We appreciate the fact that Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, the President’s nephew, acknowledged the inadequacy of the government’s fight against poverty and unemployment.
The senator pointed out that our high gross domestic product in the last few years has done little to create more jobs and raise the poor’s living standards.
Senator Aquino described reality for at least 25 million Filipinos who live below the poverty line and at least 11 million who are unemployed.
In this regard, the government would be dishonest to believe in its own press or worse, just rest on its laurels since the man on the street simply cannot feel the impact of a much vaunted economic miracle.
In his speech at the Open Collaboration of East Asian New Champions (Ocean) held in Lapu-Lapu City over the weekend, Senator Aquino called for an updating of the laws to support the setting up of small and medium-scale enterprises.
This has been done by the Senate but not yet by the Lower House. Updated laws would be a good step to stemming unemployment since growth in business always translates to more job opportunities.
Consequently, among other tasks the Senate must speed up necessary investigation in aid of legislation related to the pork barrel scam, otherwise it can barely work on other pieces of priority legislation.
Other speakers at Ocean showed how the government can further promote inclusive economic growth.
Laws for a climate favorable to business like Senator Aquino’s Go Negosyo bill will result in a bureaucracy that makes doing business easier. The next step is to ensure that there is a critical mass of people who would willingly invest and manage businesses.
Katherine Largo of the group Aseanpreneurs rightly stressed the role of the academe in preparing the traders, the investors of the near future.
With the roll out of the new K to 12 curricula, educators must form students to become not only expert practitioners but also innovators, investors and managers in their fields of endeavor.
This would ensure that the education sector lifts people out of poverty more quickly because graduates, more than becoming supply in the job market would become creators of job opportunities.