High jobless rate reflects low public confidence in pandemic efforts – FINEX president enablePagination: false endIndex: Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 9) — Despite attempts to expand economic activities, the number of jobless Filipinos will remain high if the public does not trust the government's ability to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, the head of a business group said on Tuesday. Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines President Francis Lim said low public confidence in authorities' anti-coronavirus efforts translates to grim employment figures. "Because even if you open the restaurants, the malls, the public transport, if the public does not have confidence in our ability to contain COVID-19, they won't go out," he told CNN Philippines' News Night.