Substantial ayuda seen to fix labor market woes

MANILA, Philippines — The government should provide substantial cash assistance to poor Filipinos and distressed businesses if it really wants to solve the worsening condition of the country’s job market.

Research and advocacy group IBON Foundation said the government should act with urgency in fixing the worsening joblessness among workers.

This after unemployment spiked to 8.1 percent in August due to the third round of enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila and other provinces.

IBON argued that the latest labor force survey should serve as a wake-up call to move and undertake stimulus measures through financial assistance.

“To restore lost jobs and diminished livelihoods, the government can give substantial ayuda and small business and production support through the immediate passage of a pandemic stimulus package,” IBON said.

This can be done through the passage of the Bayanihan 3. IBON said this would spur domestic demand and give businesses the drive to stay the course.

The group maintained that the stubbornly high unemployment and underemployment should force the government to spend much more on COVID response, including in the nationaI budget for 2022.

“The already precarious jobs situation will worsen if the administration keeps up its poor COVID-19 response, destructive lockdowns, and stinginess in giving ayuda and support to distressed firms,” IBON said.

“The damage can be mitigated if the government takes immediate and effective action. It can protect jobs by ensuring proper containment of the pandemic instead of endless and irrational lockdowns,” it said.

While the government has been parading its job generation over the past months, IBON noted that employment is disproportionately made up of Filipinos making a living through informal work.

Unfortunately, the informal sector, which consists of independent, self-employed small-scale producers and distributors of goods and services, are not covered by the country’s labor laws and regulations, less likely to have access to social protection and are more at risk during a crisis.