Review of Related Literature

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease

caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. They range from the common cold

to more severe diseases like Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (World Health Organization,

2021). It is transmitted when one individual talks, sneezes, or

coughs, producing ‘droplets’ of saliva containing the COVID-19

virus. These droplets are inhaled by another person, resulting in

fever, dry cough, fatigue, and shortness of breath (Department of

Health, 2021).

It has spread to over 200 countries since the World Health

Organization (WHO) confirmed the first cases on December 31,

2019. The WHO declared the crisis the first public health

emergency of international concern on January 30, 2020. Later, on

March 11, 2021, COVID-19 was declared a global health pandemic

(Alsharef et al., 2021).

As of October 22, 2021, there have been 242,348,657

confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, including 4,927,723 deaths

reported by the World Health Organization. America has the

largest confirmed cases and deaths, totaling approximately

92,640,794 and 2,272,988, respectively, as of October 18, 2021.

Europe is next, with 74,465,348 confirmed cases and 1,394,726

deaths; South-East Asia 43,722,592 confirmed cases and 686,348

deaths; Eastern Mediterranean 16,200,413 confirmed cases and

298,038 deaths; Africa 9,192,345 confirmed cases and 125,914

deaths; and Western Pacific 9,192,345 confirmed cases and 125,914

deaths (see in Figure 3 and Figure 4).

Figure 1: Global COVID-19 cases as of October 18, 2021

Figure 2: Global COVID-19 deaths as of October 18, 2021

In the Philippines, Department of Health (DOH) stated in

COVID-19 Situation Report #87 that as of 10 October 2021, a total

of 2,666,562 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 39,624 deaths had been

reported. A total of 25% of deaths reported are from NCR,

followed by Central Luzon (13%), CALABARZON (12%), Central

Visayas (10%), and Western Visayas (7%).

Moreover, the Philippines remains in Stage 2, localized

community transmission, with some geographic areas showing higher

transmission intensity and indications of widespread community

transmission. There is ongoing evidence of higher transmission as

shown in Table 1 in (NCR) National Capital Region (18,905 active

cases); CALABARZON (12,444 active cases); and Central Luzon

(9,516 active cases) in which are at Stage 3, large scale

community transmission. Next on the line are Cagayan Valley

(6,484); Western Visayas (5,619); Administrative Region (5,559);

Ilocos Region (5,199); Eastern Visayas (5,037); Davao Region

(4,226); and Central Visayas (3,709).

Table 1: Top regions by Active Cases

1 National Capital Region (NCR) 18,905

2 Region IV-A: CALABARZON 12,444
3 Region III: Central Luzon 9,516
4 Region II: Cagayan Valley 6,484
5 Region VI: Western Visayas 5,619
6 Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) 5,559
7 Region I: Ilocos Region 5,199
8 Region VIII: Eastern Visayas 5,037
9 Region XI: Davao Region 4,226
10 Region VII: Central Visayas 3,709

The Philippines' first COVID-19 case was recorded in January

2020, and by March, the country had been placed under a strict

community quarantine, restricting mobility and commercial

activity (Futurelearn, August 2021).

 In the CARAGA region, on April 6, 2020, the DOH - CARAGA

Regional Office, Chairperson of the Regional Inter-Agency Task

Force (RIATF), has confirmed one positive COVID-19 case in the

region particularly in the City of Butuan. For this reason,

Regional Task Force (RTF) for COVID-19 “One CARAGA Shield”

conveyed to declare an Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) over

the entire region, pursuant to Section IV. Declaration of

Enhanced Community Quarantine of RTF for COVID-19 One Caraga

Shield Resolution No. 07, Series of 2020.

As of 17 October 2021, DOH Center Health Development -

CARAGA reported that there are 2,389 active cases and 1,644

deaths due to COVID-19. There are 18 new cases reported in Agusan

del Sur as shown in Table 1.1. Surigao del Sur (12), Cabadbaran

City (11), Butuan City (10), Surigao Del Norte (7), Dinagat

Island (6), Agusan del Norte (6), Surigao City (5), Bislig City

(4), and Tandag City (1).

