Too few for too many, or why Filipinos have to work abroad

The Philippine dependency ratio is a nightmare.

At 61.66 percent, it means too few Filipinos are expected to support too many.

That is, those considered employable (ages 15 to 64 years old) are expected to support too many infants, children and the elderly.

Consider the healthcare requirements of the dependent population and one can imagine the overwrought burdens that every employable Filipino has to shoulder.

Consider the level of unemployment, and one would see that this dependency ratio translates into a nightmare of a situation.

This can explain why—for the ordinary Filipino—overseas employment is the only answer to the burdens of supporting too many children, parents and unemployed relatives.

Youth unemployment is at the alarming rate of 28.26 percent (for the population between 15 and 25 years of age), and that means our young people, including our graduates, are not finding enough jobs.

This is the population group that can be exploited by social destabilizers in other countries, such as cultural or religious militants and hate crime groups. They are the most vulnerable to the influence of illegal drug syndicates, prostitution rings and petty crimes.

The dependency ratio is included in the findings of the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2009 released this week by the International Institute for Management Development and the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Policy Center.

Suggestions

In education, the Philippines has the worst pupil-teacher ratio for secondary education in Asia.

Together with Indonesia, this country has the worst rate of secondary school enrolment also for the same region. It has the second-worst pupil-teacher ratio for primary education in Asia, besting only India.

The Philippines received the lowest score (4.13) in response to the proposition that “Science in schools is sufficiently emphasized.” Its score is far lower than China’s (6.11), Indonesia’s (5.44) and Thailand’s (4.61) and half of the score of leader Singapore (8.32).

To the proposition “Basic research does enhance long-term economic development,” the Philippines received the second-lowest score in Asia with 4.38, just a little better than Indonesia (4.00).

In scientific infrastructure, the Philippines ranks 56th (Indonesia ranks last) on research and development expenditure as a percentage of GDP. The government must provide more efficient budget for science and technology and R&D.

Bright spots

But not all is downhill. Executives in the Philippines gave a better score to the proposition “Knowledge transfer is highly developed between companies and universities” compared to the scores of China, Indonesia, Thailand and South Korea.

This means that companies in the Philippines see better value in university education or collaboration relative to what companies in half of Asian countries realize.

Another ray of hope is that the Philippines fared relatively well in the aspect of business efficiency, except for “labor productivity and efficiency” (No. 53).

The AIM Policy Center suggests that, among other things, the high and unmanaged population growth rate must be addressed urgently. Investments must be made in backward regions to generate GDP growth and improve income levels and to encourage out-migration from overpopulated cities.

More investments are needed in basic infrastructure, improve distribution network and improve water transportation for goods. The availability, reliability and reduced cost of energy must be prioritized.

More investments must be made on basic education and recruiting more competent teachers emphasizing the sciences. The quality of scientific and technical knowledge, including computerization of schools, must be encouraged.

The full version of this article can be downloaded from: http://www.policy.aim.edu/downloads/serenoSPC2009.pdf.

(Ma. Lourdes A. Sereno is the Executive Director of the Asian Institute of Management Policy Center.) –Ma. Lourdes A. Sereno, Special To The Manila Times