JOBS, JOBS, JOBS. Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez delivers his message during the 120th Labor Day Trabaho, Negosyo, Kabuhayan Job and Business fair in San Fernando, Pampanga on Sunday (May 1, 2022). He vowed that the Department of Trade and Industry would continue to attract more investments into the country to create more jobs for Filipinos. (Screenshot from DOLE Facebook page's livestream)
MANILA – Both public and private sectors have committed to continue creating more jobs for Filipinos as the country recovers from the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
During the 120th Labor Day Trabaho, Negosyo, Kabuhayan Job and Business fair in Pampanga on Sunday, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez said foreign direct investments (FDIs) that the Philippines secured last year would generate more employment.
The Philippines logged its highest FDI net inflows last year amounting to USD10.52 billion. This has leapfrogged the country from ranking sixth to fourth spot in Southeast Asia with largest FDI.
Lopez added the annual average of FDI net inflows during the Duterte administration grew three times to USD9.1 billion compared to the previous administration’s annual average of USD3.5 billion.
“Ang ibig sabihin noon, ‘yang malaking investments na ‘yan nagta-translate sa trabaho. Nakita naman natin kung paano mabilis na maka-recover (It only means that those big investments will be translated into jobs. We have seen how fast we have recovered),” the trade chief said.
He added with policy measures of the government amid the global health and economic crisis, the administration is successful in saving lives, jobs, and livelihood in the country.
Lopez also urged Filipinos, especially workers who are now out of their homes and facing the new normal, to get their booster shots to avoid another surge in Covid-19 cases.
Early last year, the government launched the National Employment Recovery Strategy (NERS), responsible for stimulating jobs creation amid the adverse impacts of Covid-19 to employment and livelihood.
Beyond 1M jobs
On Labor Day of 2021, the NERS committed to recover 1 million jobs.
Lopez, the co-chair for NERS, said the task force has surpassed this target in the first quarter of 2022.
“My recollection is about 980,000 jobs already created, bulk of which actually are coming from the construction and IT-BPM (information technology and business process management), and now the recovering tourism and the restaurant sectors as we are reopening that particular sector,” he said.
Lopez also cited investment prospects of American companies following the high-level Philippine delegation to the United States last month.
US companies in data centers, renewable energy, battery, electric vehicles, IT-BPM, and telecommunications, among others, are looking into investing in the Philippines, he added.
With the economic reforms done during the Duterte administration, Lopez said the Philippines increases its ability to attract more foreign investors and create more jobs for Filipinos.
“With this move, we will be able to again attract more investors and jobs,” he said during the Labor Day event.
For the part of the private sector, Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. said the business community vows to generate more employment to sustain economic recovery.
“The Employers Confederation of the Philippines affirms the commitment of the business sector to be at the forefront of creating and providing employment to the Filipino workforce. The project will now be called ‘Beyond 1 Million Jobs: Create, Sustain, Transform’,” Ortiz-Luis said.
He added the business sector has contributed 600,000 jobs as of end-2021in the 1 million jobs recovery target of the task force. (PNA)
