ROXAS: GMA JOBS PROGRAM "A CLEAR FAILURE"
P30B FOR 2009 JOBS SUPPORT SOUGHT

Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas today said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's directive to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration to scout for job opportunities abroad for Filipinos is "a clear sign of failure" of her administration's promise to provide adequate employment and livelihood to Filipinos.

With the absence of a credible jobs program from the Arroyo Administration, Roxas proposed a P30 billion budget next year to deal with the expected job losses because of the effects of the global financial crisis that the Administration appears to have failed to prepare for adequately.

"Malinaw na malinaw na ang pangakong 'trabaho para sa lahat' ni Gloria ay hindi natupad. Ang mensahe nito ay walang magagawang tulong ang administrasyon ni GMA at umasa na lang tayo sa ekonomiya at gobyerno ng ibang bansa (Clearly, Gloria's promise of jobs for all failed. It's clear message is that people cannot get any help from GMA's administration and we should just rely on the economies and governments of other countries)," said Roxas.

"Nakakalungkot na walong taon mula noong siya ay naging Pangulo, ay ito lang ang mabibigay ni GMA sa taumbayan (It's sad that eight years since she became President, this is all GMA can give to the people)," he added.

The Ilonggo senator said that instead of giving up, the government must look ahead to next year, and see how it can best use the 2009 budget at its disposal to turn things around and create a strong work force in the country.

"Kami sa Senado ay tumulak sa pag-amyenda ng budget, dahil ibang-iba na ang sitwasyon ngayon gawa ng krisis. Kasama dito ang pag-amyenda para sa dagdag na gastos para sa paggawa at sa seguridad sa hanapbuhay (We in the Senate pushed for budget amendments, because the situation now is so different with the crisis. Included in these amendments is the additional spending to create and provide security for jobs)," he said.

Among Roxas' amendments to the 2009 budget nearing ratification in Congress are:

P4 billion for various programs of the Department of Labor and Employment, to give support to workers during the crisis; P12 billion for the health Peace Corps program, to absorb displaced health care workers, as well as provide health services to each barangay; and P14 billion to the Development Bank of the Philippines, to be used as a lending fund to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), that encompass 99.6% of registered businesses and employ 70% of the work force in the Philippines.

"Hindi talaga dapat bawasan ang paggastos, pero ito ay dapat sa wastong paraan kung saan matulungan ang ating kababayan (We should not reduce spending. Rather, we should spend in the best way to help our countrymen)," he said.