Unemployment and the abolition of Congress

President Aquino’s drumbeaters repeatedly crow that the Philippine economy has expanded tremendously—at 7.2 percent the highest in Asia, next only to China. At the same time, a survey by the Social Weather Stations showed that the unemployment rate last year has worsened to 27.5 percent. That means roughly 12.1 million Filipinos are jobless. Filipinos ask: Where did the economic expansion go? Why are we still jobless? Why are we still poor?

These were the big questions asked of Undersecretary Ciriaco A. Lagunzad III of the Department of Labor and Employment at last Monday’s Kapihan sa Manila at Diamond Hotel. The other guest was election lawyer Romulo Makalintal, who talked about the enormous waste of government funds for Congress.

Lagunzad said the economic growth was not big enough to pull up the labor sector because the growth has not been in the labor-intensive industries such as manufacturing but largely in the construction industry and service sector.

Isn’t construction labor-intensive? Lagunzad was asked.

He explained: Much of the work in construction is temporary. After a project is finished, the workers are laid off.

That’s not much different from the workers in shopping malls and fast-food chains whose services are terminated before they reach six months of employment. The law requires that an employee automatically becomes permanent after six months. Employers go around this law by hiring workers through contracts that have a duration of less than six months.

Doesn’t that mean that we should outlaw contractualization? Lagunzad was asked.

I wish it can be done but it is not as simple as that, he said. Without contractualization, the unemployment rate may rise even further.

Why?

With six-month contracts, for every available job, employers can hire two workers instead of only one during the year. Thus, they double the number of workers for every available job. Yes, they are employed for only six months, but that’s better than being jobless the whole year. With permanent jobs, you make only half of the work force happy and the other half very unhappy.

But that means there are not enough jobs for all.

That is correct. There are approximately 2.5 million new graduates every year who join the workforce. But there are no 2.5 million new jobs every year. And each succeeding year adds 2.5 million more graduates needing jobs to those who are already there and jobless.

One irony is this: There are available jobs out there but most graduates are not qualified for them. For example, we need more welders and other blue-collar workers, but most Filipino students take courses for white-collar jobs. Tesda (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority) is doing its best to train more welders and other blue-collar workers but more Filipinos prefer to be lawyers and other white-collar workers so they don’t dirty their hands. We are turning out too many nurses who want to work in hospitals abroad. More and more members of farming families are deserting their farms to look for jobs in the cities because they think it is easier to work there than in the farms. Most farmers are now senior citizens; their sons have migrated to the cities.

Lagunzad said the DOLE has gotten in touch with schools to inform them what courses to offer so that their graduates will fit the available jobs.

* * *

For his part, Romulo Makalintal called for the abolition of Congress. “Without Congress, we would save billions of pesos that we can use for more urgent needs,” he said.

We spend P35 billion a year to maintain Congress. For that amount, what do we get in return? Almost nothing.

Last year, Congress passed only one insignificant law: the one-page postponement of the Kabataang Barangay elections. And the people spent P35 billion for that, to postpone one insignificant electoral exercise! It wasn’t much better in previous years, either.

“Let’s try it for six years,” Makalintal proposed. “Imagine the amount of money we can save for other more urgent needs. Our problem is that so many things need to be done but there is not enough money for all of them.

“For the first year, let’s use the P35 billion saved for the rehabilitation of typhoon-devastated areas. For the next year, use the next P35 billion to build more schools. For the third year, let’s use the money to boost the manufacturing industry. Then build homes for the homeless the next year, more roads the next year, and so forth and so on.”

Who will make our laws?

“Let the provincial boards make them,” Makalintal said. “They are the ones who know best what they need.”

“After six years, let’s try having Congress back again, but this time on a no-work no-pay basis,” he added. “In other sectors of the government and the private sector, those who are absent get no pay. But members of Congress collect their salaries and allowances even when they are absent or are traveling abroad. There are members of Congress who spend more time being absent than attending sessions.

“There are bills passed without a quorum. That is unconstitutional. Worse, the President signs these bills into law. That is an impeachable offense. And those laws are null and void.”

Somebody pointed out the case of Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao. He spends half the year training and fighting abroad. But he collects all his salaries and allowances. He earns billions of pesos from his fights, so he does not need the additional income. Yet he does not pay his correct income taxes. Why do we tolerate members of Congress like him?