Table 2: Top provinces with new active cases as of Oct. 17, 2021
1 Agusan del Sur 18
2 Surigao del Sur 12
3 Cabadbaran City 11
4 Butuan City 10
5 Surigao del Norte 7
6 Dinagat Island 6
7 Agusan del Norte 6
8 Surigao City 5
9 Bislig City 4
10 Tandag City 1
 Mofijur (2020) stated that the pandemic has also signifi-

cantly affected the environmental, social domains, and different

sectors of the economy. According to Rume and Islam (2020), the

ecological effect of COVID-19 has brought positive impacts. There

has been a sudden drop in greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions (Hen-

riques, 2020), and during the lockdown period, the primary indus-

trial sources of pollution have shrunk or completely stopped,

which helped reduce the pollution load (Yunus et al., 2020). 

However, on the negative effects, due to the outbreak of

COVID-19, medical waste generation such as biomedical waste gen-

erated from hospitals has increased globally, which is a signifi-

cant threat to public health and the environment (Somani et al.,

2020). Municipal waste increases, both organic and inorganic,

that generates direct and indirect have affected the environment

such as air, water, and soil pollution (Islam et al., 2016). 

When it comes to the social domain, the Department of

Economic and Social Affairs (2020) stated that the COVID-19

outbreak affects all segments of the population, especially that

it is more harmful to individuals such as those living in

poverty, the elderly, people with disabilities, youth, and

indigenous peoples. Early research suggests that the virus's

health and economic consequences are borne disproportionately by

the poor. Homeless persons, for instance, are particularly

vulnerable to the virus because they may not be able to find a

safe place to shelter (United Nations, 2021).

Apart from the widespread health crisis, the COVID-19

pandemic has resulted in a nationwide economic downturn

(Alsharef, 2021). The National Monetary Fund (2020) revealed that

in 2009, due to the economic crisis, the global GDP was only

reduced by 0.1%. However, in 2020, the global economy was reduced

by 3% due to the impact of COVID-19.

Furthermore, a significant economic impact has already

occurred across the globe due to reduced productivity, loss of

life, business closures, trade disruption, and decimation of the

tourism industry (Pak et al., 2020). As reported by the World

Health Organization (WHO), millions of enterprises face an

existential threat. Nearly half of the world's 3.3 billion global

workforces are at risk of losing their livelihoods.

Like other industries, the pandemic has also impacted the

construction industry (Alsharef, 2021). The nature of the effects

of COVID-19 in this industry varied according to the diversity of

its projects. The pandemic raised many challenges at the level of

the workforce, low or halting productivity, production time and

costs, and disputes in contractual formulas for construction

projects (Husien, Borisovich, & Naji, 2021).

According to the Department of Business, Project and

Innovation in the Government of Ireland (2020), construction

industry activities shrunk about 50%. Furthermore, the European

Central Bank's economic forecasts show that the construction

sector will suffer a loss of about 40% due to COVID-19.

Thus, in the study conducted by the International Labor

Organization (ILO) Sectoral Brief (2021), construction

enterprises and workers are particularly vulnerable to the

drastic decline in economic activity resulting from the pandemic

as it is sensitive to economic cycles. For instance, construction

sectors and real estate activities in the Philippines experienced

a high risk of job disruption because of temporary labor shock

due to a sudden switch to work-from-home arrangements.

With the abrupt announcement of a lockdown in Metro Manila,

workers and firms had very little time to anticipate how the

pandemic would radically change the workplace, surfacing

coordination problems as to how work could still be carried out

at home (ILO Philippines, 2021).

Particularly, in Agusan del Sur, the second province in

CARAGA with most construction projects temporarily suspended due

to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, 91% of its operational firms

were temporarily closed (CARAGA Regional Recovery Program, 2021).

Before the pandemic, the construction industry has played an

essential role in any country's national economy and economic

development (Dakhil, 2013). In fact, TechnoFunc (2020) stated

that this industry accounts for more than 10% of global GDP (6-9%
in developed countries) and employs around 7% of the worldwide

workforce.

In developing countries, the construction industry is a

vital sector providing mainly new infrastructure in the form of

roads, railways, airports, and new hospitals, schools, housing,

and other buildings (Khan, 2008).

For instance, in the Philippines, it serves as the vital

sector within its economy, contributing a gross value added of

about 336.19 billion pesos during the fourth quarter of 2020. It

is also the main contributor to the growth of manufacturing,

wholesale, retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and

motorcycles. In fact, in the second quarter of 2021, the

construction industry placed second with 1.7% points as one of

the top contributors to GDP growth (Philippine Statistics

Authority, 2021).

This result is also due to the “Build, Build, Build” program

of President Rodrigo R. Duterte in which the government gross

domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow to 7-7.5 percent by

2022 from a historic high of 5.1 percent of GDP in 2018.

