PROF. ERLE ARGONZA GUESTS ON GMA7 RE: ODD JOBS
Why do people resort to odd jobs in the country? This question was the main query asked of Prof. Erle Frayne Argonza, sociologist and economist at the University of the Philippines, in the GMA7 program KAPUSO Mo. Hosted by Jesica Soho, the program is aired every 9:00 p.m. of Saturdays.
Appearing in the Nov. 18 schedule of the show, Prof. Argonza explained first of all the presence of marginal jobs that are considered ‘informal sector’. People have variances in abilities, skills, and ‘financial intelligence’ (to use Robert Kiyosaki’s concept), which makes accessibility to opportunities also variable. Many folks and even middle class people often begin with ‘underground economy’ jobs and businesses and later emerge successful in what they do.
There are those people who are smart enough, in that they are bullish in creating opportunities and not just wait for these to drop from the sky. Others are not smart enough, and are quite child-like in their dependence on others to provide them with bread & butter, or passively wait for opportunities to come to their lives.
As explained by Prof. Argonza, there is today an explosion of financial opportunities, more so in Manila which is among the top megalopolitan centers of the planet. There is no reason for Manila residents to be poor. Many of the poor folks have demonstrated their ability to graduate to middle class life and should be lauded for their achievements.
Those who are less smarter should learn from the experiences of the smarter ones who already succeeded in life. For instance, there is this man who makes a living by catching cockcroaches. Cockcroaches are a viable source of chemicals, can be cultured and marketed to biochemical companies that need large supplies of roaches. If the man can see this link between his odd job and the high end-user, than it is clear that he is creating an opportunity at the grassroots level.
Prof. Argonza further cautioned the audience not to stress so much on the negative side of the job market. There are too many simple or poor folks who, by their own ambition and drive to succeed, were able to graduate to middle class or higher quality of life.
Prof. Argonza cited many of his grassroots clientele as a development consultant, including a one-armed ex-convict who made it good by producing decor items made out of throw-away bottles. The man crafted miniscule houses, boats, and real life items and pasted them inside each bottle, turning the final products into superb pieces of crafts.
The final message was that poor folks should not despair about their living conditions. They should move ahead in life, be productive and ambitious, and learn to create opportunities.
The uniqueness of the show was that it was shot in an urban poor location in Old Balara, Quezon City. It was also stormy and rainy on the day the segment of Prof. Argonza was filmed, which adds superb ambience to the topic.
Prof. Argonza later immersed with the urban poor folks nearby, had some chats with the folks (both men and women, and also the children). Jesica Soho’s staff then took footage of this sublime interaction with the poor folks. Prof. Argonza challenged the folks to take the path of Hope and move ahead with the Light of the Almighty Hope in their daily life.
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