SCUTTLEBUTT

The lady behind the mess

When people say, “Behind every great man, there is a woman,” this might also, by extension, suggest that behind every conman, there is a conwoman.

The controversial contract for a government deal was orchestrated by a lady official, who is said to be very powerful as she can manipulate contracts, amassing for herself millions in government funds.

A nosy Tarsee said: “She holds people by the throat when it comes to broadcast deals. She’s shrewd. She learned this when she was an official of a TV station. Her moves are impressive.”

The woman currently is the head executive assistant of a Cabinet member. She was promised she would later be designated an undersecretary to keep her entry into the key department discreet.

The nosy source said this was not the first time the woman, known for her manipulative ways, had secured various multi-million-peso contracts, pocketing millions in connivance with her live-in partner, who is a dreaded shady individual.

“They managed to manipulate the directors of a TV station, and now he’s made his way into Malacañang. The current administration should be cautious. This person is deeply experienced in making money,” the source said.

Job-shedding growth back?

Is a job crisis in the offing despite a leap-frogging economy?

In a previous administration, a phenomenon called job-shedding growth existed where an expanding economy, measured by rising gross domestic product (GDP), simultaneously loses jobs or fails to create enough new ones to offset losses.

It’s a growth skein that doesn’t broadly distribute employment opportunities, often due to structural or technological factors.

According to a labor group, a full-blown jobs crisis has started.

The same cyclical unemployment spike after the holidays is happening, only much worse.

Since the start of 2025, over half a million more Filipinos have lost their livelihoods, and nearly a million more are struggling to make ends meet with inadequate work and wages.

Yet we get from economic managers the same worn-out playbook of business-as-usual job fairs, job-sharing schemes disguised as decent employment, and empty promises of foreign investments.

According to the latest January 2025 Labor Force Survey, unemployment rose to 4.3 percent (2.16 million) from 3.1 percent (1.63 million) in December 2024, while underemployment surged to 13.3 percent (6.47 million), up from 10.9 percent (5.48 million) in the same period.