The Jobs Whisperer
MANILA: "Roxas vows to create 6mn jobs in farm, manufacturing industries" – Llanesca T Panti (27 February 2016, Gulf Times, gulf-times.com); photo from Panti's report, posterized by me. Mar Roxas gave that promise after a meeting with a workers' group in the village of Barbara in Baliuag, Bulacan. He explained:
I see, more or less, creating a million jobs every year. I have done this before in DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) when I was able to make the call center (Business Process Outsourcing) industry grow. Now, millions of our workforce (are) employed in this sector. That happened because we had a plan, not a wish. It didn’t happen overnight or by chance.
We stuck with our strategy; we sought the help of the private sector, enlisted the help of schools to help us in training…that’s why we were able to mount a concrete action.
You have to have a plan, not simply a pronouncement, or a puff. Plan, followed by power; words, followed by works. Including partnerships with the private sector, schools etc. You can't do it alone.
Comparing now The Presidential Whisperers:
The Law Whisperer, Miriam Defensor-Santiago. Like: "We must tell the Americans to go home. The EDCA is unconstitutional!" I say, I feel safer with the Americans around.
The PI Whisperer, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. Like: "Pope, putang-ina ka, umuwi ka na!" (Pope, you motherfucker, go home!) Duterte had to sit on his car unmoving in traffic for hours the day Pope Francis arrived in the Philippines, this January. Pope Francis forgave him, but that means that what he did was a sin. And Duterte says PI too often it's like breathing in and breathing out.
And what is the latest about PI Du? "Mas malutong ang putang ina mas malakas ang palakpak kay Duterte" – Ellen Tordesillas (09 April 2016, ellentordesillas.com). The crisper he said motherfucker, the louder the applause for Duterte. Well, you can bring along your own rah-rah boys and girls to your own rally, and invite more of those who share your profanity. Go Du it! Some people are entertained by badmouths, reflecting the worst from them.
The American Whisperer, Grace Poe. Her husband is an American citizen, and so are their children. In a family of 5, with son Brian and daughters Nikka and Hanna as citizens of the US, there is only one claiming to be a Filipino citizen, the mother. If she goes to Malacañang, what will they talk about except American? And of course Brian's shoes, worth more than a hundred thousand pesos, smugly displayed in social media. In defense, what was Brian's Song sung by his mother Grace Poe? "Basta galing sa pinaghirapan mo..." (Camille Elemia, 13 February 2016, Rappler, rappler.com). As long as it came from your labors. It's Stateside, you know, Limited Edition Nike Air Mag. She should be running in the US with Brian and his Nike shoes.
The Makati Whisperer, Jejomar Binay. He has promised that if elected President, he will make the Philippines as prosperous as he made Makati. Shame on the Ayala, Ortigas and other families!
The Jobs Whisperer, Mar Roxas. He has promised 6 million jobs. Job opportunities don't come by often in this country and not enough in number, which is why we have the phenomenon of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). About the Roxas jobs whispers, let's see now:
In a roundtable discussion with Manila Bulletin editors yesterday, Roxas explained that giving as many Filipinos access to jobs with decent income somehow serves as an assurance for every Filipino family that their lives would improve and eventually escape from poverty.
Mar Roxas himself said on that occasion:
Most of the poor Filipino families have a very simple dream. For them to send their children to schools and get college degrees so that their children would no longer inherit the poverty that they are into. This is what we are fighting for and that’s why I am passionate, I’m serious because this is a serious job.
To multiply job opportunities, Roxas said, "We will further improve the economy and further ease doing business in the country. These are needed to attract foreign direct investments which eventually (will) lead to creation of more jobs." For instance, there is a need to fix the high electricity cost in the country, which has been driving away foreign investors in manufacturing. And to computerize the documentary and other requirements to set up investments both local and foreign. By doing that, he said, "We will be able to address the strenuous way of doing business in the country." You reduce bureaucracy, you reduce corruption.
In fact, "Roxas vows to create 6mn jobs in farm, manufacturing industries" – Llanesca T Panti (27 February 2016, reprinted from Manila Times, gulf-times.com). That will be in the agriculture and manufacturing industry. He spoke of his plan in a meeting with a workers' group in the village of Barbara in Baliuag, Bulacan.
Earlier than that, he promised before thousands of village officials of Pasay City (Aries Joseph Hegina, 19 January 2016, newsinfo.inquirer.net):
Ito po ang ating laban – laban kontra sa gutom, kontra sa takot, kontra sa kawalan ng pag-asa. Yan ang ating isinusulong – trabaho, katiyakan, at pag-asa. This is our fight – fight against hunger, fight against fear, fight against lack of hope. We are pushing for these: jobs, security, hope.
He also said:
Malayo na ang narating natin. Marami na ang napagtagumpayan. Inaasahan ko na sa patuloy nating pagsasamahan, mas marami pa tayong mapagtatagumpayan, mas malayo pa ang ating mararating at mas marami pa ang (maibibigay) natin para sa ating bayan. We have come a long way. We have had many triumphs. I am hoping that with your continued collaboration, we will triumph over much more, we will reach farther and will give much more to our countrymen.
On the side of agriculture, Roxas said "he will push for the bonding of farmers to turn them into competitive agriculture production forces" (Recuenco, as cited). That is because he has seen that "merely distributing the lands (to) farmers (has proven) to be not that effective in helping farmers to earn well even for their respective families."
Land tenure is not the problem; the farmers are the problem. I say that's because farmers are poor businessmen. Roxas said:
Farmers are like businessmen who are left on their own to till their lands and earn from them. So in times of disaster like the recent typhoon "Lando," all that they have invested for their crops would just vanish which further aggravate their situation.
I know, farmers are not business-minded. I know because we have been consulting with the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) on an extension project, and we saw that they did not know planning, budgeting, costs & returns etc. They don't know access to affordable credit, so they run to the usurers, and that is why, as Roxas said, farmers "get stuck in the cycle of debt which is worse than company bankruptcy."
How do the farmers pay for the seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and other expenses? They borrow 5/6 money. Roxas said, "(That) does not only hurt every farming Filipino family but also the country as well, considering the tight competition with other countries in agriculture production such (as) Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand." No, he said. "It's not simply just (distributing) the lands, building irrigation (systems), building farm-to-market roads and the farmers would become prosperous." We must get the farmers out of the cycle of debt into the cycle of income.
You can't find a presidential candidate like Mar Roxas, can you? I can't.
Mar Roxas is The Hope Whisperer.
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