Congratulations, Mr. President: 2.54 Million New Job-Seekers and Zero New Jobs

Where the only thing growing faster than unemployment is the list of ghost flood-control projects.

By Louis ‘Barok‘ C Biraogo — December 12, 2025

FIVE percent.

It sounds like a cold statistic in a PSA press release, right?

But in real life, that’s 2.54 million human beings — 2.54 million mornings without work, 2.54 million mothers who can no longer cook rice three times a day, 2.54 million children pulled out of school because they’re needed to help the family survive.

That’s not a “spike.”
That’s a tragedy.

And the most infuriating part? While those 2.54 million are crying, Malacañang is busy explaining that “it’s not actually that bad” because the labor force participation rate went up. Wow, congratulations. More Filipinos are now desperate enough to look for jobs, so the unemployment rate shoots up — and they dare call that a “positive sign.”

If an increase in the number of hungry people is now a “positive sign” in your book, then we’re truly sorry for the kind of economics you believe in.

***“Ctrl+Alt+Del: reset the government, not the people.”***

The Favorite Excuses: Typhoons, Global Headwinds, and Other Dramas

Yes, there were typhoons. Yes, there’s a global slowdown.

But why is it that other countries hit by the same typhoons and the same global recession didn’t see their unemployment jump this high? Why does Vietnam — our next-door neighbor that gets battered by storms every month — have an unemployment rate of just 2%?

Simple: Their agriculture isn’t rotten to the core. Their farmers get real support. Their MSMEs aren’t left to drown in red tape and credit starvation.

Here? One strong typhoon and jobs in the fields and construction sites collapse. Because our agricultural resilience died a long time ago. Because small businesses have been suffocating for years. Because our graduates suffer from a decades-old skills mismatch — they know how to make TikTok videos but not how to plant rice or fix a machine.

The typhoon was the trigger.
But the gun? We pointed it at our own foot a long time ago.

Malacañang and the Pyramid of Blame

When the unemployment rate dropped to 3.7% in recent months, they were so quick to pose in front of the LED wall: “Bagong Pilipinas! Job generation!”

Now that it’s up to 5%, suddenly it’s “external factors,” “statistical anomaly,” “long-term plans take time.”

Classic.

And the thickest lie of all: bragging that the labor force participation rate increased.

Do you know why the LFPR rose? Because people no longer have a choice. Savings are gone. 4Ps cash aid has run out. The OFW laid off in the Middle East is back home. So even when hope is dead, they still drag themselves out to look for work — because they’re more afraid of hunger than rejection.

And what did they find?
A brick wall.

Where the Money That Should Have Created Jobs Actually Went

While 2.54 million Filipinos have no work, there’s reportedly ₱540 billion in “questionable” flood-control projects registered in the names of congressmen and relatives.

There’s ₱125 billion in the Maharlika Fund that, until now, has no clear accounting of where it went.

There’s ₱1.2 trillion in budget “insertions” for 2025 that, according to COA, did not go through proper process.

Let me just ask you one thing, Mr. President:
If that ₱540 billion had gone to real emergency employment, agricultural support, and MSME credit guarantees — how many millions of jobs could we have created this October?

But no. Legacy bridges and imported steel are apparently more important than hungry Filipinos.

And the most painful part? Economists say our hard-line stance against China — once our biggest source of tourists and construction money — has already cost tens of thousands of jobs in real estate, hotels, and retail.

We chose a geopolitical fight.
Filipino workers paid the price.

The Real Scandal: Not Just Jobless, But Buried in Terrible Jobs

Let’s not forget: even among the “employed,” millions are underemployed.

Drivers on the road 14 hours a day earning only ₱300.
Market vendors flooded out every time it rains.
Farmers at the mercy of 5-6 loan sharks.

The true unemployment rate in this country — if we include those who desperately want full-time work but can’t get it — is 15–18%.

And the children growing up today are learning that hunger is normal, suffering is normal. That is the greatest tragedy of all.

Is There a Cure? Yes — But It’s Not in Your Hands

There are immediate solutions:

Emergency employment that isn’t the usual TUPAD photo-op and patronage circus.
Real wage subsidies for MSMEs that actually hire new workers.
Cash-for-work in typhoon-hit areas that doesn’t pass through congressmen’s pockets.

There are medium-term solutions: