Firm closures on the rise in Metro

Metro Manila apparently carried the heaviest burden of the economic crisis in the country for the past three years.

Records from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) showed that there is a continued rise in the number of commercial establishments closing shop in the metropolis.

Based on data from the DOLE-Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES), economic problems forced 2,130 commercial firms in the National Capital Region to close shop in 2002, resulting in the retrenchment of 44,949 workers.

The figure was almost double the number of recorded closures in Metro Manila in 2000, which only reached 1,317 and displaced some 37,109 workers. In 2001, there were 1,719 firms that were shut down and 39,086 workers were laid off.

The closures in Metro Manila accounted for more than half of the total number of commercial firms that stopped operations and retrenched workers due to economic reasons nationwide.

From 2000 to 2002, a total of 219,579 workers were reportedly displaced following the closures of 8,520 commercial establishments nationwide.

Other regions with high percentage of firm closures and retrenchment during the three-year period were Southern Mindanao and Southern Tagalog.