SOCIOECONOMIC

IMPACT PAPER

PROGRESSIVE ECONOMIC REFORMS:

POST PANDEMIC GOALS
FINAL PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

SUBMITTED BY
SUBMITTED TO
GROUP 6
MS. ARLENE A. MIGUEL
12 ABM MASTERSON
ABM 127 INSTRUCTOR
DECEMBER 10, 2021
 PAGE 1

PH POST PANDEMIC GOAL: COMPLEXITY

OF INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT 2022 TO
AID THE UNEMPLOYED CITIZENS
TOWARDS REVIVING THE ECONOMY

INTRODUCTION

The unemployment rate is the

proportion of unemployed persons in

the labor force thus, it adversely

affects the disposable income of

families, erodes purchasing power,

Photo by: Philstar

diminishes employee morale, and

reduces an economy's output. Yet Each day it widens the gap of

there comes the unforeseen dilemma unemployed Filipinos and it boils

that diminished the economic health down to the need for an immediate

into worse until this status quo. call to respond, especially, now

Since the first quarter of the that the present administration is

COVID-19 pandemic has started, the coming to an end while Philippine

economic activity was shocked and voters will head to the polls in May

plummeted in the Philippines, and 2022 to elect a successor to

until now, it resulted in a wide range President Rodrigo Duterte, whose

mass number of Filipinos who lost six-year term in the country’s top

their jobs, and for those who seek a office. But one thing is for sure,

job who could not look for better the administration that would

opportunities due to these existing succeed Duterte when he is gone

factors such as; strict lockdowns would have to “progressively”

and protocols, defect economic increase government capacity to

status, and trenches from the respond to the mind-boggling

workplace. More than ever, this is amount of unemployment that is

something that needs to be unresolved by the outgoing

addressed. president amidst the other several

pressing issues such as in health

and corruption.
 PAGE 2

According to the report by Rivas Instead of pushing the Philippines

(2021), entitled Pandemic scars: More to be classified as a middle-

Filipinos to remain poor unemployed income country in 2022, the focal

be even 2022, the official of the point changed to something that is

National Economic and Development more significant to the needs of

Authority or (NEDA) released the the country as the government’s

updated Philippine Development Plan main priority will building its way

(PDP) about the country's report out of the pandemic by

poverty rate projected to average infrastructure projects that would

between 15.5% and 17.5% in 2021, probably spark the economic

closely to the average rate in 2018 at activity and will give an avenue to

16.6%. Accordingly, it was actually in this jobless these workers. The

the plan from the government before following are the glance of several

the pandemic to reduce the poverty discussions and considerations

rate to 14% of the population by 2022 regarding the ambitious proposals

for it to be classified as a middle for the infrastructure projects that

income country. Unfortunately, that aim to highlight by the

did not happen according to the plan researchers:

and what is worse is there will be a

Infrastructure is a good plan,
surge of fresh college graduates who
yet an ingredient to corruption
are the K-12 pioneer students that will
Fiscal stimulus
be sending their job applications Health Infrastructure

which is an additional problem as this

is not responsive to the needs of the

defect employment situation. As

everyone’s knowledge grows deeper

about the situation of unemployment in

the Philippines and will continue to

next year, it is indeed notable that

more people are expected to remain

poor, hungry, and jobless. Yet, the

essence of why this should be

discussed is to finally put emphasis on

what movement that applies to the

situation and what everyone should

Photo by: Gettyimages
expect from the government.
 PAGE 3

SUPPORT THESIS
1. Infrastructure projects are one of the

options they see as having the

potential to revive the economy. Given

that we are still under the Duterte

administration, it is not surprising that

this is one of the solutions that they

have come up with. Considering that

one of his presidential term's focuses

is the "Build, Build, Build Program,"

Photo by Jc Punongbayan
which means that an ambitious

infrastructure development plan

consists of thousands of projects that What happens is that the project's

will be implemented across the quality is not at its best after a few

country. Reaching a high quality of years of construction, or worse, it is

infrastructure will positively affect the not completed and left unfinished

country's economic status from the because it has run out of funds not

global recession caused by the because the given budget was short

COVID-19 due to the increase in but because it was corrupted by the

production, and it will also generate politicians or the new administration

several jobs allowing them to begin does not want to continue the

working sooner, especially during a project. As a result, the produced

pandemic. Contrarily, these kinds of money for the projects was

government projects are prone to squandered and not put to good use.

corruption. The budget allocated to

these projects does not all go and be

used in those projects because the

leader of the project does not

produce all the money allocated.

