Job creation is the “overwhelming challenge” the country must face after achieving macroeconomic stability, the World Bank (WB) says.
“We congratulate the Philippines for its impressive growth rate of 6.6 percent in 2012” but the government must pursue creating jobs that offer reasonable wages and save people from poverty, says WB Country Director for the Philippines Motoo Konishi said at the opening of the 2013 Philippines Development Forum.
“It is an overwhelming challenge. Given the enormity of the challenge, we all need to collaborate a lot more to ensure that all our programs of assistance or policy reforms are filtered through the lens of the creation of jobs,” Konishi explains.
Konishi adds there are not enough jobs in the services, manufacturing, and industries sectors to absorb the huge number of Filipinos seeking employment.
At the same forum, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad says the government aims to generate more jobs by helping strengthen key industries and attracting more investments because of its credibility.
President Aquino III, noting World Bank’s description of the Philippines as a “rising tiger” economy, expresses confidence that the country’s success story will extend beyond his term.
PNoy vows at the Philippine Development Forum to work towards “inclusive” economic growth beyond 2016 “that leaves no one behind.”
Meanwhile, satisfaction with the performance of top government officials in the line of succession to the presidency drops in the last quarter of 2012, according to a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.
However, the net scores of Vice President Jejomar Binay, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. remain “excellent,” says the SWS.
Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, included in the survey for the first time, also gets a positive rating, SWS adds.
Yes to a credible judiciary for a more progressive country.

Source: Manila Bulletin- February 8, 2013- abbreviated by work4pinoy