Good job!

Finally, I get to write something positive about the Philippine Government. I have been dreaming about this for a very, very, very long time. This blog is not only about complaining you know. Ranting really helps me blow off steam but I don’t want to do it chronically because it can also drain one’s energy. Besides, I don’t want to be called a misanthrope. How can a docile “cow” be one huh?

More than 800,000 new jobs were identified in a joint summit recently held in Malacañang and attended by representatives from the government, academe, church, nongovernmental organizations, business, and labor sectors. The jobs will be created by the government for economic pump-priming as stated in a communiqué issued by the summit participants. For this, I commend all the officials who attended the conference; most especially the Department of Labor and Employment. Bravo! Sana palaging ganyan! Tulong-tulong.

The Inquirer stated that, “the following emergency employment positions are to be created:

• 506,082 at the Department of Public Works and Highways and 27,222 in the department’s its roadside maintenance program employing out-of-school youths

• 100,000 at the Department of Education and the state universities and colleges’ repair of classrooms and school buildings

• 81,134 in the Department of Agriculture’s irrigation projects, 36,500 in farm-to-market road projects, 10,400 in organic fertilizer production, and 3,645 in goat dispersal [whatever that means]

• 35,000 in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Bantay-Gubat [Forest Watch] and a project for displaced upland workers

• 23,550 in Department of Labor and Employment projects under the Tulong Hanapbuhay [Livelihood Aid] for Disadvantaged Workers and the Integrated Services for Livelihood and Advancement of Fisherfolk

• 1,022 in Laguna Water Lily Development of the Department of Trade and Industry.

The seven-page communiqué, a copy of which the labor department provided reporters, also said 80,000 to 100,000 jobs would be created in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.”

Now, add to that about 400,000 new overseas jobs waiting to be filled up as listed at the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration. Good news indeed right?

I just hope the given figures are accurate and that the implementation phase would be smooth sailing and corruption-free. I also hope that there will be more encouraging announcements like this in the future. The numbers may still be small relative to the current total population of the country but the initiative is still praiseworthy.

Salamat Ginoong Roque at Ginang Arroyo!

References:

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/topstories/topstories/view/20090210-188390/Govt-projects-aim-for-800000-jobs

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/148012/Business-labor-push-for-creation-of-13-M-jobs

http://www.dole.gov.ph/news/details.asp?id=N000002291

On “Milking the Cash Cow”

When it comes to blogging, I am a newbie. This is actually my first blog and I am just getting the hang of it. I am also a neophyte OFW. This month is only my 6^th in the Hong Kong SAR but I have been enjoying my stay here since day 1. Gone are the 12-hour office days in the Philippines. No need for overtime work. Pay is better. Nippy weather is great. Traffic jams are non-existent. Government agencies are systematic, fast and people-friendly. Bank personnel are always snappy. No kotong-cops. No yosi-puffing-walang-pakialam-kung- mabugahan-ng-usok-ang-pasahero jeepney drivers. Walang… STOP! This should not be an angst post. Sorry for that hehe. Now where am I? Oh yeah, I was telling you that I have just started blogging and that I am also a new overseas worker.

I made this blog due to 4 reasons: 1) Trip trip lang pare, 2) Para maipahayag ang pagkabagot ko sa mga maling kalakaran sa Pilipinas lalo na yung nakakaapekto sa mga OFWs (at sa akin syempre), 3) Hindi toxic ang trabaho ko dito sa HK kaya may oras na ako mag-blog (kasi sa dati kong trabaho sa Pinas e ihi lang ang pahinga kaya paguwi ko sa bahay lupaypay), at 4) pagbabaka-sakali na may matulungan akong kapwa OFW sa pamamagitan ng blogging.

Why title it “Milking the Cash Cow” then, you might ask? Allow me to quote Wikipedia.org:

“In business, a cash cow is a product or a business unit that generates unusually high profit margins: so high that it is responsible for a large amount of a company’s operating profit. This profit far exceeds the amount necessary to maintain the cash cow business, and the excess is used by the business for other purposes.

The expression is a metaphor for a dairy cow that can be milked on an ongoing basis with little expense after being acquired.”

Isn’t the analogy between a cash cow and an OFW perfect? OFWs are known as “Bagong Bayani” (as consuelo de bobo, I think) because their yearly remittances help keep the bedridden Philippine economy breathing. In fact, OFW money flowing to the country represents a major portion of the GDP. In other words—to use another moo metaphor in Tagalog—ang mga OFWs ang PAMBANSANG GATASAN ng Pilipinas! Tubong lugaw ang gobyerno sa mga OFWs. Ang galing di ba?

Wikipedia futher states, “Risks of a cash cow include complacency, with management ignoring the need for change as market forces erode value; and ongoing turf wars between the management in charge of the cash cow and other managers trying to garner support for other products.”

I am not sure if this “turf war” thingy is another facet applicable to the cash cow mentality of the Philippine government but I am positive about the existence of “complacency risks”. The World Bank warned us in 2005 about this side effect:

“The Philippines should not rely on the remittances of more than eight million [now more than eleven million] overseas Filipino workers to keep its economy afloat…. Over the years, excellent performance of remittances may have contributed to complacency [of the PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT] in addressing fiscal deficits and low productivity growth… Remittances should not distract the country from its huge potential for domestic investment and growth.”

Hindi ba swak? This is why I decided to call my blog “Milking the Cash Cow.” I hope you are convinced that we have a government that seems to be leaning towards more and more “milking-the-cash-cow” policies, as if the milk would incessantly flow from our OFW udders!

I say, as a member of the OFW herd, that we should not allow the milking to go on and on and on. Let us show these milk suckers that cattle can kick too!