PNoy wants economic growth to generate employment — Baldoz

Make the country's long-term economic plan generate employment in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors, the President has ordered Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz. In a briefing with reporters on Wednesday, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) chief revealed that President Benigno Aquino III has ordered the review of the 2011-2016 Philippine Development Plan (PDP) in their attempt to make employment a key driver of growth. The PDP is basically the government's economic blueprint for multi-sectoral development. This after the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) released their latest survey which said that poverty incidence has remained unchanged since 2006, despite robust economic growth and historic gains in the stock market. "On the long term, we are reviewing the PDP. Nagbigay na ng instructions si presidente na employment is central to it," Baldoz said. "Ayaw na niya 'yung may 6.6 percent growth tapos walang employment," she added. GMA News Online tried to contact deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte, but as of posting time she has yet to respond. According to the National Economic and Development Authority's Socioeconomic Report 2011-2012, the service sector is the leading sector, employing more than a half of the country's total employed. The industry sector took less than one-sixth of the labor force, while agriculture, fishery and forestry employ roughly one-third in total. The gross domestic product grew 6.6 percent in 2012, beating market expectations, on the back of a robust services sector led by the services, trade, real estate and construction sectors. But the growth in services is driven by overseas remittances only, when it should have come from the agriculture and manufacturing sectors, Baldoz said. She added that growth mainly came from consumer spending, particularly buoyed by OFW remittances which grew to $1.855 billion in January, up 8.4 percent from a year ago. "Pagdating sa consumer-led growth, OFW remittances 'yan karamihan, so dapat talaga manufacturing at agriculture," she said. Household consumption and public spending provided a springboard for "the healthy growth of the economy in the fourth quarter and the whole year of 2012," the NSCB said in a statement. While household consumption grew by a slower 6.1 percent from 6.3 percent, government spending grew 11.8 percent from 1.0 percent. "The government believes that growth should come from the agriculture and manufacturing sectors. We should invest more on education and health," she said. Professor Rene Ofreneo of the University of the Philippines' School of Labor and Industrial Relations earlier said agriculture and industry are the "real sectors." "We have to remind them that the industry and agriculture … are the real sectors. We cannot just rely on services, overseas labor markets, and call centers. We need all the mobilization of the economy,” Ofreneo said, noting that most jobs came from business process outsourcing and overseas services. Last Tuesday, the NSCB said the ratio of poor Filipinos to the overall population leveled off at 27.9 percent during the first half of 2012 from 28.6 percent in the same period in 2009. However, compared to the 2006 ratio of 28.8 percent, the NSCB noted there was no statistical difference, meaning that poverty incidence has remained unchanged in six years. — BM, GMA News