Normin’s underemployment highest in Mindanao

WHEN statistics start to speak and tell you that the January 2012 Labor Force Survey (LFS) results of the country registered an employment rate of 92.8 percent, which is not significantly different from the estimate reported in January 2011, which was 92.6 percent, what will be your outright reaction?

In the same vein, when statistics will unfold before your eyes and show you another findings obtained from the survey that of the total employed persons in the Philippines in January 2012, 62.1 percent were working full time while 36.7 percent were part-time workers, what will be your immediate response?

Such rhetorical questions might lead one to think critically and to start untying the entangled thread that complicates the issue on underemployment as one brings to the fore these questions – “Who are the underemployed?” “How does underemployment differ from unemployment?

While unemployment has been a common topic of discussion, underemployment and its effects have not been given much attention, even though the number of underemployed workers has also increased.

It has been said that “unemployment and underemployment are considered as the two difficult socio-economic problems that can cause undesirable effects on the person’s economic and social status.

The easiest way to present the concept that illustrates the meaning of unemployment is when one is in a jobless condition. On the other hand, underemployment refers to a condition wherein an employed individual’s work is insufficient to fulfill his needs. Moreover, employed persons who express the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job, or to have additional job, or to have a new job with longer working hours are considered underemployed.

According to NSO Administrator Carmelita N. Ericta, “the number of underemployed persons in the country in January 2012 was estimated at 7.0 million placing the underemployment rate at 18.8 percent. The underemployment rate in January 2011 was estimated at 19.4 percent. Fifty-nine percent of the total underemployed persons were visibly underemployed or working for less than 40 hours during the reference week. Those working for 40 hours or more accounted for 38.8 percent. A large percentage of the underemployed were working in the agriculture sector (43.8%) and services sector (40.5%). The underemployed in the industry sector accounted for 15.7 percent.”

What about Northern Mindanao ?

Based on the Preliminary Results of the January 2012 Labor Force Survey conducted by the National Statistics Office, the underemployment rate for Northern Mindanao was posted at 26.6 percent. Though it decreased by 1.7 percentage points from 28.3 percent a year ago, it still registered as the highest among the Mindanao regions and also higher than the national figure of 18.8 percent. Some of this number of people employed for less than 40 hours a week means that there is less money being brought home to pay for living expenses, barely enough to pay for the basic needs of the family.

Underemployment is often related to marginal work, and therefore creates substantial distress and hardship to the individuals. Most underemployed persons are living on low wages and/or in poverty and they have nothing to spare for the education of their children, leading to an increase in the number of uneducated children and those who have dropped out from school. This would then pose another problem on the labor force in the future as these children would find it hard to look for a job that would fit their qualification. As cited in an online article in the Journal of Management, “‘I Have a Job, But…’ A Review of Underemployment,” by University of Nevada, Reno Assistant Professor Frances M. McKee-Ryan and University of Alabama Assistant Professor Jaron Harvey, underemployment brings potential detrimental effects to individuals, organizations and society.

Along with the decreasing trend on the underemployment, Northern Mindanao also experienced a decline on the unemployment rate which was estimated at 4.3 percent, indicating 0.6 percentage point lower compared a year ago with 4.9 percent. Despite the vast development of numerous establishments and industries in the region, still some people were not able to get hold of a job.

On the other hand, the labor force participation rate for the region is posted at 69.2 percent. It showed a slight increase of 0.8 percentage point from 68.4 percent in 2011. This placed the regional employment rate at 95.7 percent, higher by 0.6 percent compared to last year’s rate of 95.1 percent. However, employment growth was not sufficient to reduce unemployment because of population growth and increased labor force participation.

Across industry groups, those employed in the services sector comprised the largest group, making up nearly half (45.1%) of the total employed persons. Employed persons engaged in wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles comprised the largest group in the services sector (17.0% of total employed).

Workers in the agriculture sector comprised the second largest group, consisting of 44.7 percent of the total employed persons. Only 10.2 percent of the total employed was in the industry sector.

Among the various occupation groups, the laborers and unskilled workers comprised the largest group making up 39.6 percent of the total employed persons in January 2012. Farmers, forestry workers and fishermen were the second largest group with 18.5 percentage share.

Indeed, underemployment might be a complex phenomenon that is difficult to study, but if it would not be given attention, it will continue to bring more challenges that will affect the individuals and the economy.

