Unemployment
IN Third World countries like the Philippines, meeting the employment and other needs of the burgeoning population, now totaling more than 110 million, is better said than done.
This is specially so considering the worsening of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, with the emergence of new variants, notably the highly-infectious “Omicron.”
In fact, government offices can reduce their on-site workforce if COVID-19 cases in their workplaces become “unmanageable,” accordng to the Department of Health (DOH).
DOH Sec. Francisco Duque III said that healtcare utilization rate had not yet reached the threshold required for declaring Alert Level 4, the number of health workers contracting the disease was increasing.
Duque, who is from vote-rich Pangasinan, said that even if we have enough beds but we don’t have enough people to take care of patients, these beds would be useless.
Metropolitan Manila (MM) was first placed under Alert Level 4 on Sept. 16, 2021, the start of the pilot run of granular lockdowns and the alert level system.
The worsening of the COVID-19 pandemic has thrust outfront anew the problems of unemployment, hunger and poverty not only in the metropolis but throughout the country.
We find it hard to understand that the rural migration to the metropolis continues despite government efforts to discourage rural people from looking for jobs in Metro Manila.
And to think that the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic is the heavily-populated National Capital Region.
Kailangangang magbago na ang paningin ng taumbayan sa Metropolitan Manila. Hindi ito paraiso.
