Contrary to Vice-President Noli de Castro’s assertion that the growing number of Filipinos employed abroad was proof of an economic boom – an alliance of overseas Filipino groups said the rising number of OFWs underline a worsening Philippine economy.
“VP de Castro is sorely mistaken. OFWs are forced to seek work overseas precisely because there are no jobs here for them. They represent the thousands of unemployed and underemployed. They testify to the government’s failure to provide decent livelihood for the people,†says Connie Bragas-Regalado, Migrante International Chairperson.
Official first quarter employment data shows the number of jobless workers grew by 13,000 and reached 2.9 million last January. Underemployment also rose by 442,000 to 7.2 million.
Citing an IBON report, Bragas-Regalado added that Arroyo’s boast of creating more jobs is also misleading because the majority of these so-called jobs were among the lowest earning or outrightly non-paying ones. IBON figures state that around 673,000 or more than half of the net increase in jobs of one million in April 2007 from last year are in unpaid family work (524,000) and in domestic household help (147,000). There were also 105,000 jobs lost in the manufacturing sector in April 2007 from the same period last year.
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Topic: Rising Number of Overseas Filipino Workers: What Does It Mean? (Read 1243 times)