Press Release
October 2, 2007

Jobs the only real solution to hunger -- Legarda
Senator says billions of pesos worth of gov't-funded farm projects should be tied to jobs creation

Jobs mean income, and earnings mean money to buy food. Jobs are thus the only real solution to the rising incidence of hunger, according to Sen. Loren Legarda, Senate economic affairs committee chair.

"The severe lack of jobs and income is the reason why an increasing number of borderline households are going hungry more often than before," Legarda said.

"Lacking gainful employment, many marginal families have absolutely no current income whatsoever. Thus, they are likely to face hunger," Legarda pointed out.

The senator stressed the need for a national employment plan that would purposely encourage labor-intensive private investments and public projects. This, apart from the need to consciously spur stronger agricultural growth, she said.

She cited the case of the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Program, for which the government has been P17 billion to P20 billion every year.

"In deciding which specific projects should be backed by program funds, the single most important consideration should be jobs creation. This means that the projects that promise to create the most number of new jobs should get the highest priority support," Legarda said.

She said a robust farm sector would not only provide more income for growers and new jobs for rural workers, but also ensure abundant food supply. "And ample food supply is the best way for us to guarantee more affordable produce," she added.

"If we look closer at the jobs picture, almost half of the unemployed and underemployed are farm workers in the countryside. Thus, government should focus on creating new job and livelihood opportunities in the rural districts -- in the agricultural sector," Legarda said.

The senator also cited the need for the government to "advance" the execution of rural infrastructure projects, which create new jobs that tend to benefit mostly marginal families.

The Social Weather Stations reported on Monday that, based on its latest survey, about 3.8 million Filipinos experienced "involuntary hunger in the past three months, hitting a new record high of 21.5 percent.

The April 2007 Labor Force Survey showed that of the 36.4 million Filipinos in the labor force, some 2.7 million, or 7.4 percent, were totally jobless.

In addition to the totally jobless, the survey showed that 6.37 million Filipinos, or 18.9 percent of the labor force, were "underemployed" or desperately seeking additional work to support their families.

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