Jobs GMA, what Jobs?

Napapanood nyo yung mga commercials ni GMA na nagsasabing marami raw siyang nagawang trabaho under her administration... and you start thinking to yourself... what the fuck is she talking about?

Well, JB Baylon Feels the same way too.

IF this election, as surveys say, is down to a contest between Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and FPJ, then we can also say it is down to a contest between empty claims and unexplained platforms.

Empty claims, because the tv commercial of GMA boasts of the creation of more jobs as well as a few other so-called accomplishments. Yet ask the man on the street and he questions the validity of these accomplishments. The advert, for example, has the President mouthing the lines of "more jobs"...Really? I know of some 20 people who were let go in December 2003 because business hasn't been all that good with the disposable income of the Filipino shrinking in absolute as well as relative terms.

More jobs? Really? I get so many inquiries from friends and acquaintances (some fresh from school, others already stale) about any job opening - underline the word any - that they are willing to try for just to earn some income. Maybe if we count work at call centers as jobs - and I suppose we can - provided we do not strictly equate qualifications with the task or responsibility being carried out. Otherwise we now have to account for the under-employed as well as the unemployed.

More jobs? Supposedly in Iraq, remember? That was the second reason we were part of the invasion meant to rid Iraq of WMD that don't appear to have been there in the first place. Because we stood shoulder to shoulder with the Americans - actually, shoulder to forehead (their shoulder to our forehead) we were to be rewarded with jobs that would be available when Iraq shifts from war gear to reconstruction gear. Well, Iraq is still far from leaving the war situation behind it, and in the meantime there are no such jobs opening in Iraq while our contingent (engineers, I think) get bombed.

I'd be out there shouting "GMA" hoarse if only there were indeed more jobs all around - more jobs so that my friends who have been posting resum?s all over the place do not have to worry about tomorrow. But there are no "more jobs". That's the fact. And those who insist that there are in fact more jobs out there now should perhaps be subjected to a disqualification petition for failure to understand reality.

Read it all. Binanatan rin niya kasi si FPJ eh.