Senate Minority Leader Teofisto Guingona Jr. said yesterday that some 1.7 million jobs could have been created had the Estrada administration succeeded in cutting down graft and corruption.
Guingona cited studies showing that 20 percent of the annual budget is lost due to graft and corruption.
"With the current budget of P600 billion, that means P120 billion is lost. That would have been sufficient to create 1.7 million jobs at P5,000 a month," he said in his radio program "Let's Go na with Guingona" aired over dzBB.
He also charged that cronyism and rampant smuggling under the Estrada administration were preventing workers from enjoying a just wage.
"The business climate is not served by cronyism. Why should new plants be put up when those of cronies enjoy much privileges?" Guingona asked.
He contended that rampant smuggling and unabated importation of dumped goods have caused the death of the shoe industry in Marikina City, the steel industry in Iligan City and the current problems besetting the agriculture sector.
"How can workers get a just pay when businesses are losing because of smuggling and importations? If smuggling and importations continue, more businesses will close down and more workers will lose their jobs," Guingona said.
He also claimed that the Estrada administration was "anti-labor," citing reports quoting the President as saying that workers cannot eat collective bargaining agreements (CBAs).
"We also could not eat the Constitution, but we need it, just like workers need the CBA. The CBA gives life to workers, gives them protection and just wage," Guingona added.
He said that organized labor constituted only 10 percent of those employed, and that no improvement was seen in the near future because of current administration policies.
He also took issue with the administration's claim that only more than 4 million or 10 percent of the labor force of 40 million, are jobless.
"In the census, a person who worked for one hour in three months is considered employed. We should change this definition because we are only fooling ourselves," he said.