THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) was told to look into employment surveys being conducted by the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA).
The employment data, which are being used by the President during State of the Nation Addresses (SONA), are “distorted” because they include 10 to 30 day jobs such as those being offered by the DOLE under its TUPAD or Tulong Panghanap-buhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers program, according to Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel.
During his SONA this year, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. said the Philippine economy has started to bounce back from the pandemic, citing the 95.7 percent employment rate recorded this year.
But several groups and lawmakers found the figure “far from reality.” Sen. Imee Marcos called PSA’s definition of employment “bizarre.”
Pimentel made the assertion during the Senate plenary deliberations of the 2024 budget of the DOLE and its attached agencies.
“I think it is unfair and it distorts our data if a person who received the amount equivalent to minimum wage, for seven to 10 days in a year and reported to having been employed,” he said.
The senator continued, “Siguro if the DOLE and PSA can sit down to define with the help of the ILS (Institute for Labor Studies), sila ang experts dito to define who is an employed person.”
DOLE officials told Sen. Loren Legarda, the sponsor of the budget of the department, that the surveys use international labor standards.
Legarda however noted that she agrees with the proposal of Pimentel to tweak the employment survey methods.
“We would be happy to receive from your honor on how to improve it, while this has been historically done, there are ways, room for improvement,” Legarda said.
The PSA’s figures for unemployment are often lower than those from independent survey firms like the Social Weather Stations.
An SWS survey in March showed the unemployment rate at 19 percent or 8.7 million jobless Filipino workers.
This was much higher than the PSA’s 4.7 percent unemployment rate or 2.42 million jobless Filipino workers in the same month.
SWS attributed this to the differences in their definition of unemployment.
Meantime, Sen. Raffy Tulfo stressed his proposal for the non-renewal of business licenses of companies that failed to give their employees their 13th month pay before December 24th.
“Magpa-Pasko na, alam niyo po iyong 13th month pay dun sa maliliit na kababayan, inaasahan kasi extra money ‘yan, pinaplano nila ano bibilhin ko sa 13th month pay?” Tulfo said.
Upon consultation with DOLE officials, Legarda proposed the coordination between the labor department and the Department of Interior and Local Government since renewals are handled by local governments, through their Business Permits and Licensing Offices. (ABS-CBN News)
