The ASEAN Integration: How prepared are the Filipino workers?

A couple of  weeks ago, the Secretary of  Labor was put on the spot, by a massive reaction to a DOLE announcement, that the government is poised to invite foreign workers into our country, because there are allegedly thousands of jobs here in our country and no Filipino is both competent enough and/or willing to take them. Since there are more than five million unemployed Filipinos, and counting, that announcement naturally provoked the workers' irritation and dismay. To our mind, the DOLE Secretary might have been telling the truth, but she did not communicate it well to the masses, as to make our people understand the labor market situation. There is such thing as job mismatch and the coming in of foreign workers will soon be a regular phenomenon, with the ASEAN Integration in 2015.

Job mismatch is a hackneyed, albeit much misunderstood reality. While there a lot of jobs, the applicants do not have the required competence to occupy them. That is supposedly being addressed by the government, through a draconian and long-term, albeit much delayed, strategy. And so, we should rather focus on  ASEAN Integration. In 1967, the original five-nation Association of Asian Nations, namely Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines made the so-called Bangkok Declaration, whereby they manifested the need for them to form a single market, so as to gain an economy of scale and to become stronger, in the face of the growing strength of China, India, Japan and South Korea. They originally looked at the year 2020 as the target year of integration. In 2006, however, they have decided to accelerate the integration to 2015.

In 2007, the ASEAN, already joined in by Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia, signed the Cebu Declaration, whereby the leaders affirmed their strong commitment to accelerate the establishment of an ASEAN Economic Community. The purpose is to transform the ten countries into a unified region, with free movement of goods, services, investment, skilled labor and freer flow of capital across national borders within the region. This integration is anchored on a convergence of interests among ASEAN member countries, to deepen and broaden economic integration, through existing and future initiatives with clear target results and specific timetables. The members bound themselves to the principles of an open, inclusive, outward-looking, and market-driven economy that shall adhere to agreed rules and multi-lateral commitments.

ASEAN shall thus become a single production and market base, facilitating free movement of business persons, skilled labor and talents, and strengthening its own institutional mechanisms. More cooperation shall be given impetus on human resources development, capacity-building, recognition of professional qualifications, closer consultation on macro-economic and fiscal policies, trade, financing measures, enhanced infrastructure and communications connectivity, development of electronic transactions through e-ASEAN and integrating industries across the region to promote regional sourcing and encourage private sector participation in the building of the ASEAN Economic Community. The problem confronting the Philippines is our peoples' seeming and apparent lack of adequate preparation. How can we enter into the arena sans any preparedness?

The ASEAN envisions an economic community that shall bring about at least four key results: 1.) A single market and production base, 2.) A highly competitive economic region, 3.) A region of equitable economic development, and 4.) A region that is fully integrated into the global economy. These objectives are inter-related and mutually reinforcing. The freer flow of skilled labor across the ten countries within ASEAN is both good news and bad news to Filipino workers. It is good because visa restrictions in Singapore and Malaysia, for instance, will soon be dismantled. But it is bad because, foreign workers will come into our own country freely and will most probably undercut our own workers in competing for jobs available here in the domestic labor market. Unprepared, our working class will be hit both ways. We cannot compete well out there, and our own job opportunities will be taken by others. What a double whammy.

Our people are used to the protectionist policies enshrined in the Constitution and the Labor Code. There are a number of professions that are reserved only to Filipino citizens. Under Article 40 of the Labor Code, no alien employment permit could be granted to any non-resident alien if there are Filipinos who are qualified, ready and willing to take the job. The Supreme Court earlier decided that former DOLE Secretary R. Torres' denial of a work permit to Tim Cone, as coach of Alaska's basketball team, was legal and valid because the association of Filipino coaches manifested their competence, readiness and willingness to take the job. In the face of the ASEAN integration, however, these barriers will have to be collapsed. And our workers will find themselves competing, ill-equipped with much prepared Indonesians, Malaysians, Singaporeans and even Thais and Vietnamese.

To our mind, if we enter into the ASEAN arena at all, we need to get our acts together and face the integration fully prepared and bullish. As of  today, we are too far away from being ready. As usual, we are rushing preparations in the last two minutes before D-day. Are we going to be left behind by our ASEAN neighbors? That, my friends, is the 64 dollar question. I'm afraid we do not really have a ready answer. Sayang na naman, Dodong. Pastilan gayod.