Roxas vows to create 6mn jobs in farm, manufacturing industries

Liberal Party (LP) presidential candidate Manuel “Mar” Roxas  vowed to create 6mn jobs in the agriculture and manufacturing industry if he wins in May.Roxas bared his plan after a meeting with a workers’ group in Barangay Barbara, Baliuag, Bulacan.“I see, more or less, creating a million jobs every year. I have done this before in DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) when I was able to make the call centre (Business Process Outsourcing) industry grow. Now,millions of our workforce is employed in this sector. That happened because we had a plan, not a wish. It didn’t happen overnight or by chance,” Roxas said.“We stuck with our strategy; we sought the help of the private sector, enlisted the help of schools to help us in training…that’s why we were able to mount a concrete action,” he added.Roxas vowed to implement existing laws against contractualisation and trade unionism.There are at least 18 pending bills that seek to stop contractualisation in the labour sector. These measures seek to ban probationary employment exceeding six months.“I can assure you, the laws protecting our workers will be implemented. Employees have the right to assembly for the protection of their rights, especially against employers who don’t pay their SSS (Social Security System) dues,” Roxas said.