President Noy’s report is saying: We have done our task. More has to be done but the private sector now has the ball. If the task now is inclusiveness, then the task is the creation of jobs and job opportunities. Government cannot create jobs. If at all the jobs created by government can only be those of bureaucrats. PNoy still has a lot work in fixing the police with its rub-outs and the judiciary. But to seek the prosperity of the nation, the task has shifted to the business sector. Perhaps instead of flashy cars and huge mansions, the business sector can devote more of their funds to creating jobs.
There are many good-willed rich people in this country. Many of them are in a quandary of how to help. There are people who have offered money but where will they put it. There is no one to receive them. We don’t have the entrepreneurs who can use the money offered unless the rich themselves can be entrepreneurs. There is a missing link. The poor cannot accept the money. We need the entrepreneurs who will create the jobs. How do we do this? Is it through education or the school system? So far the school system produces graduates who want to be employees who will receive their salary every 15th and 30th of the month. Perhaps entrepreneurs can be developed only by experience. We therefore need to give the opportunity to take risks from a young age. We do not have the established organizations in which they can just fit it. We still have to create these organizations.
The next question is where can we make investments in order to create jobs? We can aspire to develop a Silicon Valley for a software industry. That is possible. What is staring us in the face is agriculture. The drying of palay and corn needs help. Now that the economy has turned around, the need is for the benefits we are enjoying be made inclusive, meaning more people to benefit from the good economy. It means that we help some in the poorer sectors still holding their stomach to assuage the pains of hunger. Hunger in this land of plenty is unacceptable. The millions who are receiving help to send their children to school are to be increased. These are handouts and necessary but this is not what will solve the hunger problem. Jobs is what will help.
Besides the software sector and agriculture there are other areas that jobs can be created. The processing of our food stuff and transporting them to big cities where there is demand can create jobs. The housing sector is doing well but not enough. The big housing companies are creating condominiums but the small investors are not to be found. We need houses and to employ just one carpenter is a good contribution to the creation of jobs. Of course we have the hospitality area which seems promising. We have been lulled into not thinking what we can do. We all can contribute to this target of creating jobs. All we have to do is keep asking ourselves where we can help. The business sector is now being challenged by the government to do its part. Agriculture, especially high-value crops, software, housing, electricity, water, transportations, and many other areas are open to contributions.

Source: Manila Bulletin - July 26, 2013