950,000 RP jobs lost due to global crisis—ADB

Says meltdown had little effect on Philippines

MANILA, Philippines—The global financial meltdown resulted in the loss of 950,000 jobs in the country between October 2008 and March 2009, the Asian Development Bank said in the paper, “How has Asia fared in the global crisis? A tale of three countries: Republic of Korea, Philippines, and Thailand.”

The labor department disputed the number and cited the Labor Force Survey (LFS) of the National Statistics Office (NSO) which showed that the number of employed persons rose by 1.458 million from 33.535 million in April 2008 to 35 million in April 2009, decreasing the unemployment rate from 8 percent to 7.5 percent.

Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said the ADB estimate of 950,000 job losses is not supported by the LFS data, which is the official source of statistics on labor and employment in the Philippines.

Nevertheless, both the ADB and the labor department observed that the crisis had little impact on the Philippine employment situation.

“In general, the global crisis had relatively little impact on economic growth and employment in the Philippines. Unlike Thailand, the global crisis has no significant impact on employment by working status in the Philippines,” the paper said.

Noting a significant increase in agricultural employment in April 2009, the ADB paper said “the current crisis has had little impact on the unemployment rate in the Philippines.”

Echoing the paper’s observations, the labor chief said the crisis had such a minimal impact on the Philippine labor situation because of government focus on helping the economy and the Filipino workers, particularly the vulnerable ones, cope with the worldwide recession.

Roque said the government’s pump-priming measures “have tremendously buttressed the country’s capability to cope with the adverse effects of the global crisis.”

Both the ADB paper and the labor chief listed these measures to include investments in public infrastructure projects coupled with the implementation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Comprehensive Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program (CLEEP) and the labor department’s job preservation efforts.

CLEEP, as its name suggests, seeks to provide emergency employment, funding, and livelihood assistance to affected workers.

The labor department, on the other hand, issued guidelines on flexible work arrangements to avoid layoffs in firms affected by the crisis. It also released a registry of skills, set up a hotline that addresses concerns of displaced workers, and provided training, livelihood assistance, job placement referral services and reintegration programs for returning overseas Filipino workers. –Veronica Uy, INQUIRER.net