LACK OF JOBS FORCING YOUTH TO TURN TO DRUGS

The high unemployment rate in the country has driven many Filipino
youths to drug use and involvement in the illegal drug trade, an
International Labor Organization (ILO) official said recently.

ILO representative Wernes Blenk called on the government and other
agencies to take a closer look at the impact of globalization on the
growing number of unemployed young Filipinos aged 15 to 24 years old.

"The high unemployment rate must be addressed urgently because it puts
many young people at higher risk of getting involved in drug use and
the illegal drug trade," he said.

Blenk cited the results of a recent study indicating high levels of
unemployment and underemployment among young Filipinos found to be
engaged in drug use and involved in the illegal drug trade.

"Because they have nothing to do, they usually get into drug use," he
said, noting that drug use is often the stepping stone to a young
Filipino's greater involvement in selling, distribution and production
of illegal drugs.

Based on data from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the
number of unemployed Filipino youth has reached 2.5 million and is
rapidly increasing.

Most of these jobless youths are male and living in urban areas. Half
of them have completed high school, while those who had some college
education comprise 39.5 percent of the unemployed youth.

The high unemployment rate among young Filipinos, according to DOLE,
is mainly because most of them are unqualified for available jobs or
have not taken any steps to look for employment.

The ILO earlier reported that the drug trade has now become a family
business among poor communities in Metro Manila, with young children
comprising a high percentage of the "workforce," according to a recent
study.

The study showed that young children in poor communities are recruited
by their parents and older relatives to join the illegal drug trade.

Emma Porio, the principal researcher in the two-year study, said the
results of the study indicated that 10 to 20 percent of young children
in poor communities in Pasay City, Quezon City and Manila are now
involved in the drug trade.