Build, Build, Build is composed of more than 20,000

infrastructure projects nationwide, involving roads, highways,

farm-to-market roads, airports, seaports, terminals, evacuation

centers, lighthouses, hospitals, schools, government centers,

among others (Department of Finance, 2019). Philippine News

Agency stated in their report last June 19, 2021, “A total of 6.5

million workers made Build, Build, Build a reality.”

In Agusan del Sur, construction laborer in this province is

farmers' second livelihood option aside from crop and animal

farming (Austal and Cablinda, 2015). This province is known as

the dual most valuable construction in CARAGA in terms of

building value according to Industry Statistic Division (2020).

Additionally, to deliver excellent project outcomes,

stakeholder engagement increasingly becomes a part of

construction project practice (Bal et al., 2013). However, crises

seem inevitable in projects (Mallak, Kursted & Patzak, 1997).

Thus, Srinivasan & Nandhini (2015) define this as a sudden and

unexpected event that threatens to disrupt an organization's

operations and poses both a financial and a reputational threat.

An example of this is the project delivery crisis, defined

as atypical events that jeopardize fundamental structures and

generate significant uncertainty in the construction industry

(Mhaske and Khandekar, 2016). S H Zamani et al. (2021) classified

this crisis as operational and financial.

An operational crisis is defined by Kostyunina (2018) as a

crisis arising from the execution of a company's business

functions. It is divided by sources caused by poor management

quality, defects in system operation, personnel actions, process

structuring, and force-majeure circumstances.

 Table 3: Sources of Operational Crisis by Kostyunina (2018)

Poor Defects in Personnel Process Force-

Management System Actions Structuring majeure
Quality Operation Circumstance
s
 Decision  Use of  Personnel  Delivery  Floods
error obsolete incompetenc crisis
technologies e  Fires
 Insufficien  Counterparty
cy of data  Insufficient  Operating crisis  Terrorism
involved system errors
reliability  Insufficient
process
control

Gibor & IL (2021) noted a considerable volume of

construction waste due to poor management quality. This

conclusion was supported by Giang and Pheng (2011), who revealed

that 38% of construction management professionals have poor

practices.

This analysis revealed that most operational crisis are

invariably linked to human activities. For example, due to

personal errors, direct and indirect losses (damages) arise

concerning compliance with internal regulations and procedures,

decision errors, theft, misuse, as well as insufficient

competence of personnel.

Contrarily, Reinhart and Rogoff (2009) defined the financial

crisis as an equal opportunity menace. According to Alsharef et

al., (2021), it can be classified as price escalation, additional

cost, loss of revenue and payment delays. They come in different

shapes and sizes, evolve into various forms, and rapidly spread

across borders (Claessens and Kose, 2013).

Delivering successful projects is a very important factor to

support the growth of a nation. It can be asserted that the

context of a project and the circumstances surrounding it have

significant impact upon the outcome of that project (PIPC, 2005).

However, it can be affected by project delivery crises which

occur periodically or suddenly (Mhaske and Khandekar, 2016).

Such companies in the pursuit of an innovative project

delivery crisis management approach should be ready against any

types of crises. Crisis management can be defined as the process

of the identification of the prudential problems and danger

factors (Yamamoto1 and Şekeroğlu, 2011).

Crisis management is an organization's strategy for

responding to crises. Crisis management is vital to completing

projects on time (Rajprasad et al., 2018). It illustrates how

crisis management should be conducted in the event of a problem

in a construction project. This practice investigates the nature

of crises and their resolutions that have harmed a multinational

construction firm's business.

The nature of these crises has been defined and how they

have been addressed. Supplier relationships, design and

technology concerns, price increases, a shortage of human

resources, and environmental considerations are just a few of the

critical factors to consider while undertaking a construction

project, according to Srinivasan (2015).

Both harsh and compounding effects were discovered in an

investigation of a multinational construction business conducted

as part of a project as practice, notwithstanding the company's

risk management strategy as documented in the literature.

In times of crisis, the crisis management team must view

situations objectively, anticipate risk, and make swift judgments

(Hinterhuber and Propp, 1992). Additionally, top management or

crisis management team members should determine the approach,

define the objectives, and initiate the change.

Otherwise, the organization's continuity will be

jeopardized, and the firm may be forced to cease operations

(Türk, 1995). However, it has been demonstrated that efficient

crisis management enables the business to recover more quickly

and achieve more effective outcomes from crises (Yamamoto &

Ekerolu, 2011).

