When President Arroyo laid out her 10-point agenda, job creation was number one in the list: “By 2010, ten million jobs shall have been created."
In her ninth and last State of the Nation Address, President Arroyo boasted of creating 8 million jobs in the past eight years. “Lumikha tayo ng walong milyong trabaho, an average of a million a year, much, much more than at any other time," she said, eliciting applause from the audience. In the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan, Arroyo promised 6 to 10 million jobs from 2004-2010. “But jobs came in droplets. And we’re in for a dry spell," says Renato Magtubo, chairperson of Partido ng Manggagawa, citing official labor statistics. Figures from the National Statistics Office indicate that Arroyo is far from achieving her target. Labor Force Surveys from 2005 to 2009 show that only 2.77 million jobs have been provided so far.
Employment Rate (2005- 2009) | PERIOD | APRIL 2005 | APRIL 2006 | APRIL 2007 | APRIL 2008 | APRIL 2009 |
| Employment rate | 91.70% | 91.80% | 92.60% | 92.00% | 92.50% |
| Estimated no. of employed persons | 32.2 million | 32.7 million | 33.7 million | 33.6 million | 34. 97 million |
| Source: NSO |
From 2001 to 2004, a total of 2.36 million jobs were generated.
Employment Rate (2001- 2004) | PERIOD | APRIL 2001 | APRIL 2002 | APRIL 2003 | APRIL 2004 |
| Employment rate | 86.70% | 86.10% | 87.80% | 86.30% |
| Estimated no. of employed persons | 29.16 million | 30.19 million | 33.42 million | 31.52 million |
Source: NSO |
The NSO adopted a new definition of unemployed in 2005 based on the International Labor Organization standard; earlier Labor Force Surveys thus cannot be compared with subsequent data. Even if we combine the two figures, the number of jobs generated from 2001 to 2009 totaled 5.13 million, still a long way from Arroyo’s 8-million claim. The jobs statistics may not reflect it, but job creation has been foremost in Arroyo government. It has been cited in almost all of President Arroyo’s SONAs since 2001. The President even created the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Job Generation in 2004, appointing outgoing Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo. The new office is tasked to "coordinate the effective and timely implementation of the government’s roadmap for jobs generation," specifically her vision to create six to 10 million jobs until 2010. Lorenzo resigned in February 2005. In March 2005, “pursuant to the streamlining policy of the government," the President issued EO 408 abolishing the OPAJG and transferring its oversight functions to the Presidential Management Staff. On December 2005, Arroyo revived the position through EO 475 creating the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Job Creation. Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap was appointed “job czar," a position he continues to hold up to now. In 2008, Malacañang said 9.8 million jobs were created from 2004 to 2008, just 200,000-jobs shy of the perfect 10 million. Reflecting on this higher number, the government think-tank Senate Economic Planning Office noted that government estimates of jobs generated are "inconsistent." “Despite data from the labor force survey which consistently showed that jobs generated is less than one million annually since 2002, President Arroyo in her last SONA boasted of exceeding the minimum number of jobs targeted for 2004-2010 by 163 percent," the SEPO said in a policy brief issued in December 2008. Where did Malacañang’s numbers come from? In the 2008 SONA technical reports, Arroyo’s Presidential Management Staff said her administration was able to create 9.8 million jobs from 2004 to 2008. The PMS computed that the microfinance loans provided by the government had generated equivalent number of jobs.
Job Generation Program Summary Of Accomplishments (2004- June 2008) | PROGRAM COMPONENTS AND IMPLEMENTING AGENCIES | ASSUMPTION | NUMBER OF JOBS CREATED |
| 1. Microfinancing (PCFC, Cocofinance, Quedancor, SBGFC, LBP, NLSF ) | Any new loan, regardless of amount creates 1 job | 1,703,623 |
| 2. SME Lending (SULONG), ( SBGFC, NLSF, Quedancor, Philexim, LBP, DBP) | Average loan size of Php 80,000 supports 1 job with 30% considered as new jobs | 590,462 |
| 3. Agribusiness Land Development (DA, DAR & DENR ) | In general, 1 hectare = 1 job but in some commodities, 1 hectare may be equivalent to as high as 27 jobs | 1,513,965 |
| 4. Housing (HUDCC, HDMF, GSIS, SSS, NHA, HIGC, DBP) | 8.3 jobs per 1 house built; 5 jobs per lot developed for resettlement site;l 3.3 for a small housing unit in Northrail resettlement | 2,864,456 |
| 5. Tourism (DOT) | Every additional tourist arrival creates 1.22 new jobs | 1,071,678 |
| 6. Information & Communications Technology | Based on reports from various industry associations & DTI-BOI | 306,750 |
| 7. Mining (DENR) | Actual jobs | 62,736 |
| 8. Economic Zones (PEZA, SBMA, CDC) | Actual jobs | 597,364 |
| 9. Infrastructure (DPWH, MMDA) | Actual number of people hired in public construction & maintenance; “Kalsada Natin, Alagaan Natin", OYSTER Program & “Trabaho Trabaho Program" | 918,601 |
| 10. Apprenticeship (TESDA) | Actual apprentices enrolled under the Kasanayan at Hanap-Buhay (KASH) apprenticeship program | 235,329 |
| TOTAL | | 9,864,964 |
| Source: PMS |
The PMS jobs table shows the “number of jobs created" based on both actual and assumed employment. For instance, the government assumed that people who availed of government-sponsored microfinance loans and training actually got jobs. The SEPO noted that many of the jobs were seasonal and short-term in nature-- street sweeping, construction and demolition work. Most of the jobs generated, it said, were “characterized by low productivity, below poverty level wages and insecure working conditions." Labor groups noted this as well. “The quality of jobs she did create is not something a government with a decent mind should be proud of," said Kilusang Mayo Uno Chairperson Elmer Labog. “These jobs are low-paying, do not even provide decent income to families, and are part-time and even precarious work." If job creation was truly a government priority, Labog said the government should focus on strengthening the local industries rather than pushing for an economy that is dependent on foreign investments like BPOs. 10 million jobs or not, SEPO says the numbers have to mean something more: “The government must focus not only on the quantity of jobs, but the quality of employment, if it is to make any claims about reducing poverty by giving people jobs."
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