Ka Leody: Boost manufacturing instead of importing to create more jobs, make own products

Presidential candidate Leody De Guzman on Tuesday said that if elected president, he would reopen manufacturing in the Philippines so that the country would make more of its own products, and this would create more jobs as well.

Asked during Go Negosyo's KandidaTalks of his concrete plans to reduce the unemployment rate in the country, the labor leader said that he would allocate P125 billion to support micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that lost their business due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In the long run, gagamitin natin ‘yung mga kapitalista, lalo na diyan sa mga MSMEs, na may puso para sa bayan, hindi lang para sa sarili, doon sa pina-plano namin ni Walden [Bello] na magbukas ulit tayo ng manufacturing at magkaroon tayo ng sarili nating industriya nang sa ganon, tayo na ang gumawa ng mga bagay na kailangan natin sa araw-araw,” he said.

(In the long run, we will use the capitalists, especially in the MSMEs, who have a heart for the country and not just for themselves, to reopen manufacturing to develop our own industries so that we can make the things we need every day on our own.)

“Tayo na gumawa at hindi na natin import-in nang napakahamahal sa abroad. Magke-create ‘yan ng employment,” he added.

(Let's manufacture instead of importing expensively from other counties. That will create employment.)

De Guzman also reiterated that his plan to reduce the number of work hours without a wage cut would also create more jobs.

“Tayo ay may 45 o 42 million na nagta-trabaho ngayon. Bawasan mo ng tig-i-isang oras ‘yan, automatic makapagke-create tayo ng six million jobs,” he said.

(We have 42 to 45 million workers today. By reducing their working hours by one hour, we can automatically create six million jobs.)

Another solution, he said, is adding more personnel in schools and hospitals to help the teachers and health workers with their other duties and reduce their workload.

Further, De Guzman said that his administration would also focus on building houses for 6.5 million underprivileged people.

De Guzman is known for his pro-poor and pro-workers stances, vowing that his administration would focus on policies on labor and not on business to help regular workers. — BM, GMA News