As the COVID-19 had arisen into our global area that had

affected the construction industry, including building projects,

Karimi stated that there have been fewer job openings, partly due

to work disruptions caused by restrictions imposed to slow the

spread of the virus, and a scarcity of personal protective

equipment (PPE) caused by the greater demand for it among

healthcare workers.
 This industry has always had a labor shortage, but the

pandemic has exacerbated it because a substantial percentage of

its workers have apparently tested positive for the coronavirus.

That’s why Penaloza (2020) concluded that the construction

industry was one of the first to be affected by COVID-19, and

workers have been exposed to a higher risk of exposure.

As management tries to adjust to new ways of working,

projects have been interrupted, delayed, or changed, and new

works have been postponed. Workers have had to conform to social

distance standards, follow the most up-to-date sanitation and

personal protective equipment policies, and, if possible, use

technology to complete work remotely (Woolley, 2020).

In the Philippines, the quantity and value of building

projects fell by more than a fifth in the first quarter of 2020,

as construction in Luzon was halted at the end of March, and much

of the country was placed under COVID-19 lockdown (Ben de Vera,

2021).

Based on building licenses approved from January to March

2020, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said that

development projects declined 22.4 percent to 30,838 from 39,762

in 2020. As of end-March, 37,256 residential, non-residential,

addition, alteration, and repair construction work were

registered, down from 37,256 a quarter ago.

 As COVID-19 cases continue to climb, industry insiders

anticipate the slowdown in construction projects will be

prolonged until year end by the ongoing quarantine restrictions,

which are less harsh than those enforced during the peak of the

lockdown from mid-March to May. Currently, construction workers'

mobility is still restricted, as is the movement of construction

materials.

As a result, sales and forecasts have plummeted, and

unemployment has risen. Despite the fact that the government has

boosted the construction industry, it is still a long way from

recovering the economy in the face of rising unemployment (Ben de

Vera, 2021).

According to Hertel et al. (2020), the COVID-19 pandemic

necessitates additional resources because it represents a new

type of disaster for everyone. The pandemic needs crisis

management teams, particularly the government, to adjust rapidly

and precisely to constant changes. The government, emergency

response teams, logistics, and supply chain management all lack

operational and training capabilities for long-term emergencies

such as COVID-19 (Christensen & Lgreid, 2020). COVID-19 has

developed into a problem in the majority of countries, including

the Philippines.

Furthermore, Lenari (2021) stated that the COVID-19 epidemic

emphasized the importance of collaboration with other countries,

particularly in sharing ideas. Before the pandemic, Europe had

already established a Disaster Risk Management Knowledge Center

where all data, research, and networking took place to prepare

their citizens before anything became out of control. He also

stated that technology had a crucial role in preventing the

spread of COVID-19.

In 2021, the IOM UN Migration, developed a Crisis Response

Plan for the Philippines. Their objectives are to save lives,

assist, educate, and prepare the populace, as well as to limit

Filipinos' hazards. They require a total of $23,900,000 in

funding and are targeting 215,000 persons by February 2021.

Psychosocial assistance, sanitation, shelter, health, and mental

health are all included in the planned response (International

Organization for Migration Philippines, 2021).

Abrar et al., (2021), assessed the impact of COVID-19 on the

construction industry and presented a methodology for crisis

management in the sector. Physical separation, a one-worker, one-

task policy, monitoring through technology, scheduling,

administrative procedures, on-site worker education and

tutorials, engineering controls, sanitation and hygiene, and

tools and equipment were recognized as changes in construction

techniques.

To achieve tight social isolation, construction workers

should be carried to the site in only half full buses. The one-
worker, one-task policy should be implemented to minimize worker

contact. If management cannot restrict the one worker, one task

policy, further personal protection equipment and procedures

should be implemented.

With technological advancements, on-site construction may be

continuously watched to verify that safety standards are

followed. CCTV cameras, drones, and security software such as

Vinnie AI Interface are just a few of the advantages that

technology has brought to this pandemic.

While scheduling activities in shifts may extend the

duration of the project, it may also assist limit the number of

workers on-site and contact between workers. The number of people

entering and exiting the facility should be watched, as they may

come into touch with potentially infected individuals.

The paradigm provided by Abrar et al. is represented by a

matrix in which the rows represent operational and strategic

activities, and the columns represent the crisis management

status. The matrix's objectives and status are displayed and

whether they have been accomplished or not (see in Figure 3).

Figure 3. Proposed framework for crises management in the
construction sector (Abrar, et al., 2021)