The labor group, Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) today challenged Department of Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila to look at the government figures on unemployment and job creation and see how the unemployed Filipinos have been selective of the jobs that come their way.

According to Josua Mata, APL Secretary General, the Labor Force Survey of the National Statistics Office as of January 2006 indicated a sudden rise in underemployment the past year.

Visible underemployment, which is the share of part-time workers looking for additional work to total employment, rose to 12.4 percent in 2005, the highest since the current statistical series started in 1988. This is also referred to as involuntary part-time employment since the desire for work obviously indicates that their status as part-time workers is only for lack of full-time work.

“In other words, the higher underemployment rate is not the result of reduced work hours but a greater desire for additional work among the underemployed-among the poorest of the population-in the face of sharply rising cost of living,” said Mata.

Mata said a more comprehensive measure of the availability of job opportunities is the employment-to-population ratio, which is the share of the working-age population (aged 15 years and older) that is employed.

The NSO’s year-end report showed this ratio deteriorated to 59.4 percent in 2005 from 59.5 percent in 2004 bringing it back to its 1998 level.

“Secretary Favila cited the lost opportunity for 7,000 Filipino workers in the Korean shipbuilder in Subic. He should not be choosy also in looking at the problems facing the country today. We are talking of 22 million people without work in 2005, up half a million from 2004 or 3 million from 1998,” Mata said.

“The labor market turned in a dismal performance in January despite unexpectedly strong economic growth in the last quarter of 2005,” according to Clarence Pascual, Senior Researcher of Labor Education and Research Network (LEARN).

Employment expanded by 750,000 from its year-ago level, according to the January round of the Labor Force Survey (LFS) conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO), way below the government’s target of 1.5 million a year.

According to Pascual, unemployment, using the old official definition, fell to 10.7% in January from 11.3% a year ago. He said using the new definition gives an unemployment rate of 8%, but there is no comparable year-ago figure.

The government began using the new definition in April 2005. The number of unemployed workers, using the old definition, was at 3.9 million.

Poor quality of jobs

“The concentration of employment gains in low-productivity and low-pay sectors such as agriculture and private households indicates poor quality of job creation,” said Danny Edralin, Chair of the Alliance of Progressive Labor.

The NSO’s Labor Force Survey reported the agriculture sector added the biggest number at 475,000 jobs, followed by private households which contributed 102,000 net new jobs. By contrast, the industrial sector posted a net job loss of 95,000, with construction shedding 73,000 jobs and manufacturing losing some 18,000 jobs.

“The government’s publicity machinery claimed success in employment generation but deliberately evaded the fact that part-time jobs account for the bulk of new jobs created,” said Edralin.

The NSO reported that part-time jobs increased by 651,000, posting the bulk of new jobs. Unpaid family workers posted an increase of 389,000 or 52% of net job creation. The number of own-account workers rose by 263,000.

Jobs deficit

According to Pascual, net job creation in the first quarter of this year falls short of the government’s target of 1.5 million jobs per annum, which is what is needed to bring down joblessness.

The surge in underemployment that became evident in 2005 carried over in January this year. Underemployment reached 6.9 million at the start of this year, an increase of 1.8 million in the last 12 months.

“In sum, over 10 million Filipinos, out of a 36-million workforce, are looking for work. This does not include men and women who leave the labor force in the absence of clear job projects. Clearly, the government faces a jobs deficit of crisis proportions,” said Pascual.

Labor left behind

“The current jobs crisis has been festering in the last seven years as labor has been left behind in the current growth cycle,” said Edralin.

According to Pascual, unemployment increased along with GDP growth.

Government data revealed unemployment went on to a high 11.8% in 2004 easing slightly to 11.3% last year. GDP growth accelerated from 3.3% in 1999 to a high of 6.1% in 2004 only to decelerate to 5.1% in 2005.

“The flipside of rising unemployment and GDP growth is improving labor productivity. Indeed, labor productivity has been rising since the mid 1990s in contrast to the trend in the 1980s and early 1990s,” said Pascual.

