More than 43,000 new jobs will be opened back home in the next three years, President Benigno Aquino III said early Tuesday upon his arrival from his week-long working visit to the United States. In his arrival statement made at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at 3 A.M., the president said he expected the new jobs to be generated after he and his entourage secured $2.4 billion in investments and a $434 million grant from the Millennium Challenge Corporation for social welfare programs. But a militant group cautioned Aquino against giving people “false hopes” after the president made his job announcement. Migrante Middle East likened Aquino's promise of jobs to counting eggs that have not yet been hatched. “Mr. Aquino is already counting eggs that haven't yet been hatched... Mr. President, please, don't give your kababayans false hopes,” Migrante-ME coordinator John Leonard Monterona said in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) news site. “It's good to be home,” said Aquino. “In the last week during our visit to the United States, we were able to send our message across: the Philippines is open for business.” Aquino, who attended more than 40 meetings with political, business, and civil society leaders in his week-long visit, said several US investors expressed their readiness to invest in the Philippines. “These meetings covered a wide range of sectors such as power generation, consumer products, business and knowledge process outsourcing, health care, and garments and leather goods,” he said. “We were able to secure a commitment of at least 43,650 new jobs in the next three years, including some 4,500 in construction-related jobs. And because of the multiplier effect, we estimate 200,000 more jobs to benefit our countrymen.” Aquino said US-based power firm AES Corporation will expand the capacity of its Masinloc coal-fired power plant by up to 660 megawatts, with a project cost of $1 billion. He said the construction of the plant, which may take three to four years, will create 1,500 jobs. More jobs will be created for plant operations. Beverage giant Coca-Cola will also invest $1 billion in the Philippines for the “upgrading and replacement of equipment and creation of new products and processes,” Aquino said. Other companies will invest a total of $400 million, he said. Among the companies he met with were Pfizer, Hewlett-Packard, JPMorgan Chase, General Electric. Aquino said he and the prime ministers of Singapore and Malaysia, with whom he separately met in the US, also agreed to expand trade relations with the Philippines. “We can say that the talks were not just for a show. They were wide-ranging and detailed. The foreigners felt the confidence that is felt by many Filipinos today,” Aquino said. “I urge other Filipinos who keep on criticizing (the government) to be one with us in working hard.” Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras, who was one of the four Cabinet secretaries in the entourage, said Aquino disclosed only the “sure” agreements that have already been signed.
