By Froilan Gallardo
Special Correspondent
THE economies of Cagayan de Oro and Gingoog cities took a beating after health authorities implemented the strict Enhanced Community Quarantine from July 16 to July 31.
National Economic Development Authority 10 Director Mylah Faye Aurora Cariño said for Cagayan de Oro, estimated economic losses could reach P143 million a day since July 16 after the city implemented the strict quarantine measures.
Cariño said the service sector, including stores, restaurants, and malls, took a serious beating, losing P123 million a day.
For Gingoog City, Cariño said its economy nosedived with estimated losses reaching P10 million a day since July 16.
Health authorities have implemented the most restrictive Enhanced Community Quarantine in Cagayan de Oro and Gingoog after six patients with Delta variants were found.
“Prolonged ECQ would be catastrophic to the economies of these two cities,” Cariño said during a virtual forum Friday.
Cariño said 92 micro and small firms in Cagayan de Oro have closed during the two months that strict quarantine measures were implemented starting in May 2021.
She said this has displaced 1,260 skilled workers.
Cariño said some 331 establishments in Cagayan de Oro have retrenched 4,381 workers.
Councilor George Goking, chair of the Cagayan de Oro Council’s trade and commerce committee estimated some 8,000 employees of stores that closed in the city shopping malls lose their jobs last July 16.
