supports the call of the business sector to reopen the economy towards “de-escalation to MECQ” or granular lockdown, but also equally stressed the need for a balance policy to be able to protect both lives and livelihoods.

At the Laging Handa Public Briefing, Lopez said he agreed with the clamor from the business sector to reopen the economy to stop the economic losses. He believes the need to de-escalate to a modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) from the current ECQ as long as COVID cases are down and there is no more threat of the Delta variant.

This is to recover lost jobs and to alleviate hunger in the country and to be able to take care of other health issues, not just COVID, he said.

He, however, said that moves to de-escalate the ECQ to MECQ to strict granular lockdown will be a decision to be made by the IATF.

In the next IATF meeting, he said “We will look at the numbers and if there is no threat, no uncontrollable surge, we should balance economy and the security aspect,” he said adding the taskforce could perhaps consider a de-escalation to MECQ.

The Employers Confederation of the Philippines has long been critical of the government’s penchant for lockdown to save lives. But Lopez also stressed that life is also equally important as the economy.

The IATF is expected to review the data during its next meeting on Thursday and will take a balance view, he promised. “It is really a balancing act and there are ways to open other parts of economy,” he said as he answered questions on the possibility of further extending the ECQ after August 20.

He said that 16 percent of establishments or 160,000 in the National Capital Region are expected to continue closing their operations if the ECQ is extended. He reported that many establishments have told him they could no longer afford the salaries of their employees because the lockdown.