Blind as a bat

That the unemployment numbers in this country have dwindled is nothing but, to borrow the very words of Mr. Jerry Tundag, sheer lunacy. Or Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago might have a better term for this. Kagaguhan.

On the release of the freshest, well-cooked results of the April 2012 Labor Force Survey, DOLE reported the number of unemployed people nationwide continues to go down. Believe it or not, you read it right. And I hope Labor secretary Rosalinda Baldoz is not alone in believing a drop from 2.87 million to 2.8 million (7.2 to 6.9 percent) is indeed a decrease. 

Because mathematically speaking, she’s right. But reality check, if we talk about the Philippines with over 63 million of 90 million people clashing their way through job vacancies, a decrease of 70,000 if indeed but hardly true in the first place and not to mention palpably immaterial, is something not worth calling for any celebration. 

There’s no point celebrating if even with the slight drop, the unemployment rate in the Philippines is still much higher than other Southeast Asian countries, whose rates tend to stay below 6 percent.

Of course, this sort of publicity came as no surprise, if not for the perfectness of its timing. Why for example would results of a survey fielded some two months ago be only released now? Hope against hope, I pray it’s not so as to only give it the due publicity it and the administration it purports to represent some merit. Or so.

An even sadder state of affairs that’s upsetting me and few of my graduating classmates at USC and maybe most of today’s youth is the fact that the same survey concluded more than half of the unemployed populace, around 51.7 percent, belongs to the 15-24 age bracket.

This should have been where the heart of Madame Baldoz’ discussion centered. For what we want is not to be bombarded with figures that barely define the true status quo of the nation. Because at the end of the day, the real score is everyone does not just wish to get a job but a job that best meets their qualifications and skills first and foremost.

Unfortunately, the shortage of jobs that befit fresh college graduates’ credentials for instance was sort of glossed over by the headline of dwindling unemployment, another classic example of missing to hit the real target.

Like many others, I don’t want to finish an accounting course only to find myself taking in calls from some irate customer of a foreign product or service. For if that’s the case, then there’s no point going through years of paying high tuition fees for lessons I will never have the chance to apply in the real world anyway.

The number of nursing graduates year after year has ridiculously loomed as if there is that much of demand for nurses within the country. And I have not yet even added to that list the graduates from courses like architecture and fine arts, engineering, arts and sciences.

Fair’s fair, the government in rebuttal has offered several options including enlistment to TESDA accredited courses which are believed to be very in demand nowadays. But sure this won’t work for students who are highly talented to only end up in food and beverage services, housekeeping or automotive servicing.

This I can’t help but remember one of our high school biology class encounters. I asked my teacher if bats are really blind why the saying has become a fixture of everyday vernacular. I didn’t know but the assumption may have developed because bats primarily use a form of sonar to navigate through dark areas and avoid obstacles.

“Well, John”, my teacher said, “their eyes, while small and sometimes poorly developed, are also completely functional, not to mention the fact that they have excellent hearing and sense of smell.”

Now if this government doesn’t have that sense of sight, I hope it at least has ears and nose. And please, Mr. Tundag or Sen. Santiago doesn’t want to hear their palusot.