Philippine Trade and Labor officials over the weekend delivered an interesting message to the private sector regarding the country’s response to the novel coronavirus pandemic: It’s your problem, not ours.
On Saturday, Joint Memorandum Circular 20-04 issued by the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) went into effect, mandating a long list of pandemic management procedures for businesses that wish to attempt to operate in the Philippines. In the interest of minimizing confusion, I’ll summarize them in list form: