NIGHT OWL
Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo
For years, Filipinos are reminded of the deteriorating state of Philippine infrastructure — from economic losses causing 3.5 billion a day due to traffic congestion to the increase in road usage every year. Estimates by the Japan International Cooperation Agency predicts that economic losses could rise up to 5.4 billion in 2035 without any infrastructure intervention.
Under the Duterte Administration, the government budgeted around 5.4% of GDP for infrastructure development in 2017, which is more than twice the 2.4% average for the past six administrations —- over a 50 year period. Build Build Build is the most ambitious infrastructure program in Philippine history as the Duterte Administration targets to spend 8-9 trillion pesos for infrastructure development for the period of 2017-2022.
According to the International Labor Organization, for every USD $1 Billion spent on infrastructure, 200,000 direct jobs are created per year.
Last week, the Build Build Build team composed of Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, and Bases Conversion and Development Authority President Vince Dizon, launched the “Jobs, Jobs, Jobs” Portal, an online jobs site aimed at consolidating all employment opportunities from all concessionaires and construction companies involved in the government’s flagship infrastructure program.
It will serve as a job matching platform between potential employers and employees as the government moves to complement its “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure initiatives with more job opportunities for Filipinos.
The Jobs Jobs Jobs portal is now accessible to the public via www.build.gov.ph with at least 11,000 jobs.
The share of the construction industry to total employment of the country is 8.2% in 2016. It continued to provide job opportunities, employing on the average a total of 3.372 Million workers in 2016, up by 25.0% as compared to the 2.697 Million workers in 2015.
In 2017, the Philippines Statistic Authority attributed the 6.7% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth to the accelerated performance of both the industry sector (7.2%) and service sector (6.8%).
Construction industry also substantially contributed 35.9% to overall capital investments or Gross Capital Formation (GCF) in the country.
The momentum continued to further in 2018 as the industry grew by 9.3% in the first quarter.
The preliminary results of the 2017 Annual Estimates of Labor Force Survey (LFS) conducted by Department of Labor and Employment noted annual employment rate estimated at 94.3 percent; annual unemployment rate at 5.7 percent; and annual underemployment rate at 16.1 percent.