Dominguez explains record spending on PHL human capital

By BusinessMirror, 2 Dec 2019

The Duterte administration’s record spending on human capital development is meant to gear up young Filipinos for the country’s “demographic sweet spot,” Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said.

In a forum, Dominguez challenged the country’s young achievers to use what they have learned in school to either solve real problems that Filipinos experience or bring their skills to the public service rather than just calling out errors, or wrongdoings they see, or read in social media to be able to claim how socially aware they have become.

“No matter how many likes or hearts your last post received, it cannot, on its own, raise the resources needed to sustain an effective program or help poor families access the credit they need to invest in health care or their children’s education,” Dominguez said.

“A young population is one of our country’s greatest assets. We need to be ready to reap the benefits of our demographic sweet spot, by cultivating a dynamic and well-trained work force to enable sustained economic expansion long into the foreseeable future,” he added.

Prioritizing countryside development and rural businesses to increase opportunities for those outside urban areas; providing more financial support for scientists and increasing funding for science and technology; and building more medical facilities with adequate equipment and properly compensated medical professionals in rural areas were among the top recommendations from the youth sector on how the government can better carry out its goal of inclusive growth.

“These recommendations, coming from the successor generation, will enlighten our policy-making,” Dominguez said.

Dominguez reminded young Filipinos that being “woke” must translate into action carried beyond the clicks or comments they make on social media.

“The ‘call-out’ culture should take a backseat to what is true activism—meaningful and proactive action that will improve the lives of the Filipino people,” Dominguez said.

Dominguez said the youth’s active voices in social media and their energetic participation on societal issues prove that they are heavily invested in pushing for genuine change.

“You, the young Filipinos, are the direct beneficiaries of the sustained growth we seek to achieve through the reforms we now undertake. The future belongs to you. You have the greatest stake in our economy’s success. It will shape your career paths and the quality of your lives. Your voices must be heard,” he said.

However, he said, the youth’s participation should not stop in Sulong or social media as it is their responsibility as law-abiding citizens to make meaningful change happen in the real world.

“Real problems require real solutions—and we all know that not everyone will click on ‘like’ for every good idea that also manages to strike a balance among competing interests. Every solution will result in ‘winners and losers’ and the winners will like you, and the losers might dislike you. It takes courage and grit to fight for what you know is right, whether or not it is trending positively online,” he explained.

Dominguez cited various global reports that millennials are expected to make up about 50 percent of the worldwide work force and take senior positions across all sectors.

This situation, he said, presents both an opportunity and a challenge as a huge wave of young jobseekers requires the economy to grow fast to accommodate them in the work force.

He hopes that talented young Filipinos will join the government service as the country needs more of them to “bring in new perspectives and reinvent and refresh the governance of this country.”

According to Dominguez, he values working with young people as proven by the fact that the average age of the members of his team at the Department of Finance (DOF) is close to 25, comprising valedictorians and achievers from various universities who are “highly energetic, dynamic, dedicated and smart young individuals.”