Government Not Doing Enough To Generate Jobs

Students who are graduating from college and technical-vocational trainings at the end of this school year will continue to face difficulty in finding jobs – the same problems faced by many Filipinos who entered the workforce in past years.

Bangon Pilipinas lone senatorial candidate Eddie Villanueva on Thursday said this problem stems from the government’s failure to create enough jobs that can accommodate new entrants to the workforce every year, and the lack of effective measures being done to narrow the skills-jobs mismatch.“Every year, our fresh graduates face the same problems. Sadly, the government is making very limited progress in creating an environment that will encourage the creation of local jobs,” Villanueva said.

The senatorial candidate cited findings in the Second Anniversary Assessment of the Arangkada Philippines Forum – a joint project by the joint foreign chambers of the Philippines – that the economy is not creating enough high quality jobs for an average of 846,000 Filipinos who join the workforce every year.The report stated that the lack of local jobs is a reason why the Philippines has the highest brain drain among ASEAN-6 countries, with 2012 local unemployment rate at 7.2%, and underemployment at 18.8%, according to the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB).

Ordinary Filipinos not feeling strong economy
Villanueva said these findings puts into context the economic achievements being touted by the government, saying the high unemployment and underemployment levels indicate that ordinary Filipino families are not feeling the benefits of a stronger economy.

“While we recognize the advances made on investments, infrastructure development, and the economy in general, we should continue to ask this question: Where are the people, especially the sagigilid, in the bigger scheme of things? How do we know if these investments are really helping our people? Because the so-called progress does seem to be reaching everyone,” Villanueva said.“In order to be really inclusive, people should be the starting point in any discussion on economic development.”

Villanueva said this should serve as another wake-up call for the government to revise school curriculum to develop graduates with solid skills that are highly in demand in high-growth sectors such as in agribusiness, information technology , and entrepreneurship.Reforms in the Philippine educational sector is one of the three pillars of Villanueva’s 3Es platform – Ekonomiyang Agresibo’t Walang Napag-iiwanan, Edukasyon na Napapanahon, at Entre-Pinoy na Masang Pilipino ang Nangunguna at Nakikinabang. The 3Es is focused on ensuring that marginalized sectors – or the “sagigilids” – will not be left out of the country’s development.

“We need a curriculum that emphasizes subjects and skills that are highly-demanded by the labor market, while ensuring students’ mastery of core subjects such as English, Science, Mathematics, Philippine History and Active Citizenship, and the Arts that are needed to develop necessary cognitive skills for global and creative thinking,” Villanueva said.“The government should mold our educational system into an institution that plays a key role in pushing the country’s productivity by leading research and development initiatives in key sectors such as agriculture, agro-tourism, entrepreneurship, and science and technology.”

As part of his campaign platform, Villanueva also proposes the establishment of Community Entrepreneurial High Schools to encourage a thriving micro-, small- and medium-enterprises that can open up more jobs for Filipino workers and professionals.