Lure investors, generate jobs
Speaker Velasco says agri, manufacturing need boost
More foreign investments, particularly in the field of agriculture and manufacturing, must come in to create additional employment opportunities.
Business regulations should also be relaxed in order to attract more business enterprises to come to the country, House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco said.
One of the most crippling structural weaknesses in the Philippine economy is the underperformance of the two sectors, Velasco noted.
“We sorely need investments in these sectors — massive and sufficient — to generate and sustain employment,” he said during a recent online forum.
Velasco said the situation is amplified by the rising number of overseas Filipino workers ( OFW) who returned after being laid off due to the coronavirus pandemic only to find similar limited sources of income.
To address the factors that may have hindered the success of certain industries, Velasco said the House of Representatives are pushing for several bills, like the Coconut Trust Fund bill, National Land Use Act and revisions to the Build- Operate- Transfer and the Contractor’s License laws.
At least 7,000 job vacancies are available in the government through the Civil Service Commission.
The Rural and Fisheries Development Financing System Act is also on third reading while Velasco is open to amendments that will relax the restrictive provisions of the existing laws for foreign capital.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) earlier said unemployment rate in the country eased to 8.7 percent in October, down from the previous months’ 10 percent.
Still, about 14.4 percent of Filipinos are seeking jobs as more were laid off due to businesses severely
affected by the pandemic.
Surveys indicated the average jobless rate for 2020 was 10.4 percent, or 4.5 million people, the highest since 2005 according to the PSA.
The October data, equivalent to 3.8 million jobless individuals, was almost twice the 4.6 percent in the same period last year but below the record 17.6 percent in April.
Measure of success
Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said critics should acknowledge that there is a decline in unemployment rate.
In his online program “Counterpoint,” Panelo said he is hopeful “unemployment rate will further decrease.”
“As usual, critics of the government are again complaining,” he said, referring to a labor group which accused the Duterte administration of failure to address the effects of the pandemic.
“Compared to the last quarter, the unemployment is lower than 2.7 million. You know if you want to blame the government, you will always find faults against the administration. The fact remains that there is a decline and many are able to return to work. This is simple common sense,” he added.
At the same time, Panelo said that at least 7,000 job vacancies are available in the government and can be viewed through the official website of the Civil Service Commission (CSC).
“We have many job vacancies at the CSC job portal website. Just visit the website. Thousands of positions are available. Just go to www.csc. gov.ph/career to see the available positions,” he said.
Job openings include the salary grade, qualifications and instructions on how to apply for the position.
“Can you imagine 7,000 positions as of September? The number of vacant positions are even higher since it is already December,” he said.
DoLE assistance
In Central Luzon, 31,956 displaced workers were given emergency employment by the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), part of the agency’s thrust to mitigate the effects of the pandemic.
DoLE regional director Maria Zenaida Angara- Campita said Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa ating Displaced/Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD) aims to provide alternative means of earning money for displaced, seasonal, underemployed, and other marginalized individuals.
Aside from providing employment, TUPAD gives assistance to informal sector workers who either lost their jobs or were adversely affected by the implementation of community quarantines.
Work usually involves disinfecting houses and villages, paid for by government funds.
Currently, there are 4,320 beneficiaries from Aurora, 2,968 from Bataan, 5,693 from Bulacan, 4,351 from Nueva Ecija, 7,169 from Pampanga, 5,797 from Tarlac and 1,657 from Zambales.
The qualified beneficiaries work four hours a day for 10 days and receive P420 daily wage, the minimum pay in the region. Salaries are paid personally or through money remittance centers.
The provision for financial assistance is part of the Social Amelioration Program section of the Republic Act 11469, or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act.