MALACAÑANG is confident that domestic tourism could help lower the country’s unemployment rate amid the prevailing coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. made the statement after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that about 3.8 million Filipinos aged 15 years old and above are unemployed.
In a virtual press briefing on Saturday, Roque said the Palace was “saddened” by the PSA report, which represented an unemployment rate of 8.7 percent, slightly lower than the 10 percent recorded in July and 17.6 percent in April this year.
He said this was why the government was pushing domestic travel to support tourism industry workers and businesses.
“Well, marami pa rin po ‘yan kaya nakakalungkot nga po ‘yan. Kaya nga po naging advocacy na natin na ‘yung sa mga lugar na nagbubukas ng turismo (We are saddened because that’s still a big number. That’s why our advocacy now is to promote places open for tourism),” Roque said.
“Napakadali pong magbigay ng hanapbuhay sa turismo kaya sinusuportahan po natin sa ating mga press briefing (It is easy to provide jobs in tourism. That’s why we support this in our press briefings),” he added.
The PSA reported that Metro Manila had the highest unemployment rate at 12.4 percent, followed by Ilocos Region at 11.5 percent and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) at 11 percent.
About 4.5 million Filipinos have been rendered jobless this year, with the unemployment rate jumping to 10.4 percent — the highest in 15 years.
The figures reflect the impact of the government’s large-scale lockdowns to prevent the spread of Covid-19, paralyzing economic activities and magnifying hunger and poverty.
Roque acknowledged that the unemployment rate dropped since the government started reopening the economy.
The Palace official traveled to Palawan on Thursday to promote the reopening of its tourism industry to help boost employment of residents. He recently visited tourist places like Baguio City, Boracay Island and Bohol, and held his press briefing with local officials there.
Meanwhile, Roque said he was spending his own money on his trips to tourist destinations given the limited budget of his office.
“It’s mostly my personal funds. No kidding,” the Palace official said when asked about the funding source for his tourism-related trips.
“Because I only have a P800,000-budget since my predecessor obtained his budget, was using his budget from his other office. It’s mostly my personal funds,” he added.