Improve ease of doing business in PH, youth group urges gov’t

FPJ Panday Bayanihan President Brian Poe Llamanzare delivers a speech during the Nagkakaisang Kabataan-Panday Bayanihan Youth Congress at the Manila Prince Hotel on Sunday, September 29, 2024. –  The FPJ Panday Bayanihan is calling on the government to improve the ease of doing business in the country, citing its impact on the nation’s jobs situation which is among the top concerns of young people today.  INQUIRER PHOTO

A youth organization led by the grandson of the late actor, film director, and politician Fernando Poe Jr. is calling on the government to improve the ease of doing business in the country.

FPJ Panday Bayanihan president Brian Poe Llamanzares cited its impact on the country’s jobs situation which is among the top concerns of young people today.

According to Llamanzares, improving the ease of doing business will attract more investments to the Philippines and in turn, help create more jobs.

“When I talk to our stakeholders here, the ease of doing business remains a big problem,” Llamanzares said on the sidelines of the youth congress in Manila that his group organized over the weekend.

“We should minimize red tape and we should find ways to encourage our entrepreneurs here in the Philippines,” he added.

READ: Atty. Ian Dato on the Ease of Doing Business Act

Llamanzares noted that finding jobs, as well as mental and physical health, were identified by 22 percent of youth as among their top most concerns in a Philippines-focused report released last September.

He also noted that 33 percent of the surveyed young people believe that entry-level jobs are missing, while 26 percent believe that their biggest obstacle is getting jobs.

“And many more believe that starting a business is almost impossible,” he added.

The FPJ Panday Bayanihan has formed a coalition with over 200 smaller youth organizations across the country to push for meaningful policy reforms and stimulate youth participation in nation-building.

Llamanzares said his group is drafting a legislative agenda that will also contain a number of economic reforms which they will be supporting.

READ: Ease of doing business still firms’ top concern in PH

Llamanzares likewise highlighted the significance of the youth sector in the Philippines, citing that there are about 30 million young people between the ages of 10 to 24 that make up 28 percent of the population.

“With rapid technological advancement and innovation, and of course democratic access to information, the youth today are now more socially aware of pressing issues and problems even at a national level,” Llamanzares said.

“Young people embody hope for better, innovative, and more effective solutions to the world’s challenges,” he added.