DTI: Maintain work from home setup, if possible 

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is still encouraging businesses to implement a work-from-home setup for workers despite allowing several businesses in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) to operate at 100 percent capacity.

“Isa pong paalala na allowed pa rin at ine-encourage in fact ang work from home. So ang importante lang po ay tuloy ang sweldo ng workers na ito kahit nagtatrabaho sa bahay,” Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said in an interview on ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo on Monday.

(We just want to remind everyone that work-from-home setup is still allowed and is being encouraged. What’s important is the employees still get paid even if they work from home.)

“Sa mga binuksan natin, karamihan dito ‘yung mga services, ‘yung mga architecture, IT, engineering services, legal, accounting, mga programming. Ang mga magbubukas lang po diyan, ‘yung talagang physical siguro, ‘yung mga retail, wholesale trade, repair, ‘yung mga tindahan sa mall, pero syempre ‘yung pwedeng work from home, work from home din sila,” he added.

(From the businesses we reopened, most of these are services like architecture, IT, engineering, legal, accounting, programming. Those that will physically open most likely are retail, wholesale trade, and repair businesses, and shops in malls, but those that can still work from home, they are encouraged to still work from home.)

In a memorandum issued October 2, the DTI said business establishments or activities under Categories II and III in areas under GCQ are now allowed to operate at full capacity, as the government further reopens the COVID-19 pandemic-hit economy.

Meanwhile, barbershops and salons were allowed to operate up to 75 percent capacity.