By Azer N. Parrocha
MANILA, Feb. 12 (PNA) — President Benigno S. Aquino III directed government agencies to intensify programs on job creation and social protection in the most needy , vulnerable provinces during Tuesday’s full cabinet meeting, a Malacanang official said Wednesday.
Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. in a Palace briefing said that the main agenda for the meeting was the action plans on job creation, social protection and poverty reduction presented by the departments comprising the Cabinet’s Human Development and Poverty-Reduction cluster (HDPR).
Coloma said that at the start of the meeting, Economic-Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan presented the midterm assessment of the government’s performance vis-a-vis the targets and objectives of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP).
“He(Balisacan) said, we are on track with respect to our economic targets but we lag with respect to our social outcomes,” the PCOO chief said.
Coloma noted that growth in gross domestic product at 7.2 percent in 2013 is within the seven to eight percent annual growth target.
He also said that fixed capital formation has also been on the uptrend, reaching 21.1 percent in 2013 or just a shade below the 22 percent target.
Meanwhile, according to Coloma, unemployment rate was 7.1 percent in 2013 compared to the forecast range of 6.8 to 7.2 percent.
“In consonance with the Millennium Development Goals, the aspiration is to decrease poverty incidence by half, from 33.2 percent in 1991 to 16.6 percent by 2015,” Coloma said.
“Latest figures–meaning 2012, these are the latest full year figures–show that poverty incidence has been reduced to 25.2 percent,” he added.
The PCOO chief said that the cabinet cluster on HDPR recommended for the implementation of strategies with spatial and sectoral dimensions to ensure attainment of inclusive growth.
“…The cluster mapped out specific interventions targeted at addressing the needs of the people in provinces with the most number of poor households (and these are known as the Category 1 provinces), provinces where the proportion of poor households is high (Category 2), and provinces exposed to multiple hazards (Category 3),” Coloma said.
“With respect to these three categories, let me just state that the objective for Category 1 provinces is to create more economic opportunities; for Category 2, enhance mobility of labor and goods; and for Category 3, increase resilience since they are most vulnerable to disasters,” he added.
Gov’t agencies’ focus
Coloma said that Trade Industry Secretary Gregory Domingo said that the agency will focus on increasing the country’s competitiveness in industry sectors with high employment multipliers such as shipbuilding, food processing, furniture, chemicals, automotive, copper and copper products, electronics and garments.
“Continuing support will be given to the IT-BPM sector that has been a consistent generator of new employment opportunities,” Coloma said.
“DTI will also pursue initiatives in further improving the ease of doing business and lowering power costs to enhance employment and job creation,” he added.
“Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said that through convergence programs in 30 priority provinces, (these are the provinces in Categories 1, 2 and 3), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will facilitate job matching and placement of jobseekers,” Coloma said.
The DOLE is working closely with Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), along with a network of school administrators, guidance counselors, and career advocates, in intensifying programs on job creation.
It is also promoting the mobility of professionals in up to 46 professions through mutual recognition agreements or MRAs with other countries in line with the ASEAN integration according to Coloma.
“TESDA’s work scholarship program aims to develop skill sets and competencies that will match available and potential job opportunities that are focused on the following sectors: agro-fishery and agro-industrial; manufacturing (the manufacturing sectors I already mentioned the DTI portion), tourism, IT-BPM, infrastructure and housing, and logistics,” Coloma said.
He said that as for social protection, Vice President Jejomar Binay reported that the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) is targeting to provide 561,932 families with housing assistance estimated to cost P103.1 billion from 2014 through 2016.
The HUDCC identified the informal settler families, calamity victims and low-salaried government employees as the three priority sectors.
Finally, Coloma said Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon Soliman reported that families under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) will be given sustainable livelihood opportunities and expanded educational and health grant. (PNA)