Agriculture, forestry sector suffer loss of 916,000 workers in June

MANILA, Philippines — Not long after Farmer Appreciation Day, hundreds of thousands of agriculture and forestry workers have left the industry. 

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) recorded a large drop in laborers in the agriculture sector in June. 

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration has long posed itself as one that values farmers. In 2023, the president even signed the New Agrarian Emancipation Act, which forgave the land debt of 610,054 agrarian reform beneficiaries.  

Despite seemingly significant assistance from the government, the PSA still found an annual 916,000 decline in people working in agriculture and forestry in its June 2024 survey. Fishing and aquaculture also lost 81,000 workers.  

The PSA pointed following months of intense heat waves caused by the El Niño phenomenon, including farmers

“The agri sector dropped substantially, in particular the crops, and we can see in rice in particular. Livesticock, particularly hog farming, was reflected in the labor market, so we can say that El Niño had a big effect this second quarter in particular.r,” PSA Undersecretary Dennis Mapa said at a press conference.

On top of the El Niño phenomenon, this massive drop in the agriculture sector also happens to coincide with Marcos’ Executive Order 62, which lowered the tariffs of agricultural products such as rice. 

Farmer groups have sought to stop the EO by requesting for a temporary restraining order at the Supreme Court last June. The Palace has since asked the Supreme Court to junk the said petition, saying that disagreement with the government’s position is not enough grounds to bring the EO to the court. 

How did other sectors fare? 

The agriculture and forestry sub-sector is not the only vital labor group that suffered losses. 

The PSA also found an annual decrease of workers in several other sectors. The public administration sub-sector saw a loss of 466,000 workers. These include workers in legislative activities, national defense, immigration and other government services. 

Education lost 71,000 workers while financial and insurance activities had a decline of 42,000 workers. 

So where did these workers go, especially amid an increased employment rate in the PSA’s June 2024 survey? While it is difficult to determine which sub-sector these workers went to, the PSA recorded the following sectors with the highest increase in workforce.

1. Construction – 938,000 workers 
2. Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles – 527,000 workers 
3. Accommodation and food service activities – 396,000 workers
4. Manufacturing – 353,000 workers      
5. Transportation and storage – 323,000 workers