ERWIN P. NICAVERA
May 13, 2020
THREE major industries in Negros Occidental are seen to incur about P14.7 billion in opportunity losses within the first six months of the year due to coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
Based on the projection of Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI), the service sector will incur the biggest opportunity losses, or the value that is supposed to be generated or realized under normal circumstance, amounting to P12 billion from January to June this year.
This sector includes real estate, rent, retail, public advertisement, banks, lending, insurance, telecommunications, transport, trading, tourism and business process outsourcing (BPO).
The amount is 40 percent of the P60 billion or 30 percent share of Negros Occidental's service sector to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Western Visayas.
Citing the 2015 figures from the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), the MBBCI said the service sector's contribution to the region's GDP is pegged at P175 billion.
This is P25 billion short compared to the business chamber's estimate of P200 billion from 2016 to 2019.
Frank Carbon, chief executive officer of MBCCI, said the service sector is the "most affected" or will incur the biggest losses.
Establishments under which like malls and other retails have stopped operations plus the transport and tourism which are bigger industries, he pointed out.
For the industry sector which includes mining, quarrying, manufacturing, factory, construction, electricity and water, the MBCCI projected a six-month opportunity losses of P1.75 billion.
The amount is 15 percent of the P23 billion share of the province to the industry sector's contribution to the regional GDP.
Based on Neda's 2015 data, the industry sector contributes P69 billion to overall GDP of Western Visayas.
For 2016 to 2019 projection of MBCCI, on the other hand, the sector's value is about P75 billion.
"Private and public constructions have also stopped during the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) which are also billion-peso projects thus, no value created," the business leader also said.
The MBCCI further projected that the agriculture sector, including fishery and forestry, will incur the lowest amount of opportunity losses, at almost P1 billion.
The figure is 10 percent of the P19 billion share of Negros Occidental to the sector's contribution to the region's GDP worth P60 billion.
Its official explained that the province's agriculture sector will not be hit "very badly" as activities under which like rice and sugar production continues.
Carbon said "what we have lost" is that the market became smaller due to disruptions in the delivery of products to other provinces and regions.
All in all, the total opportunity losses to be incurred by the three major industries in due to the health crisis comprise about 14 percent of Negros Occidental's share to the regional GDP.
The value of the province's agriculture, industry and service sectors are pegged at about P102 billion.
The business group data showed that the value of these industries in the region is pegged at P304 billion basing again on the 2015 data of the Neda.
For 2016 to 2019, the MBCCI projects that the value is higher, at P337 billion.
The group, moreover, has forwarded this opportunity loss projection to the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental.
Carbon said they are upbeat that the provincial government will use it in "planning" particularly on refocusing the allocations for the remaining months of the year to something that can preserve and create more jobs and markets. This is what economics is all about -- buy and sell -- so there should be market and from that job is created, Carbon said. "This is what we mean by steering the economy," he said, adding that their porjection is based on the business sector's "day-to-day gutfeel or experience."
