Covid-19 brought forth a devastating effect and spawned a full-blown health and economic crisis in the

Philippines. The succeeding socioeconomic consequences that arose from the crisis are alarming, thus
requires a substantial amount of evaluation. To begin with, a lockdown causes an economy to be
stagnant. Due to limitations of the mobility of economic activities, the abrupt contraction of the
economy was immediately noticeable under the lockdown. The GDP was intially predicted by authorized
economic entities to fluctuate to over six per cent for 2020. But by 2015, it shrunk by 16.5 per cent in
the second quarter. The country’s employment rate was also affected due to the static and immobilized
market (Ofrenei, 2020). The Philippine Statistics Authority reported that the national unemployment rate
reached 17.7 per cent in April 2020, the highest since the end of the Second World War. Officially, more
than seven million workers had been displaced during the first half of 2020. But an independent polling
agency, the Social Weather Station, gave a much higher figure. 45.5 per cent of adult were jobless as of
July 2020. This is equivalent to 27.3 million Filipino workers.

The lockdown locked out businesses and livelihoods, directly disrupting the lives and welfare of the
majority. Those dependent on the economy’s life-savers such as overseas employment and call centre
personnel which were the BPO sector was affected. The fast-growing service industries, such as
retail/distribution, education, tourism, entertainment, real state, were all severely disrupted by the
Enhanced Community Quarantine, Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine, General Community
Quarantine, Modified General Community Quarantine. Furthermore, the trade actor both the domestic
and export-oriented industries were paralyzed. The micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) all
went into a tailspin right after the declaration of the ECQ in March. These MSMEs constitute 99 per cent
of the one million registered enterprises in the country (Ofreneo, 2020).

Amidst the challenges faced during the pandemic, there were plenty of opportunities, positive
outcomes, and alternatives that emerged. These outcomes were utilized to address the socioeconomic
crisis of the Philippines. Technology, digitalization, and media are one of the most eminent factor that
brought solutions in addressing the global crisis.