Why poor Bicol, Visayan and Mindanao towns are prevented from enjoying Balamban, Cebu’s success
It is sad that poor towns in Bicol and some Visayan islands as well as Mindanao may not be as lucky as Balamban. In my travels to these places, I have seen the magnitude of poverty and the lack of employment opportunities. Unless reforms are introduced, the policy obstacles will bar the opportunities.
Joblessness: new numbers can’t hide painful facts
Is the employment picture truly improving? Has the Aquino administration finally found the winning formula for fixing the Philippines’ joblessness problem? The answer is “no” to both questions.
President Noynoy Aquino: an assessment in midstream
In 2010, Benigno Aquino III was elected president. This was an unforeseen event just a year prior, as he did not seek the office then.
Three years of this presidency have passed, and the fourth of a six-year term is going on. This is the countdown.
Wage policy and labor regulation have produced an army of poor and low productivity workers
A new study that addresses jobs expansion and development strategy was recently completed at the government think tank, PIDS . The study’s findings support many of the points that I have been saying for ages about the ill effects on employment and on our development performance!
Can the Aquino administration transform itself overnight?
The revision of the PDP is an implicit admission by Mr. Aquino and his Cabinet that the old PDP was not clicking. Despite the economic growth of 6.8% in 2012 and 7.2% in 2013, the island republic’s unemployment rate continued to rise and more Filipinos became poor.
College-trained unemployed workers deserve attention too
The severity of joblessness in the country should be a grim reminder for policy makers that all’s not well in the economy. One gets the uneasy feeling that things are not benefiting a great number of Filipinos, that many are left behind in the growth process.
Future of the 2014 graduating class: bright or bleak?
The unemployment rate in January 2014 is inconsistent with the picture of a growing economy. The rate of joblessness has bounced back to 7.5%; yet even this number understates the gravity of the unemployment problem.
Intergenerational poverty and joblessness
Perennially bugging the national leadership and society at-large has been persisting poverty even during periods of economic growth appreciably higher than its long-term norm. It is intimately linked to joblessness which the Social Weather Stations (SWS) latest survey reported last February 11 at 25.2 percent for 2013.
Growth, joblessness and poverty
The Philippines’ above normal growth during the last two years has been the highest in ASEAN-5. Yet it, too, has the highest unemployment rate and poverty incidence. With its economic expansion showing some sign of weakness, what kind of future can Filipinos expect?
Reforming labor policies
A major challenge for development policy is to provide more jobs, especially to the poor and the young entrants to the labor force. Job creation in the country is a festering problem, and it needs to move at a faster pace. The escape from poverty begins with a good job.
How misdirected labor policies led to high unemployment and underemployment
Labor policies have muddied the road toward progress in improving wages and living standards for all workers. As a result, the escape from poverty has become more difficult.
Shocks to Philippine households: Incidence, idiosyncrasy and impact
[With Carlos Antonio Tan, Jr.] Using a nationally representative sample of households, we assess the overall incidence of different shocks, the extent to which they simultaneously affect households in the same area, and their impact.
