Human capital record spending to let young Filipinos reap demographic dividend – Dominguez

December 1, 2019

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the Duterte administration’s record spending on human capital development is meant to gear up young Filipinos for the country's “demographic sweet spot” by nurturing them into a dynamic and well-trained workforce capable of sustaining the economy’s high growth long into the foreseeable future.

Dominguez challenged the country’s young achievers to use what they have learned in school to either solve real problems that Filipinos experience or bring their skills to the public service rather than just calling out errors or wrongdoings they see or read in social media to be able to claim how “woke” they have become.

“No matter how many likes or hearts your last post received, it cannot, on its own, raise the resources needed to sustain an effective program or help poor families access the credit they need to invest in healthcare or their children’s education,” Dominguez told students from different universities and colleges gathered at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) for the first ever Sulong Pilipinas consultative workshop catered exclusively to the youth.

“A young population is one of our country’s greatest assets. We need to be ready to reap the benefits of our ‘demographic sweet spot,’ by cultivating a dynamic and well-trained workforce to enable sustained economic expansion long into the foreseeable future,” Dominguez said.

He said “this is the reason we have devoted a significant portion of our increasing revenue flows from the improved collection performance as well as from tax reforms toward investments in our human capital.”

On behalf of President Rodrigo Duterte, Dominguez accepted the recommendations from the young participants at the Sulong workshop.

Prioritizing countryside development and rural businesses to increase opportunities for those outside urban areas; providing more financial support for scientists and increasing funding for science and technology; and building more medical facilities with adequate equipment and properly compensated medical professionals in rural areas were among the top recommendations from the youth sector on how the government can better carry out its goal of inclusive growth.

“These recommendations, coming from the successor generation, will enlighten our policymaking,” Dominguez said.

The event included representatives from more than 40 universities and colleges and organizations such as the National Federation of Junior Philippine Institute of Accountants (NFJPIA) - NCR, and the Junior Philippine Economics Society (JPES). DMS