SEN. MARCOS ADVOCATES FOR BUSINESS DIRECTED INFRASTRUCTURE TO SOLVE UNEMPLOYMENT

Vice presidential candidate Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr. today said a "business directed infrastructure program" is needed to address unemployment in the country.

In an interview, Marcos explained that business directed infrastructure means more active consultative partnership with the private sector to determine what kind of infrastructure should be developed and built in order to improve their operations.

"I like to call it business directed infrastructure na tatanungin ang mga business sa mga plano nila for the next five to six years at kung ano ang mga infrastructure na dapat na ilagay ng gobyerno para ma-improve ang kanilang business," Marcos said.

He said the right infrastructure will not only boost business operations but the country will be able attract more investments.

"This will have a positive domino effect. Their business will improve, their operations will expand, more investments will come in, they will need to hire more people, we will have more jobs for our countrymen and this will alleviate our unemployment problem," he pointed out.

The scheme, added Marcos, will also help returning Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) reintegrate into the labor force. "It would be easier for our OFWs to come home because they know that there would be jobs waiting for them here," he said noting that many OFWs choose to stay abroad despite the poor conditions and being separated from their families because of the lack of real opportunities here.

He said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) plays a crucial role in the reintegration of OFWs into the country's labor force because it should be providing them with a retraining program that will qualify them for the jobs available in the market.

"It is important that our OFWs get the right skills and training on what is available and of course based on their own experience and interest. It is just a matter of matching them and giving them the right tools and that is what the DOLE should do," he said.

He said if he wins in the vice presidential race and the next president would ask him, he would want to head the DOLE. "I would like to serve the DOLE because there are so many things I think I can do and I can see many problems that should be fixed like the end of contract scheme, the massive contractualization, the 5-5 rule, so many violations which I think I may be of help," he said.