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Aves conferred as father of brgy civil registration

         THE Philippine Association of Civil Registrars (PACR) through its President Dorotheo O. Lacbain Jr., a municipal civil registrar—conferred to Director Salvador A. Aves of the National Statistics Office, Region 10 the title Father of Barangay Civil Registration System (BCRS)" during the 5th Regional Convention on Barangay Civil Registration System held on October 11-12, 2012 at Grand Caprice Restaurant and Convention Center in Cagayan de Oro City. NSO Administrator and Civil Registrar General Carmelita N. Ericta with Director Lourdes Hufana of the Civil Registry Department and more than 1,700 participants witnessed the conferment of title to Mr. Aves. Earlier, Mr. Aves conceptualized and implemented the Barangay Civil Registration System (BCRS) whenhe introduced it in Region 10 as its flagship project then and was aggressively implemented in provinces of Bukidnon and Agusan del Sur. His idea of BCRS was conceived largely due to his concern for the less privileged and deprived sector of the populace, the indigenous peoples. BCRS was introduced with the belief that if civil registration is conveyed to the barangay level, the recognized constraints will be countered; thus, extending the civil registration services to the barangay constituents. The objective of the project is to include the IPs and Muslims in the Civil Registration System, thereby including them in the privileges that complement those who are registered. It was a humble contribution and vehicle in instituting change that could propel them towards the mainstream of Philippine society, while at the same time protecting their distinct cultural practices and traditions as guaranteed by the Constitution. BCRS has been adopted by other regions until it has been practiced nationwide. It also gained recognition in Asia and the Pacific as a viable model of improving the registration of births. The German agency, GTZ, got interested in trying this scheme in Indonesia where civil registration cum population administration system was established. Mr. Aves was also conferred the titled "Father of Philippine Association of Building Officials "in October 28, 2003 at the Philippine Convention Center, Manila in recognition of his efforts in unifying the Building Officials into one cohesive and united group empowered to plan and amend the National Building Code, thereby making it responsive to the changing times. This was triggered when Mr. Aves realized that the quality of private building construction statistics processed by NSO was deteriorating after the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) ceased to exercise supervision over building officials due to the implementation of the Local Government Code.

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Looking back: Stepping forward thru BCRS

A number of theories on empowerment have taken the time to evolve to make it a very substantive word. There is no doubt that the concept of empowerment has assumed an increasing interest to researchers, practitioners and even to the citizens. A very simple way of understanding empowerment is to equate it with increased awareness and increased control of one's life. One can surmise that the opposite of empowerment is powerlessness which according to Keiffer (1984) when viewed at the individual level can be seen as the expectation of the person that his/her own actions will be ineffective in influencing the outcome of life events.

What has this to do with civil registration?

If we were to take a look at the 2010 Census of Population and Housing, we would see that Northern Mindanao recorded 4,297,323 population and a growth rate of 2.14 since the last two decades. This implies that there is a corresponding growing need for more efforts to raise the level of awareness among the people to register the vital events of their lives - births, deaths, fetal deaths, marriages, and all such events that have something to do with an individual's entrance and departure from life together with the changes in civil status that may occur to a person during his lifetime. Two decades and three years ago, the NSO -UNICEF Multi Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) revealed that of the 1999 five million or 7 percent of the 75 million Filipinos living in the coun-try were not registered with the Local Civil Registrars. This was also supported by the CENSUS 2000 report which indicated that three out of ten Filipino children under the age of five did not have birth certificates.

It may be recalled that in 1993, the Barangay Civil Registration System (BCRS) was introduced in Region 10 to improve the low level of civil registration with the belief that if civil registration is conveyed to the barangay level , the recognized constraints (such as topographical features which made it difficult for people especially the indigenous people to travel to the town center just to have vital events registered) will be countered. The idea of BCRS was conceived largely due to the concern of this author for the less privileged and deprived sector of the populace, the indigenous peoples. It was designed to be a humble contribution and vehicle in instituting change that could propel them towards the mainstream of Philippine society while protecting their distinct cultural practices and traditions as guaranteed by the Constitution at the same time. The objective of the project is to include IPs and Muslims in the Civil Registration System; thus, including them in the privileges that complement those who are registered. BCRS was first introduced in Bukidnon and Agusan del Sur as a flagship project of Region 10 which later on became a viable model in improving the civil registration in the country. BCRS is basically a process of facilitating the registration of vital events at the barangay level through the barangay LGUs with the Barangay Secretary as the Focal Person. Putting BCRS into action has actualized the empowerment of the barangays, and has given invisible children who had been deprived of their right to a name their identity through birth registration.

