To better prepare for the opportunities and challenges that the economic integration of the member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will bring to the labor sector, the country’s largest group of employers has reiterated the business sector’s call to remove restrictions on foreign investments.
The resolutions adopted during the 35th National Conference of Employers that were presented by the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop) to House Speaker Feliciano R. Belmonte Jr. on Friday included the group’s call to “rationalize investment incentives and review foreign equity requirements to encourage the entry of foreign investors.”
In an interview, Ecop president Edgardo G. Lacson said employers were one with local and foreign business chambers in pushing for the opening up of restricted investment areas such as banking, media and retail.
Ecop also wants foreigners to be allowed to control up to 100 percent of their businesses in the country, as well as own land, he added.
Such can be done through Charter change, Lacson said, but he clarified that only the economic restrictions should be amended.
Lacson said there was a need to open up the economy as competition to attract brick-and-mortar investments would further intensify among members of Asean, especially when the region becomes a single production base and market by 2015.
An influx of investments into the country will generate more jobs, he pointed out.
In light of Asean integration, Ecop is also pushing for the amendment of the antiquated Labor Code so it would be “consistent with the changes in the way business and employment relations are carried out in the 21st century.”
In particular, Ecop wants a revised Labor Code that will reduce rigidity in hiring, engagement and termination of employees; de-politicize minimum wage determination; and enhance labor justice administration through swift, equitable and quality decisions in cases brought for voluntary arbitration.
The Labor Code should also be amended so that it would promote conciliation, mediation and voluntary arbitration to resolve disputes, as well as de-criminalize labor laws “by limiting liabilities to civil aspect and removing imprisonment as a form of penalty,” according to Ecop.
The group’s wish list also include old concerns, such as poor infrastructure, skills mismatch vis-à-vis available jobs, and lack of financial assistance for training and capacity building.
These reforms are necessary to mitigate the risk of the Philippines losing an even bigger chunk of its skilled labor force to Asean neighbors where workers get paid better when the region’s economic integration goes on full swing.
Lacson noted that the impending Asean integration would put in place a free flow of services and more open migration of skilled labor, which present opportunities to Filipino workers.
Opening up neighboring labor markets will give capable Filipino professionals access to higher-paying jobs, Lacson said.
“Our workers are ready [for Asean integration], as it is now, Filipino workers are valued all over the world,” he said, noting that about 10 million Filipinos are employed globally.
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) administrator Hans Leo J. Cacdac told the conference on Thursday that Indonesia was looking for additional teachers, while Malaysia is currently short in supply of workers.
Under its integration with Asean, Thailand will open six more professions—accountants, architects, dentists, doctor, engineers, and surveyors—to citizens of other member-countries.
In Vietnam, which is ramping up infrastructure development, up for grabs are more jobs for construction consultants, engineers, quality control experts, supervisors, and technical experts, as well as teachers.
At present, hundreds of thousands of Filipino professionals already enjoy employment in other Asean countries through the mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) forged within Asean, which have opened up engineering, nursing, architectural, surveying, accountancy, medical, dental, and tourism services across the region during the last decade, Cacdac noted.
An increased migration of professionals, however, would not augur well for an emerging economy like the Philippines, Lacson said.
“What may happen is that mostly unskilled workers would be left in the country,” he said.
Lacson said the government could keep more Filipino professionals working in the country and avoid brain drain if there were a wider array of employment opportunities as well as more competitive compensation for workers.
To do so, more investments should be lured in, but only if prevailing investor concerns are addressed, such as the high cost of power, Lacson said.
The government should also ensure that there is a level playing field in business while keeping the minimum wage competitive, he added.
Creating jobs in industry, manufacturing and agriculture should be prioritized, according to Lacson.
Improving the quality of education and training of future entrants to the workforce are also key to level up the skills of Filipino workers, Cacdac said.
Filipinos should be able to compete with their counterparts in the region especially in higher-value types of jobs, he said.
Cacdac noted that the most vulnerable occupations as industries get opened up all over Asean include low-skilled workers, domestic workers and entertainers.
He said lower-skilled labor should also be protected so that foreigners could not snatch these jobs from Filipinos.