According to Edralin, rising labor productivity has not translated into higher wages and family incomes because of soaring unemployment.

The overall index of compensation in establishments with 10 or more workers has been flat in the last 10 years. The index for the manufacturing sector shows a steep drop during the same period. The latest data also show that average family income in real terms shrunk by 14% between 1997 and 2003 despite the steady rise in productivity.

“Labor is condemned to lurch from one crisis to the next,” said Edralin.

The Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) opposes the manufactured people’s initiative being cooked up by Malacañang through the Department of Interior and Local Government as nothing more than another scheme to perpetuate the beleaguered president in power and to hide all her accountabilities from public view.

The APL has been resolute from the very beginning in opposing charter change at this time because we have always believed that any structural changes in the political system must first and foremost be accompanied by system change. One cannot expect genuine change with the same set of trapos and elitists maintaining hold on power even if one experiments with different political systems such as a shift from the Presidential to a Parliamentary form of government.

What is most striking about this move is that taxpayers’ money is again being wasted and misused to advance a political agenda that nobody needs and nobody wants.

Through the League of Municipalities of the Philippines baranggay assemblies are being called throughout the country, with millions of pesos pouring into dole outs and direct bribery to gather signatures to make it appear there is a real and tangible clamor for amending the Constitution. The motivation is clear at this point — GMA wants to do away with the national patrimony provisions so she could continue courting foreign investments at the expense of our country’s sovereignty and natural resources.

With foreign investments pump-priming her faltering administration, GMA will flaunt high-sounding economic statistics as a counter-balance to the political mess that has set her back for the one undeniable truth: that she cheated, and betrayed public trust when she rigged the 2004 elections.

This latest initiative gives even more cause for outrage because public funds are again being manipulated to save an illegitimate President. Under the guise of conducting nationwide “consultations”, what this exercise aims at is nothing more than mapping out where the administration’s hold remains strong, and where it can dupe people into supporting its bogus mandate.

Workers will not bite into this nefarious scheme. Workers have already lost more than enough under GMA’s liberalized and deregulated regime. To sell out the economy to keep her away from jail is just too much. The APL calls on all workers not to legitimize this top-down “people’s initiative” with their participation. And more importantly for the pubic not to attach their signatures to the initiative being peddled by Malacañang. This latest trickery must be met with a stronger response demanding for the ouster of a plundering President who is unabashedly using the poeple’s money to save herself.

The Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) called for the dismissal of PNP Regional Director Vidal Querol, Quezon City District Director Nicasio Radovan and other police officers involved in the arrest of Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel and their Secretary-General Josua Mata during the dispersal of their rally at Welcome Rotonda to commemorate the International Women’s Day (IWD).

In the wake of statements by PNP Director Querol that Rep. Baraquel was being protected from harm and not arrested, APL leaders were indignant, saying that such statements justify their brutality during the dispersal, an act prohibited even under Batas Pambansa 880 which was used to arrest Mata. “To say so is not only lying but to suggest that the women workers with Rep. Hontiveros may be dealt with violently, that they may be wounded and get bloodied, as had in fact happened!”, said Mata.

APL reported that almost a dozen of the women members of APL suffered abrasions and hematoma. Among the victims was Evelyn Bedeco, a 45-year-old mother who had to be brought to the Delgado hospital in Kamuning for severe back pains. Mata himself suffered contusions and was only released yesterday after spending a night in Camp Karingal, having posted bail of P1,000 for charge of illegal assembly. “It was a tortuous process since after my arrest at 11:45 am, the state prosecutor assigned only came at 5 pm, way after bail may be posted,” Mata stated.

“In the first place, the police has no right to disperse the activity and arrest its leaders since the APL and other groups were just exercising their fundamental right to peaceably assemble as enshrined in the Constitution and even in BP 880, ” Tess Gurion, chair of APL-Women said. APL added that Sec. 6 (b) states that the mayor or any official acting on his behalf shall act on the application within two (2) working days from the date the application was filed, failing which, the permit shall be deemed granted. APL filed the application for permit on March 6, 2006, two days before the International Women’s Day activity.