Thus, it is the fervent hope of the organizers of the 5th BCRS Regional Conference that this undertaking will lead the way ahead to a more empowered and more mobilized barangays. After all, "Sa Barangay Nagsisimula Ang Pagbabago."

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NSO R-10, PCAR to host N. M’nao registrars confab

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY - The National Statistics Office of Region 10 (NSO-10) under the leadership of Regional Director Salvador A. Aves, and the Philippine Association of Civil Registrars (PCAR) spearheaded by its president, MCR Dorotheo O. Lacbain, has joined forces in convening the barangay officials and local civil registrars of Northern Mindanao in one forum dubbed as the 5th Regional Convention on Barangay Civil Registration System (BCRS), at Grand Caprice Convention Center on October 11-12.

NSO Administrator and Civil Registrar General Carmelita N. Ericta will grace the convention as Keynote Speaker. The BCRS regional convention will revolve around the theme "Sa Barangay Nagsisimula Ang Pagbabago," according to Director Aves. Tomas P. Africa, Consultant of PARIS 21 and former NSO Administrator and Civil Registrar General will also elucidate the theme via discussion of the Significance of BCRS in National Development. Topics of current significance such as RA 10172 ,otherwise known as "An Act Authorizing C/MCRS to Correct Clerical Errors in the Day and Month of Birth or Sex without Judicial Order" will be tackled by Dir. Lourdes J. Hufana of the Civil Registry Department of NSO Central Office.

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Revisiting family income and expenditures: A better way to understand poverty issues, concerns

THE issues on poverty have arrested the attention of so many researchers who dealt with a number of studies that resulted to innumerable theories, methodologies and findings. For instance, the Global Development Research Center (http:// www.gdrc.org/icm/povertycauses.htm) in its compilation of article on the causes of poverty and related issues presented two types of poverty: Individual and Aggregate. The former is explained by individual circumstances and/or characteristics of people such as amount of education, skill, experience, intelligence, health, handicaps, age, work orientation, time horizon, culture of poverty and discrimination, together with race, sex, and others. The latter is explained by two types of aggregate poverty theory: case and generic. According to case theories of poverty, aggregate poverty is just the sum of individual poverty, whereas the generic illustrates that poverty is explained by general, economy-wide problems, such as inadequate non-poverty employment opportunities, inadequate overall demand (macro problems, macro policy), and low national income (Less Developed Country). However, layman's concept equates poverty with the condition of low or slowly rising income that could not cope with costs that have risen fast or if not faster through inflation and rapid population growth. This gives people the impression that the levels of income and consumption are critical to determining who is poor. For Mr. Juan de la Cruz, being poor is knowing exactly how much everything costs, because you have to budget your income against your expenditure. The quality of poverty estimates relies heavily on the data sources. One of the sources of data for poverty estimation in the Philippines is the Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES). The FIES is the source of detailed information on income and expenditures of Filipino families. The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) is in charge of releasing the official poverty statistics that are based on (per Capita) income data sourced from the FIES. The FIES is a nationwide survey of households undertaken by the National Statistics Office. It is the main source of data on family income and expenditures. Total family income includes primary income and receipts from other sources received by all family members during the reference period as participants in any economic activity (either as laborer, proprietor, capitalist or entrepreneur) or as recipients of transfers, pensions & grants, among others. On the other hand, family expenditures refer to the expenses or disbursements made by the family purely for personal consumption during the reference year. These excludes all expenses in relation to farm or business operations, investments ventures, purchase of real property and other disbursements which do not involve personal consumption. What is the status of the family income and expenditures of Northern Mindanao compared to national figures? In 2009, the average annual family income of Filipino families in Northern Mindanao was posted at P165 thousand which was 16.2 percent higher than the 2006 estimated average of P142 thousand. Similarly the national figure also manifested an increase of 19.1%, that is, from 173 thousands in 2006 to 206 thousands in 2009. Adjusting to the inflation rate between 2006 and 2009, the average annual family income in 2009 posted at P165 thousand would be valued at P98 thousand at 2000 prices. However, there is a big disparity in the average income between the bottom 40 percent and the upper 60 percent. The average income for the bottom 40% is 55 thousand while the average income for the upper 60% is 238 thousand. On the national scope, interesting but frustrating data on family expenditures reveal that poor families spent 64 thousand annually on the average which is surprisingly two thousand pesos more than their average annual income. In contrast, families in the upper 70 percent income group spent 224 thousand pesos a year, on the average; hence, could generate savings of 44 thousand pesos in a year, on the average. With regard the Northern Mindanao data, there is a savings of 43 thousand pesos in a year, on the average, for the upper 60% income group which spent 195 thousand pesos in a year, on the average. However, in the bottom 40% income group, they spent all what they have earned such that they did not have any savings at all. Nevertheless, combining all income groups, a savings of 26 thousand was noted in 2009. The 2009 Gini Coefficient was recorded at .4737 in Northern Mindanao down by 1.4 percent from .4806 in 2006. A lower gini coefficient indicates a movement towards a more equal income distribution among families.

