69% of Pinoys say it’s hard to find jobs: SWS

Bill seeks to grant microfinancing for BARMM’s farmers, fisherfolk

Abill seeking the establishment of a government microfinance program for small farmers and fisherfolk in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), has been filed in the Bangsamoro Parliament.

“Agriculture is a vital sector in BARMM, providing livelihood to about 70% of the region’s population. However, smallscale farmers and fisherfolk who comprise the majority of the sector face various challenges that hinder their productivity and income,” said Amir Mawallil, one of the principal authors of Parliamentary Bill 184 or the proposed “Bangsamoro Agricultural Microfinance Act of 2023.”

In his explanatory note, Mawallil said the measure aims to promote “financial inclusion” by reaching out to the unbanked and underserved communities in rural areas who have limited access to credit, have inadequate infrastructure, insufficient market linkages and suffer from low productivity due to outdated farming practices and the climate crisis as well. As a result, he said, the region’s agricultural sector is “underdeveloped and has not realized its full potential.”

At least 69 percent of adult Filipinos said it is hard to find a job, according to a recent survey by the Social Weather Stations which was released on Thursday.

BARMM comprises the provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur; the cities of Marawi, Cotabato and Isabela; and the Special Geogrpahic Area comprising 63 villages in six North Cotabato towns that voted for inclusion in the BARMM in 2019.

Filed on May 25, the bill is authored by Mawallil and Members of Parliament Rasol Mitmug, Sittie Fahanie S. Uy-Oyod, Hashemi Dilangalen and Hamid Malik, and co-authored by Laisa Alamia, Baintan Ampatuan, Don Mustapha A. Loong, Suharto Ambolodto and Rasul Ismael.

The bill seeks to mandate the Bangsamoro government through the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR) to establish a Regional Agricultural Microfinance Program that will provide microfinance services to farmers and other smallholders in the region. MAFAR will disburse the fund to qualified applicants.

This contrasted with official government data which showed improvements in the labor market with the unemployment rate going down in March, and jobs quality improving as shown by the drop in the underemployment rate.

According to SWS, only 11 percent believed it was easy to find a job today while 16 percent said it was neither hard nor easy, with the remaining 4 percent saying they don’t know.

On the optimism on job availability, the SWS First Quarter 2023 National Survey said 50 percent or half believe there will be more jobs in the next 12 months. Meanwhile, 26 percent said there were no changes on job availability, and 10 percent believed there will be fewer jobs.

The survey had 1,200 respondents nationwide and was conducted from March 26 to 29.

Joblessness At 19 Percent

In the same survey, SWS found that adult joblessness was at 19 percent with an estimated 8.7 million jobless Filipinos in March 2023 from 21.3 percent or 9.6 million in December 2022, the survey showed. SWS’s data is higher compared to the 4.7 percent unemployment rate in March released by the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The survey firm however said its joblessness rate differs from that of the PSA’s due to the difference in definition of employment, age range and reference period, among others.

“In the past, SWS has compared its Joblessness rate with Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) Unemployment rate. However, given the differences between SWS and PSA’s definitions of employment, there has been an understandably large discrepancy between PSA’s Unemployment rate and SWS’s Joblessness rate,” SWS said.