Aquino faces tough economics test
Friday, 14 May 2010
MANILA, May 13 (AFP): President-elect Benigno Aquino has an economics degree but he will need a lot more than that to solve the problems that have turned workers into the Philippines' most famous export.
Addressing the Filipino diaspora, Aquino made an ambitious promise in his campaign platform that if elected, he would "create jobs at home so that working abroad will be out of choice, not necessity".
An estimated nine million Filipinos-maids, bankers, seamen, doctors, nurses, construction workers, drivers, teachers, cooks, engineers, farmers, musicians, air crew, nightclub hostesses-work overseas.
Accounting for about 10 per cent of the population, overseas workers sent home 17.3 billion dollars in 2009, up 5.6 per cent from a year ago despite the global recession and accounting for 10.8 per cent of gross domestic product.
While acknowledging the economic benefits of having millions of hard- currency earners abroad, Aquino said the exodus caused social problems such as separated families and abuses against workers.
He rejected the promotion of overseas employment as a development strategy and promised to look for "sustainable alternatives" for jobseekers.
It won't be easy to stem the outflow.
With unemployment at 7.3 per cent and underemployment at 19.7 per cent, there are simply not enough domestic jobs in one of Asia's most underachieving economies to go around.
Thousands queue at employment agencies everyday to look for jobs abroad, many going into debt just to pay for recruiters' fees and travel costs.
Addressing the Filipino diaspora, Aquino made an ambitious promise in his campaign platform that if elected, he would "create jobs at home so that working abroad will be out of choice, not necessity".
An estimated nine million Filipinos-maids, bankers, seamen, doctors, nurses, construction workers, drivers, teachers, cooks, engineers, farmers, musicians, air crew, nightclub hostesses-work overseas.
Accounting for about 10 per cent of the population, overseas workers sent home 17.3 billion dollars in 2009, up 5.6 per cent from a year ago despite the global recession and accounting for 10.8 per cent of gross domestic product.
While acknowledging the economic benefits of having millions of hard- currency earners abroad, Aquino said the exodus caused social problems such as separated families and abuses against workers.
He rejected the promotion of overseas employment as a development strategy and promised to look for "sustainable alternatives" for jobseekers.
It won't be easy to stem the outflow.
With unemployment at 7.3 per cent and underemployment at 19.7 per cent, there are simply not enough domestic jobs in one of Asia's most underachieving economies to go around.
Thousands queue at employment agencies everyday to look for jobs abroad, many going into debt just to pay for recruiters' fees and travel costs.