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Looking through one's lens

MY several readings on macroeconomics of labor markets reveal one reality, that is, the need for more studies that will address basically all sectors of the society. For instance, the study conducted by Sergiy Stetsenko of the University of Pennsylvania (2010) shows the change in behavior of fertility rate at business cycle frequencies in the United States between the 1970s and 1990s and it further shows how the cyclical and secular properties of fertility can be used to distinguish among several proposed theories that account for the rise in labor force participation of married mothers. Another study by Marion Warmuth (2007) deals with managing the aging work force and it discusses the challenges arising from it. It shows that the prejudices and discrimination attached to older employees such as being resistant to new approaches or new technologies and being less productive can be managed through changing the mindset of employers and the company culture. It also supports findings of a survey of a research institute that elderly are able to manage difficult situations through their routine and experience and up-to-date knowledge and education. So what is the bottom line? What I want to put across in this article is the realization that while it is true that the National Statistics Office is periodically conducting the Labor Force Survey, there is a corresponding need for researchers - be it from the corporate world or the academe- to use the NSO data as take-off point for further studies. It is not enough to obtain LFS data that gives number of employed, unemployed , or underemployed, it is also vital to see through one's lens the perspectives and consequences of a given situation and given set of data through research. What is this Labor Force Survey (LFS) ? The LFS aims to provide a quantitative framework for the preparation of plans and formulation of policies affecting the labor market. Specifically, the survey is designed to provide statistics on levels and trends of employment, unemployment and underemployment for the country, as a whole, and for each of the administrative regions, including provinces and key cities.The LFS has undergone changes in its questionnaire design starting in July 1987 where modifications in the concepts and definitions for measuring labor force and employment characteristics were adopted. The design is based on a past week reference period and new concept of availability and looking for work is adopted. With regard the concept, the Labor Force or Economically Active Population refers to population 15 years old and over who are either employed or unemployed. On the other hand, Persons Not in the Labor Force are those persons who are not looking for work because of reasons such as housekeeping ,schooling, etc. Examples are housewives, students, disabled or retired persons. For most part, statistics have been limited to the socio-economic data at the national level. It is very evident though that there is the need for information at the local level. In this regard, the LFS sample design has been drawn in such a way that accurate lower level classification would be possible. How are we going to look at the inputs of the LFS? For more effective application, it is preferable to look at the latest results- the July 2012 Labor Force Survey (LFS), which can be easily compared with the July 2011 data. Translating this set of data into figures, we would be looking at an estimated 63.1 million population aged 15 years and over with an employment rate of 93.0 per cent (almost the same with the 92.9 percent in July 2011), unemployment rate of 7.0 percent and an underemployment rate of 22.7 per cent. Among the unemployed persons, there were more males (62.1%) than females (37.9%). Majority (51.2%) of the unemployed persons belong to age group 15-24 years. Looking at the regional data, Cagayan Valley recorded the highest employment rate of 96.8 percent, followed by MIMAROPA and Zamboanga Peninsula (95.9% each). The lowest employment rate was recorded in National Capital Region (NCR) with 90.1 percent. It is interesting to know that those who worked in the services sector comprised the largest proportion, which posted more than half or 53.3 percent of the estimated employed persons. Equally interesting is the fact that those engaged in wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles comprised the highest percentage (18.6% of total employed). Those engaged in agriculture sector was recorded the second largest group which accounted for 30.9 percent of the total employed. Only 16.0 percent of the total employed consisted of workers in the industry sector, with the manufacturing (8.5% of the total employed) and construction (6.1% of the total employed) sub-sectors having the highest proportions. Education experts may be interested in looking into this information.With regard the highest grade completed, one-third (33.3%) of the unemployed persons were high school graduates, 13.9 percent were college undergraduates, while 19.2 percent were college graduates. Indeed, both business and academe can gain more insights by investigating further through research that will certainly address their most urgent need.

