Binay: Gains of Aquino administration not yet felt

VICE President Jejomar Binay admitted Saturday that the government is still trying to attain an inclusive growth, despite the country’s economic gains recorded in the past year.

He said the country is experiencing economic growth yet it failed to trickle down to the poorest of the poor.

“Many are still poor and don’t have jobs. Hunger is also a problem that we have to look into. These are the problems we have to overcome,” said Binay, one of the leaders of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), which is fielding a senatorial slate in the May 13 elections.

To generate more and better employment, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said Sunday it is working on improving business climate and labor regulations.

“The regulatory environment should promote employment creation. It also needs to be responsive to the needs of firms to easily adjust employment requirements according to changes in output markets while still ensuring decent work for those employed,” said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, who is also Neda director-general.

He cited manufacturing, business process outsourcing, tourism and agribusiness as employment-generating sectors that present a good potential for creating high quality jobs, as well as opportunities for innovation and technology spillovers.

“Our initial estimates suggest that $3 billion investments in these sectors will create 621,000 jobs, both directly and indirectly through multiplier effects,” said Balisacan.

On the issue of jobs mismatch, Balisacan said the Commission on Higher Education (Ched) and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) are communicating with colleges and schools to ensure that they produce graduates needed by the economy.

“At the same time, the K to 12 program is meant to ensure that students learn enough basic skills to facilitate the acquisition of advanced skills through training and to support innovative activity,” he said.

On top of the six-year elementary education, students under the K to 12 program will also be required to pass kindergarten under the bill that has yet to be enacted by President Benigno Aquino III.

Secondary education will include four years of junior high school and two years of senior high school. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)