What’s the government doing about massive unemployment?

The greatest exploiter and oppressor of labor is unemployment. I remember these words spoken before the ILO conference in Geneva by my late mentor, the great Blas F. Ople. I was there. Today's DOLE officials seem to have forgotten.

More than 15 million Filipinos are considered poorest of the poor because they are unemployed, and much more are underemployed. Their joblessness is largely due to being unskilled, uneducated, and nobody in government is helping improve their conditions. Even the skilled and schooled ones do not have jobs here. In their hopelessness, they became involved in the drug trade, because drug syndicates offer them immediate solution. Others have turned into jueteng and prostitution — ways they figure out to earn money to save their families from starvation.

One doesn’t have to be a genius to think that the long-term solution is job and livelihood. Doctorate or masters degree is not needed to figure out that what the people need are jobs, jobs, jobs; more than the country needs ''Build, Build, Build." More than 5,000 Filipinos are leaving every day to work in the Middle East, not afraid to accept and suffer in dirty, difficult, and dangerous jobs. Migration is destroying our country. Families are shattered; marriages are broken. Children of OFWs have turned to drugs, teenage pregnancies, alcohol abuse, petty and even large-scale crimes.

People without decent jobs are vulnerable to vultures, exploiters and scams. Unemployment is the greatest oppressor, and the unemployed losing self-confidence and self-esteem. They cannot provide food, shelter and clothing for their loved ones; cannot afford to send their children to schools; and cannot pay for medicines and hospital care for their sick, injured, and aged. They are often thrown out of their homes by their landlords for failure to pay the arrears in rent. The unemployed is the saddest, loneliest, and often angriest people. They’re easily provoked to troubles and conflicts. They have no friends, and relatives abandon them.

Now, what is the government doing to help the jobless and the hopeless? Job fairs cannot solve unemployment or create opportunities. Employers and applicants are bound to meet anyway with or without job fairs. The DOLE cannot solve unemployment by driving foreign investors away with a rampage of hurriedly done, and irrational inspections that often lead to withdrawal from our country by investors.

Mr. President, the greatest challenge to your presidency is unemployment. What are your trusted men in DOLE, TESDA, NEDA and other agencies doing to address joblessness? The people want to know, Mr. President.