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AN INSIGHTFUL LOOK AT CIVIL REGISTRATION AND RA 10172

WHEN I was reading James C. Dobson's statement about marriage which says" Don't marry the person you think you can live with; marry only the individual you think you can't live without”, I was inspired to look at the latest statistics on marriage taking place in Northern Mindanao. What I saw was the total number of marriages occurring in 2010 which registered a total of 24,484 which is 1,571 higher than that of 2009. Then I shifted to statistics on live births - the latest of which is 2009 which posted a total of 80,747 live births consisting of 41,990 females and 38,756 males with a sex ratio of 108. Birth, death and marriage statistics are the milestones of human lives, and the most common way of collecting information is through civil registration-an administrative system employed by governments to record the occurrence of such events in the lives of their population (Hufana,2010). Civil Registration is defined as the continuous permanent, compulsory and universal recording of the occurrence and characteristics of vital events and other civil status pertaining to the population as provided by decree, law or regulation in accordance with the legal requirement of each country (United Nations 2001). The civil registration system addresses various needs. For individuals, vital records provide legal proof of identity, civil status, age and relationship. On the other hand, vital statistics derived from the aggregation of individual records provide the tools for the demographic analyses needed for economic and social planning and development. It also provides insights into various health information such as leading causes of death as well as death sex ratio. For instance, since 2000, there have been more reported deaths of males than of females. In 2008, the proportion of male deaths was higher than female deaths in all age groups except in age group 80 and over. Disparity between sexes was prominent from infancy until after retirement ages. The infant death sex ratio in 2008 was 143.7 , which indicates higher risk of dying among male infants than female infants ( NSO Philippine Yearbook,2010). If we were to take a insightful look at how civil registration in the Philippines has gone through in addressing the growing needs of the people, we would see significant developments such as RA 9048, otherwise known as AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE CITY OR MUNICIPAL CIVIL REGISTRAR OR THE CONSUL GENERAL TO CORRECT A CLERICAL OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERROR IN AN ENTRY AND/OR CHANGE OF FIRST NAME OR NICKNAME IN THE CIVIL REGISTER WITHOUT NEED OF A JUDICIAL ORDER, AMENDING FOR THIS PURPOSE ARTICLES 376 AND 412 OF THE CIVIL CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES. Such was the act passed in 2001. The passage of time witnessed growing needs among petitioners with regard some errors in their birth and marriage certificates .Thus, on August 19,2012 , President Benigno S.C. Aquino III signed into law Republic Act No. 10172, an act further authorizing the city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general to correct clerical or typographical errors in the day and month in the date of birth or sex of a person appearing in the civil register without need of a judicial order, amending R.A. NO. 9048. Clerical or typographical error refers to a mistake committed in the performance of clerical work in writing, copying, transcribing, or typing an entry in the civil register, such as misspelled name or misspelled place of birth, mistake in the entry in the date of birth or the sex of the person, which is visible to the eyes or obvious to the understanding, and can be corrected or changed only by reference to other existing record or records. Provided, however, that no correction must involve change of nationality, age , or status of the petitioner. This law will ease corrections and will spare the petitioner from undergoing the tedious court proceedings. Requesting parties are required to support petition with the following documents: A certified true machine copy of the certificate or of the page of the registry book containing the entry or entries sought to be corrected or changes; at least two public or private documents showing the correct entry or entries upon which the correction or change shall be based: other documents which the petitioner or the city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general may consider relevant and necessary for the approval of the petition. As provided ,"clerical or typographical error refers to a mistake committed in the performance of clerical work in writing, copying, transcribing or typing an entry in the civil register that is harmless and innocuous, such as misspelled name or misspelled place of birth or the like, which is visible to the eyes or obvious to the understanding, and can be corrected or changed only by reference to other existing record or records:” However, it strictly provides that no correction must involve the change of nationality, age, status or sex of the petitioner. Its effectivity shall take place fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two newspapers of general circulation.

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