MANILA – GMA resident analyst Richard Heydarian on Tuesday said the $12.165 billion worth of investments which President Rodrigo Duterte secured during his fourth official trip to China should generate employment for Filipinos and not for the Chinese.
“Pagdating sa mga Chinese investments, $12.1 billion and then supposed mag-ge-generate ito ng 21,000 jobs. Ang question dito is ‘yung 21,000 jobs ay Chinese jobs o Filipino jobs? Because ito ‘yung problema natin sa investments,” Heydarian said in an interview on GMA News’ “Unang Balita.”
“Maraming mga Chinese workers ang pumapasok. ‘Yung mga equipment na ginagamit ay all-operated by Chinese so mukhang minsan the way the projects are designed mukhang hindi talaga ma-involve ‘yung mga Pilipino. It’s great to talk about $12 billion and 21,000 jobs pero alin ang pupunta sa Pilipinas?” he added.
Heydarian said Filipinos need more transparency from the government when it comes to the agreements that it is entering with China.
He noted that the Philippines need “quality” investments, saying that these should help Filipino workers.
Last Friday, Duterte witnessed the exchange of 19 business deals signed by Philippine and Chinese firms on the sidelines of the second “Belt and Road” forum in Beijing.
The Philippine business delegation and their Chinese counterparts signed one contract agreement, three cooperation agreements, two purchase framework agreements, and 13 Memoranda of Agreement (MOA) or Understanding (MOU), according to the Department of Trade and Industry.
The government said the deals are expected to generate 21,165 jobs. (GMA News)
