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MANILA – Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers on Wednesday attributed the lower unemployment rate recorded in November to the Marcos administration’s sound economic policies.
“President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his economic team, and their allies in Congress, principally the House of Representatives, are on the right track. The newest data indicated that the economy has created more than 200,000 jobs,” Barbers said in a statement.
The Philippine Statistics Authority on Tuesday reported that the unemployment rate fell to 3.6 percent in November from 4.2 percent in October, or to 1.83 million Filipinos from 2.09 million.
Barbers, chairperson of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, said investments are the principal driver for creating new job and income opportunities for the people.
He said the drop in unemployment gives more impetus to the House initiative to relax the “restrictive” economic provisions of the Constitution “so the country can attract more foreign investments.”
“More foreign investments will mean more jobs, more economic activities and more income for our people,” he said.
He noted that the Charter’s economic provisions restrict foreign capital inflow “because they contain a cap on foreign ownership and investment that cannot be lifted or amended by any law.”
He said this is the reason why constitutional amendments, focused on the economic provisions, are urgently needed.
Recovery
Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva, in another statement, said it is likewise an indication that the economy has recovered from the impacts of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
"The continuous improvement in our unemployment rate is a clear indication that our economy, particularly our labor sector, has fully recovered and that the policies being implemented are working," Villanueva said.
He agreed that more needs to be done as foreign investments, which will result to more jobs, will benefit more Filipinos.
"As our labor market continues to improve and with more job opportunities from foreign investors expected to materialize this year, we need to see a sustained effort to keep our unemployment numbers low and not only during the holiday season," Villanueva explained.
He called for the immediate completion of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 11962 or the Trabaho Para Sa Bayan (TPB) Act, which he said "will ensure that we will have a comprehensive and synergized employment plan that is aligned with our incentive system giving priority to education and training and employment generation."
The TPB Act, principally sponsored and authored by Villanueva, was signed into law on Sept. 27, 2023 to help address low quality jobs, skills mismatch and underemployment, as well as “the need to update the skills of our workers and promote the use of digital technologies particularly for our MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises).”
Heed business sector's call
Senior Deputy Speaker and Pampanga 3rd District Rep. Aurelio Gonzales Jr. on Wednesday urged senators to heed the business community's call to amend the restrictive economic provisions in the 1987 Constitution to create more job and income opportunities for Filipinos.
He said various groups representing the business community, the latest of which is the Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF), support easing constitutional restrictions to attract more foreign investments.
He said attracting more foreign investors is the goal of the House of Representatives in pushing for amending the economic provisions of the Constitution, which restrict the flow of foreign capital into the country.
Gonzales noted that more jobs were created due to the ramping up of investments, which countered unemployment, as made evident in the PSA’s report that the number of jobless Filipinos fell to 1.83 million in November.
“This means that there were an additional 260,000 of our labor force who got themselves employed in jobs created in the economy through investments. We could create more job and income opportunities for our people if we could attract more investments, especially funds from foreign investors,” Gonzales said.
“So we are urging the Senate, which has consistently resisted any form of Charter change, to heed the clamor of the business sector. We can accelerate capital formation and hasten our economic growth for the benefit of our people if we can introduce constitutional reform,” Gonzales added.
Meanwhile, Senator Robin Padilla said he will support amending the 1987 Constitution through a people's initiative provided that this is truly the voice of the people.
“People's initiative: the voice of the people is the voice of God. We must discuss people's initiative thoroughly. Such a power of the people should not be twisted by some politicians to suit their ambitions," Padilla said in a news release on Wednesday.
Padilla, chairperson of the Senate committee on constitutional amendments and revision of codes, said it is high time to take another look whether to amend the 1987 Constitution. (With reports from Wilnard Bacelonia & Leonel Abasola/PNA)
