Candidates on poverty and jobs

BETS ALL SEE OVERSEAS CONTRACT WORK AS MERE STOP-GAP MEASURE

HOW do the presidential candidates propose to deal with Philippine poverty?

We ask the eight leading contenders for the presidency of the Philippines to give us a brief, 500-word reply to this and related questions about jobs and job-creating investments. We provided a brief background to the question we asked.

1. POVERTY.

Proportionate to population, we have the highest percentage of poor people in East Asia: a third of all Filipinos still live below our own poverty line.

Question: How do you propose to deal with Philippine poverty?

2. JOBS.

a. We sorely lack the direct investments—both national and foreign—that create decent jobs.
Question: How do you propose to deal with economic opening; with job creation and with creating the political stability that investors need?

What do you propose to do (if you think you should) about the protectionist economic provisions in the 1987 Charter?

b. The bulk of our jobless (2.8 million people) are poor, young, undereducated, rural residents.
Question: How do you propose to ease their plight—considering that they are unsuited for the jobs in BPO and IT that are opening up?

c. What is your view of overseas contract work? Do you regard it as a stopgap measure or as a development strategy?

Interestingly, all candidates blamed corruption for the poverty situation and low level of investments and job creation. All bets were also for doing something about the rural and agricultural sector to reduce joblessness.

On doing anything about the Constitution’s protectionist economic provisions, to spur more foreign investments and foreign-driven job creation, some bets are more willing to recognize the reality of globalization than others who want to strengthen protectionist policies.

Where there is total agreement is the need to develop the domestic economy to the point that no Filipino will ever be forced by the need for income to work abroad for his family back home.

The two most religiously driven candidates were most vehement about the great social cost of the OFW phenomenon. –Manila Times