Bam Aquino alarmed over rise in jobless youth

A Senate ally urged the Aquino administration to address the growing number of unemployed Filipino youth now estimated at 1.32 million.

Senator Bam Aquino, chair of the Senate committee on youth, said data from the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA) and National Statistics Office (NSO) showed the current national rate of unemployed Filipinos at 6.6% or 2.7 million as of January 2015, up from 6.0% in October 2014.

Of the 6.6%, the senator said, 49.1 percent were from the age bracket of 15 to 24 years old while about 31.6 percent were from 25-to-34 age range.

“Nakakaalarma na mas maraming kabataan ngayon ang walang trabaho,” (It’s alarming that many young people are without work) Aquino said in a statement.

To help address the problem, the senator filed Senate Resolution No. 1268 that seeks to encourage government agencies to create employment opportunities for the youth and formulate programs to address the needs of young Filipinos, including the unemployed youth, workers in vulnerable employment and young entrepreneurs.

Aquino particularly cited the need for government agencies such as the Department of Labor, Department of Education, the Commission on Higher Education, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and the National Economic Development Authority “to collaborate and coordinate more to address the problem.”

“In order to strategically and significantly promote job generation for young Filipinos and propose interventions on economic policies, there should be a coordinated policy framework to address the challenges of youth unemployment,” he said.

The senator also urged the government to prioritize programs that would enhance labor market information, skills training and upgrading, online job matching and entrepreneurial skills.

“Through the years, there has been a mismatch between the available jobs and available skills in the labor force, which is considered as one of the main reasons for youth unemployment,” he said.

“Kailangang mabigyan ng pagkakataong magkatrabaho o magkanegosyo, at lumago ang ating kabataan sa nararanasang pag-unlad ng ating bansa,” Aquino added.