“The excesses of the police have to be checked once and for all, and they should be held liable,” asserted Mata. Sec. 13 (d) of BP 880 further states that “obstructing, impeding, disrupting or otherwise denying the exercise of the right to peaceful assembly” and “the interfering with or intentionally disturbing the holding of a public assembly by the use of a motor vehicle, its horns and loud sound systems” [Sec 13, g (5)], are punishable with imprisonment. Further, Sec. 9 states that law enforcement agencies shall not interfere with the holding of a public assembly.

“Several rows of police with helmets and truncheons, and a truck blocked our way. We negotiated but after promising to check if it is possible for the group to proceed to Mendiola, the ground officer held a megaphone to warn us that 5 minutes are left for us or we will be dispersed. Gen. Radovan was seen in the area giving commands to the officers and now, the PNP Regional Director proves his direct responsibility to the violence given his explanations,” said Gurion.

“Mike Defensor should apologize to all the women. The question is whether the women will accept his apology. It is a pathetic attempt of a crony and a president that will do anything to “legitimize” her cling to power. What happened clearly indicates that Gloria Arroyo is now in an extreme state of paranoia for she knows that her time is up and is already at the brink of being ousted from Malacañang. Martial Law is definitely here again and she is now using the coercive powers of the state to create a climate of fear and unrest,” Mata said.

“The continued dispersal of peaceful demonstrations held in the exercise of the constitutional right to hold assemblies and petition the government for redress of grievances, is a basic sign that Gloria Arroyo will really not listen to the demands of the women and will continue to stifle legitimate political dissent that would only result to more violations of human rights. Unfortunately for her, Gloria has no time left to retract and amend. The women and the workers are disgusted and soon, her time would be finally over,” Gurion added.

Criminal and administrative charges are being prepared by APL and its lawyers against Mata’s arresting officer, ground officers San Diego and Villabia up to Gen. Radovan and Gen. Querol, invoking command responsibility.

The ruthless dispersal by the police of the rally last March 8 spearheaded by the women-members of the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) and other fraternal organizations that included Akbayan, Kanlungan and CATW, to commemorate International Women’s Day (IWD) resulted in severe injuries to many of them.

“We were already backing up and retreating but still they hammered us with blows with their batons and truncheons hitting most of our women members and leaders in the head and other parts of their bodies causing severe contusions and bruises,” Tess Gurion, chair of APL-Women said.

Among those severely injured were Evelyn Bedeco and Roger T. Llano, members of the Alyansa ng Maralita sa Valenzuela (AMSV). Unfortunately, the Valenzuela general hospital refused to treat them insisting that since the incident happened in Quezon City, that the victims should seek medical assistance in Quezon City. They were directed to go to the East Avenue hospital, which also denied them medical aid and instead was told to proceed to Camp Crame for treatment.

“What happened to our fellow activists likewise typifies the dismal practice of some public hospitals supposed to render medical aid to the people- a loathsome disregard of the public welfare reflecting the real attitude of the GMA Administration, which is one of the primary reasons why we continuously go out to the streets and protest,” Gurion added.

Meanwhile, Fatima Cabanag, secretary general of Kapisanan ng Maralitang Obrero (KAMAO-APL) said, “We want justice and can not just allow the police to get away with the atrocious dispersal they forcibly did on our peaceful rally, and the fascistic way they mishandled, arrested and dragged our leaders Risa Hontiveros of AKBAYAN and Josua Mata, APL Secretary General like convicted criminals, even though they have not violated any law! We will file appropriate charges against the police.”

“This government has really gone too far in stifling legitimate political dissent through the use of brute force and openly using state terrorism to frighten and coerce the people so that we will not come out and seek GMA’s ouster from Malacañang. But these actions will only make us continue to struggle to oust this government, not only because it is illegitimate, but because it has further worsened the plight of the poor through the continued implementation of WTO prescriptions that has wreaked havoc on our economy and on the lives of most Filipinos,” Cabanag added.