KIKO REITERATES CALL FOR AN EXECUTIVE - LEGISLATIVE
SUMMIT ON JOB CREATION

After IT giant Intel Corp. announced shutdown of its operations in the country, Independent senator Kiko Pangilinan today reiterates his call for Malacañang and the Congress to hold a summit together with the business sector to discuss ways and means to create more jobs in the country. The Senator said that both the Executive and Legislative should join hands in fast-tracking measures that will create more jobs domestically in the face of massive layoffs of Filipino workers here and abroad.

"Instead of talking Charter Change and term extensions, both Malacañang and Congress should be more preoccupied in devising means of creating job opportunities for those who will lose their jobs", Kiko said.

Some 1,800 Filipino employees of Intel will be affected by the shutdown. And the Department of Labor and Employment sees 60, 000 more impending job losses in the IT sector. The Senator is looking at promoting and increasing government support for the small and medium enterprises particularly in the rural areas. Government should expand credit access so that Filipino overseas workers coming home will instead engage in putting up their small businesses rather than waiting for job opportunities outside the country.

Government should also look into trainings on how the Filipinos can earn income through the use of technology especially with the widening use of the internet worldwide. There are a lot of opportunities for Filipinos nowadays to earn income from their own homes using only the internet. Government should also look into how it can support SMEs by promoting and marketing their products and services utilizing mobile and internet technology.

"We should hit the ground running this 2009 by putting our heads together to avert a rapid increase in our unemployment rate. I challenge the new Senate leadership to lead the call for a Job Creation Summit that will involve Malacañang, the Senate and House of Representatives, business leaders and civil society. Isantabi muna ang pulitika at pag usapan muna natin ang isyu ng kawalan ng trabaho. Kailangang matugunan na sa lalong madaling panahon ang problemang ito na kinakaharap ng ating mga manggagawa." Kiko ended