Dexter Torres, 23, and his cousin Jun Jimenez, 22, arrived in Metro Manila a month ago. They were victims of typhoon Yolanda in Leyte and now looking for jobs here. The two said they can hardly find a job today.

“Before Yolanda hit, we are surviving from menial jobs,” Jun said.

He was a helper in a t-shirt printing then while Dexter was selling corn in the market. “Life is hard in the province, when Yolanda struck it became much harder. We did not have regular jobs there so we decided to come here and look for a better job,” quipped Dexter.

Luckily for him, a security agency is open for vacancy while Jun cannot apply as a security guard due to height requirement.

The two are part of the estimated 12.1 million jobless Filipinos or the 27. 5 percent of the working force, according to a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey for the last quarter of 2013. According to SWS, the unemployment rate rose to6 percentage points higher than the 21.7 percent in the previous quarter of the same year.

The report prompted President Aquino to call for a full cabinet meeting to discuss government’s plan on poverty reduction. But before the cabinet meeting, the presidents’ spokesperson, Edwin Lacierda, said that calamities like typhoons Pablo and Yolanda, as well as the earthquake that hit Bohol and Cebu last year, were the only reasons for the rising of unemployment.

The militant labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) scoffed at the government’s explanation. It said that the real cause is Pres. Aquino’s neo-liberal policies. KMU explained that the latest report of unemployment is a result of government’s dependence on foreign investments in trying to create jobs in the country.

“The cause of the present jobs disaster in the country is not Yolanda but (Aquino). His dependence on foreign investments and refusal to implement genuine land reform and national industrialization are disastrous for the employment situation in the country,” said Elmer Labog, chairperson of KMU.

Labog noted the results of the SWS survey came out on the same day that it was reported that foreign investments in the country grew by 50 percent in November 2013–supposedly as a result of higher investor confidence.

KMU said foreign investments in the country are concentrated in mining, real estate, and business process outsourcing, which do not create a labor base as broad as that of manufacturing.

“Once again, we see that increases in foreign investments do not automatically result in more jobs. Wanting instant profits, foreign capitalists are investing in financial markets rather than building factories or even offices. They are also investing in the non-productive sectors of the economy,” Labog said.

The labor leader added that the government’s plan of attracting foreign investors to the country is detrimental to Filipino workers as it means the offering up of cheap and repressed labor.

“The Aquino government is trying to attract foreign investments by pressing down wages, contractualizing work forces and repressing labor rights. The result is a no-win situation where unemployment is high and workers are impoverished,” Labog said.

Aside from SWS, the labor group also noted that even the government’s own data shows that unemployment has been increasing for the last three years. The Labor Force Survey showed that unemployment has been increasing, from 7.1 per cent in 2011 to 7.2 per cent in 2012 and to 7.3 per cent in 2013.

Roger Soluta, secretary general of KMU, said that the high unemployment rate contradicts the 7.2 per cent economic growth being hyped by the Aquino administration. “It’s a jobless growth not an inclusive growth,” he said.