Real numbers

Uriel C. Quilinguing .

STATISTICAL information, emanating from surveys and expressed in percentages, can be deceiving since these expressions, though indicative of situations, are not in real numbers. These do not take a person as a whole when, ideally, every person should be accounted for. There are instances when one is either knocked out in the practice of rounding off or is taken just a portion one with the use of decimal point.    

Those at the Philippine Statistics Authority are no stranger to this — it’s what they eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Hence, those who recognize the significance of statistical data take PSA-generated figures hook, line and sinker even if the determination of poverty level needs a plausible explanation, even if the classification of basic needs to be reviewed, and expenditures are more reliable indicators rather than per capita incomes. 

The latest data show the ranks of jobless Filipinos went up in July, but at the same time, the number of employed individuals wanting more work plunged to an all-time low, the PSA last week reported. 

Preliminary results of the July 2019 round of labor force survey (LFS) which the PSA conducted showed the country’s unemployment rate at 5.4 percent, the same figure in the same round last year. This, however, means about 2.43 million Filipinos are jobless in July this year, yet that was 2.33 million in July 2018, hence real figures of unemployment really increased.

However, Mediakonek agrees with PSA, both the unemployment rate is the lowest among the July LFS rounds since 2005. Surprisingly, the employment rate has not changed at 94.6 percent in July although the number of employed Filipinos increased to 42.95 million from 40.65 million previously.

In this instance, experts must explain and the National Economic and Development Authority just did that. “This translates to 2.3 million additional employment, almost five times the 479,000 employment generated in the same period last year,” reads part of a Neda statement.

The changes in the absolute figures despite steady unemployment and employment rates can be explained by changes in the labor force participation rate (LFPR), which is defined as the percentage of the total number of persons in the labor force to the total population 15 years old and over.

Employment information contributes to the picture of the economy in its entirety. But this does not seem to sink in into the minds of those in government, at this time of the year, thinking those outside the government bureaucracy should fend for themselves.

Why can’t the President just allow existing laws to run on their own course in the granting of year-end bonuses for government employees, without the need to air he is giving Christmas gifts as if the money he is giving is his. 

The President, being is perceived as the father of one big family, should ideally treat all his children fairly in giving “gifts.” Unless he believes that those who are near the kitchen get the best, the first and biggest serving. Why grant P60,000 to all those employed in the Office of the President and only P10,000 to other government employees? Worse, why only P3,000 for barangay officials? 

Mediakonek is willing to wait for the time when the President would direct the labor department and the budget and management to release “cash gifts” to all the jobless in this country. For now, those who have will have more and those who have none will have nothing. Partylist lawmakers — many of them are supposed to represent the voiceless and sectors of the deprived — should initiate the filing of a legislative measure that will grant year-end cash assistance to all Filipinos who have no regular source of income, through the Department of Labor and Employment. 

There are countries out there where the unemployed, who are still in search for job openings, receive monthly financial assistance. If only this can be done, then poverty levels will greatly improve. This, in addition to the conditional cash transfer which the social welfare and development agency has been implementing.

Let’s put into reality the inclusiveness government officials have been parroting, that is if they truly understand what it is, and focus on real numbers instead of reducing conditions of every Filipino as mere statistics. 

(Uriel C. Quilinguing is a former president of the Cagayan de Oro Press Club who had been editor in chief of Cagayan de Oro-based newspapers, including this paper. For reactions, email them to uriel.quilinguing@yahoo.com.)