Growing Unemployment in Philipines

Manila - The economic crisis is hitting the Philippines and countries in the developing world with unemployment. Nevertheless, there are weak signs of recovery in agriculture. These are the findings from a study of theAsian Development Bank (ADB), which considers the industry sector most at risk. According to the ADB in the second quarter of 2009 employment in the Philippines fell by 7%, while agriculture grew by 2.6%. This trend is also confirmed by the National Statistics Office - NSO which reported 2.719 million unemployed in the month of October 2009.

This is 191 thousand higher than the 2.525 million unemployed in October 2008. This figure also reflects the damage of typhoons Ketsana and Parma, which between September and October brought the capital, where the large majority of industrial establishments are based, to its knees. "In 2010 the government will create 1.5 million jobs - said Augusto Santos, director of the program for economic planning - they will be concentrated in service industries such as trade, finance and banking industry". For now, the NSO has registered about 944 thousand new jobs in 2009. The goal promised by the government in 2008 was more than 1 million. According to Mgr. Broderick S. Pabillo, auxiliary bishop of Manila, the country's main problem is corruption in high places instead of politics and industry. "The political class - he says – is wasting money that is meant to be spent on socio - economic development projects for the population, using it instead for their own purposes." For the prelate the government should consider the common good and rediscover Christian values even in the economy. "The Church – he says - through Caritas operates numerous projects of micro credit to combat the crisis, which are useful for creating new jobs and helping the poor."

text from: http://www.speroforum.com

Unemployment in the Philippines

According to the National Statistics Office website, unemployed is defined as all persons who are 15 years old and over as of their last birthday and are reported as without work; AND currently available for work; AND seeking work OR not seeking work due to the following valid reasons:
1.) Tired/believed no work available
2.) Awaiting results of previous job application
3.) Temporary illness/disability
4.) Bad Weather
5.) Waiting for rehire/job recall

It is very alarming to note that the incidence of underemployment went up to 21.3 percent in January 2006 from 16.1 percent a year ago.
I remember what the news was saying, that the reason why too many Filipinos remain unemployed is that they are too picky in choosing their jobs. The figure about underemployment contradicts that! Filipinos are now too complacent to even choose. They have no choice but to compete for what are available. And, the slots are scarce. A little slice of meat for millions of unemployed. Although with this case, no one lured. The government is not the only unit to blame…






Also from the same survey, the agriculture, fishery and forestry sector posted the highest increase in employment at 475 thousand. Employment in this sector grew by 4.2%, from 11.4 million in January 2005 to 11.8 million in January 2006. This may be good news. But, if we dig deeper into the details of the figures, is it not these industries are just “absorbing” what other industries can’t? A great chunk of the underemployed might be slumped into these industries. I heard that in the province, some of the students who graduated from big named and technological institutes have no choice but to be farmers or fishermen just like their parents. There is no other work. I’m not underrating these jobs. I will just have to argue that, again, why train a person for a job that he would never have. It’s a waste of resources!


Let’s just hope for the best.