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Loss of one million jobs reveals instability of Philippine economyPUBLISHED ON FEBRUARY 22, 2013
By BENJIE OLIVEROS
Bulatlat.com
A Gmanews.tv report revealed
that a million jobs were lost from 2011-2012. The report cited data from the Department
of Labor and Employment showing that the number of employed Filipinos went down
to 37.668 million in October 2012 from 38.55 million in October 2011. It also
cited data from the National Statistics Office showing that the number of
unemployed Filipinos went up to 2.7 million from 2.6 million during the same
period.
Well, the difference may be
attributed to the government’s definition of unemployment, which refers only to
those who are actively seeking work or looked for work within the last six months
prior to the survey and are immediately available for work. Those who have
given up looking for work are not considered unemployed.
The situation may even be
worse because the definition of employment also has some loopholes. Considered
as employed are those who have worked even for one hour with pay during the
reference period and those who have worked without pay who are classified as
unpaid family work. Also considered as employed are “own account workers,”
which include street hawkers, who, time and again, have to run from the police
and demolition crews of the MetroManila Development .
Ibon Foundation estimates
the number of unemployed in 2012 to 4.422 million. If we consider the number of
underemployed, which is at 7.16 million, then the problem is even far worse
than is officially reported.
It is thus, safe to conclude
that the loss of one million jobs is even understated. This dampens the boast
that the Philippine economy is doing well with its 6.6 percent growth rate in
2012.
Professor Rene Ofreneo of
the UP School of Labor and Industrial Relations, who was interviewed by Marc
Jayson Cayabyab of gmanews.tv in its report, hit the nail in the head when he
pointed out the problem of quality of jobs. “We have to remind them that the industry
and agriculture … are the real sectors. We cannot just rely on services,
overseas labor markets, and call centers. We need all the mobilization of the
economy,” Ofreneo reportedly said.
This is the problem with the
GDP growth last year. It is mainly driven by services, specifically
construction both public and private. Construction is seasonal. The
construction industry is vibrant today because of pump priming by the
government and the boom in the construction of condominiums and office spaces
in anticipation of a continuously increasing demand from business process
outsourcing (BPO) companies and their employees and overseas Filipino workers.
SMDC alone seems to be building condominiums everywhere. But this is temporary
because once the sales and occupancy rates of condominiums and office spaces
begin to decline because of market saturation, so will the construction
industry. This is why the Aquino government is banking on public-private
partnership projects. But even these have their limits.
Likewise, the retail
industry is also seasonal. Demand fluctuates according to the months of the
year and is dependent on the purchasing power of the people, which is mainly
being propped up also by remittances of OFWs, the shrinking middle class and
BPOs.
Large-scale mining for
export, another industry being courted by the Aquino government, is heavily
dependent on foreign capital and on the demands in the world market. In this
period of crisis, the demand for minerals that are necessary for production is
expectedly low. And open pit mining, which most big mining companies use, is
not as labor intensive as tunnel or underground mining, and therefore employs
less workers – aside from the fact that it leaves a permanent damage on the
environment.
Industry and agriculture are
indeed the real sectors. These provide the stable foundation for the economy. A
national industry and agriculture that are geared toward, first and foremost,
providing for the needs of the domestic economy – and not mainly for export,
which goes up and down according to the boom and bust of the world economy –
could create stability in the economy while providing long-term, stable
employment. To complement these, secure jobs with living wages should be
generated and a genuine agrarian reform program should be implemented to
increase the purchasing power of the Filipino people. In these times when the
world economic crisis is becoming increasingly more virulent, this may be the
only way for the economy to move forward.
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Reaction/Suggestion:
by: Clarese Mae D. Tamesis
I really got attracted when
I first saw the article I posted earlier which is wriiten by Benjie Oliveros.
The article's main idea talks about the rising unemployment rate in the
Philippines which reveals the instability of its economy. It made me remind of
the discussions that my professor had during our Economics class. There are
such impacts on me that the article narrates.
First, rising unemployment
rate is one of the two recession indicators. Does it mean that the Philippnes
has the probability of experiencing recession when time comes? Well, maybe
there is! We can never really give the exact measure of unemployment on what we
want to. It is difficult to distinguish a person who is employed and a person
who is unemployed because others may claim to be unemployed in order for them
to get the assisstance that the government gives financially to those persons
who are unemployed.
Second, the sectors that I
often neglected such as agriculture and industry is the one who is really the
real sector. It is because it contributed to the different levels found in our
economy from growers to harvesters to processors to sellers while minimizing
the downsides.
Third, there can be
financial stability in our economy if we address unemployment. According to
William Spaulding, financial stability is important because financial
intermediation is what brings borrowers and lenders together, or investors and
businesses. If financial institutions are not stable, then neither people nor
businesses will rely on them, and without them, economic growth and efficiency
will decline dramatically.
I just would like to suggest
that in order to have a stabilized economy, we should start within ourselves.
It is because I belive that everything is rooted in us, people/citizens.
