00:00 Critics of the president's foreign trips are being proven wrong as the chief executive's
00:05 efforts to attract more investors to the country are bearing a lot of fruit.
00:09 Acting as the primary salesperson of the country, the leader of the land sales pitch has enticed
00:15 foreign investors to set up shop here, which in turn generates a lot of quality jobs that
00:21 many Filipinos have benefited from. Luisa Erispe has the full report.
00:28 With the recent increase in the employment rate and several job openings in the country,
00:33 the Department of Labor and Employment sees these may be fruits of labor of President Ferdinand R.
00:38 Marcos Jr.'s perseverance to attract investors from countries all over the world. As a matter
00:44 of fact, according to Labor Department, it is projected that about 300,000 jobs will be
00:50 generated for Filipinos as a result of the recent ventures of the president. These are from 12
00:56 countries, including Netherlands, Germany, U.S., and many more. Dolles says the leading
01:02 industries on these jobs are from power and renewable energy sectors.
01:07 We saw that DTI is moving and is based on the investment that we received.
01:13 Because they are the ones who are directly involved in the investment. We are supporting
01:18 in terms of preparing our manpower, what are the requirements. They are projecting
01:23 more or less, this is conservative, about 300,000. Maybe we can see that the attention is
01:30 being neglected, it has something to do with the power and renewable energy sector.
01:35 Dolle believes these numbers may increase over time as the president continues to captivate
01:40 the trust of investors. Just as how he attracted investors from his recent travel to Japan
01:46 to expand the local semiconductor industry.
01:49 Our president's last trip to Japan, their expansion or additional investment has something to do with semiconductors.
01:59 Dolle also believes the president's efforts could possibly be a factor
02:03 on the decreasing unemployment rate in the country, which the survey from the Philippine
02:07 Statistics Authority stated that is 3.1% last December 2023 from 3.6% in November.
02:15 Moreover, Dolles sees the increase on the jobs under the industry of construction,
02:20 ITBPM, health sector, tourism, and agriculture rolled out the change on the numbers. Because of
02:28 this, the department has committed to focus more on generating thousands to millions of jobs from
02:33 these industries under the Philippine Development Plan 2023 to 2028 with the help of the private
02:40 sector. However, Dolle admits the good flow of generating jobs and employment rate may be affected
02:46 somehow if the 100 pesos minimum wage increase pushes through. The labor department believes
02:52 this must be thoroughly studied and discussed first as this may significantly impact several
02:58 micro, small, and medium enterprises or MSMEs in the country.
03:03 We are looking at how much percentage of increase will be there for each worker.
03:10 And what will be the effect of this on businesses and enterprises that need to be worried.
03:19 I remember in the simulation, it can play with an increase of 15 to 20%.
03:25 The Dolle is also apprehensive that a chain reaction in the GDP growth,
03:30 inflation, and employment rate may happen if the proposal is approved.
03:35 We are missing that. Because if there are dislocations,
03:39 it's not like you ask, "Do we project how many jobs will be lost?"
03:46 We want to project how many will be added. If possible, I hope.
03:50 That's why I repeat, it's very hard to balance the increase in salary,
03:57 even if it's small, in close quote. In the eyes of the small, it's big, right?
04:04 So we are looking at its impact on the employment level as well.
04:09 Dolle has assured its respect for the legislative power of the Senate and Congress on the matter.
04:14 And even though this was previously tackled by both houses,
04:18 still the department said it is ready to submit their technical inputs on the ongoing issue.
04:24 Luisa Erispe from The National TV for a new and better Republic.
