Press Release
March 21, 2009

KIKO PANGILINAN PUSHES FOR COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC PLAN

Independent senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan today calls on the government to come up with a comprehensive plan to cushion the impact of the global economic meltdown.

Reacting to the recent news of 40,000 Filipinos facing layoff from Japanese shipping firms, Pangilinan calls on "government officials to get their act together, cut down on politicking and curb corruption to mitigate the effect on the country's labor sector."

There are reportedly around 300,000 Filipinos working on merchant shipping around the globe. Due to the global economic meltdown, most ship owners are downsizing operations.

"The government must shore up SMEs. We must build their capacity through DTI support training, develop better pricing and packaging of native products, and additional support in their efforts at accessing markets," says Pangilinan. "More importantly, we must provide them access to credit."

"We have to take action. We just can't rely on stop-gap measures. Repatriated OFWs must be able to find progress and opportunities in their motherland. Let's put our heads together and tackle this very serious matter."

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