The economy slumped in the first quarter of 2020. Production of goods and services, what we call Gross Domestic Product or GDP during January-March this year, declined by .02%, annually, in real terms or minus the effect of inflation. This is the first and steepest drop in production since 1998, ending 84 quarters or 21 years of frenetic growth, the longest economic expansion in the country’s history.
The economic collapse is likely to extend into the second and third quarters of 2020. Thus, we have a grim prospect of having the Great Recession ever. The only way to stop that economic Armageddon is to revive the economy. Revival means lifting the so-called 60-day Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) or even the GCQ on Luzon and key cities in the Visayas and Mindanao. These areas account for more than 75% of economic production.
