Community Responses and Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic 31 ASAMBA residents continue to worry of their health situation that is compounded by the increasing problem of food insecurity, unemployment, lack of livelihood opportunities, and the no-work-no-pay status of the workforce settled here. ASAMBA is home to many workers in the private sector, many of whom also belong to the informal economy. Job displacement, livelihood options for survival “Marami ang nawalan ng trabaho sa ASAMBA. Kailangan ngayon ang diskarteng nanay.” (Many in ASAMBA have lost their jobs. What is needed now is the ingenuity of a mother.), said Ka Linda who herself has started to sell her homemade processed food at her doorstep. ASAMBA residents, like many urban poor, are important players in the urban economy, whether in the formal or informal sector. Working as clerks, company crew, drivers of private business establishments, sellers of multi-level marketing company products (such as cosmetics and skin care), vendors, and domestic helpers, among others, are their common means of livelihood. All these have been disrupted when the government restricted the movement of peoples and temporarily ordered the closure of most business establishments for two to three months (or even longer). Those who were later asked to return to work were only advised to work for only three days a week with a corresponding three-day wage—a drastic cut from their previous wages for five days of work, and therefore means a huge cut as well in their household income. Eddie, who works as a driver, was among those who have been forced to reduce his workdays. He now reports for duty only every other day. To make up for the slack and make both ends meet, he started to run his own food take-out counter in front of his house: “May tindahan na rin ako sa harap ng bahay ko.” (There is now also a store in front of my house.) Given the prolonged quarantine period with no assurance of a recovered economy in the coming months, ASAMBA members started to set up their own livelihood shacks in front of their houses, while others resumed with their paid household work from neighbors (e.g., doing the laundry). “Kahit pabarya-barya lang ang kikitain, okay na” (Even if income is just a pittance, that is fine), explained Ka Linda when she observed that, aside from her, almost all of her neighbors have set up tables in front of their houses to sell cooked food or wet and dry goods. They hope that the meager income from vending can be enough to buy a few kilos of rice. A few have also tried online selling like Mina. Since biking has become the alternative means of transportation, Mina is into online retail of bicycle parts, while her son delivers them to online buyers within their reach. Her only wish is for the country’s trade and industry department to reconsider the proposal to tax small-time