COVID19 spares no one.
Now is not the time to gauge how much or how little you can give to support the fight against COVID-19. We are all victims and suffering in this trying times in varying levels so self-imposed sacrifices are expected if not demanded from everyone.
Less than a week from the declaration of the Enhanced Community Quarantine in Luzon and we are already experiencing a life we never thought we would in this life time.
Medical practitioners and health workers are stationed at the frontline to combat this dreadful virus. Them facing every single day a twofold blow of how to perform their sworn duty to protect the needy while trying to keep their loved ones safe.
While larger companies may have the resources to create and implement planning for disruption, small business owners are likely quite limited in their ability and knowledge on how to plan the unexpected. A sudden plummet to their incomes cannot be undermined as like any other employee, bills have to be paid, obligations to suppliers has to be met and most importantly an unprecedented calamity fund to aid their staff, even when there are no revenues coming in has to be implemented.
Yes, most if not all small business owners are now tapping on their savings to survive this COVID-19 and their primary concern is how to enable their employees and their families to cross the bridge and how to make ends meet.
As a small business owner, my husband and I are are blessed to begin with to have caring employees right at the onset of this crisis. With tourism and the hospitality industry greatly affected, our key personnels volunteered to a 2 day off per week scheme and took with no contention the management’s proposal to revert their basic pay of Php350/day with the intention of keeping the business stay afloat within the period of the community quarantine as initially planned.
Everything changed over night when President Duterte imposed the ENHANCED community quarantine in Luzon on March 17, 2020. The management voluntarily close all hotel and restaurant operations on March 18 believing strongly that the only way to combat COVID-19 is to limit or minimize movement and full compliance to social distancing. This is one precautionary measure to protect the safety of everyone in the company providing an emergency aid to all who will be asked not to report on work while maintaining a skeletal work force to man the establishment.
The question now lies on the fact on how long will this aid sustain them, even to include the DOLE’s financial aid of Php5, 000.00 per employee (as we have applied for them as of this writing). Only time can tell.
By: Melan Marquez
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