MANILA, Philippines — Despite the respectably high economic
growth rate that the country registered in the second quarter, the Philippines
has the worst unemployment rate in Southeast Asia, independent think tank Ibon
Foundation has pointed out.
“The Philippines’ average
economic growth is reportedly higher than some Southeast Asian countries but at
the same time, it also has the worst unemployment rates in the region,” Ibon
Foundation Executive Director Sonny Africa said in a statement.
The government had reported that
the country’s second-quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 5.9 percent
year on year.
This was higher than the average
growth of the region at 4.7 percent and faster than that of Malaysia (5.4
percent), Thailand (4.2 percent), Vietnam (4.4 percent), Singapore (2.0
percent), although lower than Indonesia’s 6.4 percent and China’s 7.8 percent.
Africa, however, said, citing
2011 official figures, that the Philippines unemployment rate was “the worst in
Southeast Asia and more than double the regional average.”
“The country’s unemployment rate
of 7 percent in 2011 was more than double the regional average of 3.2 percent
and higher than in Indonesia (6.6 percent), Myanmar (4.0 percent), Malaysia
(3.1 percent), Singapore (2.7 percent), Brunei (2.6 percent), Vietnam (2.0
percent), Cambodia (1.7 percent), Laos (1.4 percent) and Thailand (0.7
percent),” Africa said.
He added that the disparity between
the high GDP growth and the unemployment rate “further highlights the
exclusionary character of the country’s growth.”
“The country’s unemployment
crisis will remain unresolved without a genuine thrust to develop Filipino
manufacturing and domestic agriculture,” Africa said.
“Unfortunately, the government
persists in promoting low employment and low value-added sectors such as
business process outsourcing (BPO), mining, tourism, enclave manufacturing for
export, and cheap labor export. These are sectors where foreign investors and
economies benefit disproportionately more than Filipinos,” he said.
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