 PAGE 4

1. To

2. To deal with the effects of the

coronavirus pandemic, the House of

Representatives has proposed a

staggering P1.3-trillion package.

Wage subsidies, business loans, and

infrastructure are all part of the

proposal. House Bill 6815, otherwise

known as the Accelerated Recovery

and Investments Stimulus for the

Economy or ARISE, aims to alleviate

the economy and mitigate the effects

of the pandemic on the heavily hit

sectors. However, the Senate

counterpart proposes a much smaller

amount for economic recovery.

Senate Bill no. 1564 or the Bayanihan

In the Philippines, less than 1.2 million
2 bill initially proposed to spend 236
people, or 0.9 percent of the
billion, but was slashed to 140 billion
population, had been tested as of
after deliberations. The difference
July 23. Testing capacity is roughly
between the House and Senate
18,000 to 21,000 per day, well below
proposals is P1.16 trillion. The amount
the 30,000-per-day requirement.
required would have to be agreed
Experts have been saying that
upon by both houses first. However,
putting areas on lockdown alone
the two ideas share one common
won’t curb the virus transmission as
denominator: COVID-19 testing would
this has to be paired with mass
expense only P10 billion. According to
testing, effective contact tracing,
medical experts, investing in mass
and immediate isolation.
testing is critical to defeating the

virus.
 PPAAG
GEE 25

1. To

2. T

3. The healthcare infrastructure in the

Philippines was not enough and not

prepared for the outbreak. According

to a paper from the Philippine

Institute for Development Studies,

citing government data, the

Philippines has around 61,500 hospital

and intensive care unit (ICU) beds,

2,000 ventilators, and 52,000

doctors. In the worst-case scenario, Photo by Reuters

the Philippines would need about 32

In addition, amidst the pandemic

times more hospital and ICU beds, as

corruption led to PhilHealth corruption;

well as 123 times more ventilators. It

As a result, this added to the problem

will also need to employ nearly 14

faced by our country. Hence, we need

times as many doctors. Our

to have more health infrastructure since

healthcare is having a shortage of

the pandemic is still not over, and more

hands, budget, equipment, and

patients need this to ensure that

facilities so health infrastructure must

everyone can be treated.

be one of the prioritized projects.

Despite being the world’s longest

COVID-19 lockdown imposed since

March 11, 2020, the Philippines still

has yet to control the number of

infected Coronavirus Diseases.

 PAGE 6

CONCLUSION
The government's main priority will be building its way out

of the pandemic by infrastructure projects that would

probably spark economic activity. Instead of pushing the

Philippines to be classified as a middle income country in

2022, the focal point changed to something that is more

significant to the needs of the country. During the Duterte

administration's focus on the Build, Build, Build, Program,

this will not only develop the country’s infrastructures but

also will give the chance for the ones who are not

employed to at least have a job. They regard this as a

solution to the crisis since it can boost private capital and

labor productivity, resulting in higher production.The House

of Representatives has proposed a staggering P1.3-trillion

package to deal with the effects of the coronavirus

pandemic. Wage subsidies, business loans, and

infrastructure are all part of the proposal. The Senate

counterpart proposes a much smaller amount for

economic recovery. During the outbreak of the pandemic

in 2020, the Philippines felt the shortage or the lack of

healthcare infrastructures.The Philippines has around

61,500 hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) beds, 2,000

ventilators, and 52,000 doctors. In a worst-case scenario,

the Philippines would need about 32 times more hospital

and ICU beds. It will also need to employ 14 times as many

doctors. Just to support the needs of the people that had

been infected with covid.

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