Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
The pressing issue of finding employment opportunities has long been a concern for many Filipinos. It is an aspiration to seek well-paying and secure jobs, to the extent where some would even risk comfort and convenience just to find opportunities in foreign lands.
To once and for all address this challenge, the administration has committed to provide Filipinos with “high-quality and well-paying” jobs amid reports of a “decline in unemployment in August 2023.”
According to the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) on Oct. 6, 2023, it said that under the Marcos administration, “the labor market saw significant progress, with unemployment dropping from 5.3 percent in August 2022 to 4.4 percent in August 2023, while underemployment improved from 15.9 percent in August 2022 to 11.7 percent in the same month this year.”
This development comes on the heels of the President signing Republic Act No. 11962, known as the “Trabaho Para sa Bayan Act,” on Sept. 27. RA 11962 mandates the “formulation of a national employment masterplan to address unemployment, underemployment, the informality of working arrangements, the reintegration of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), and other challenges in the labor market.” The masterplan, which has a three-, six-, and 10-year development timelines, also includes “initiatives for supporting micro, small and medium enterprises, worker upskilling, employer incentives, and youth employment.”
During the signing ceremony held at Malacanang, the President emphasized that the law is a “significant milestone toward the sustainable and inclusive development of our country” and it will help “address issues such as low quality jobs, skills mismatch and underemployment, as well as the need to update the skills of our workers and promote the use of digital technologies, particularly for MSMEs.”
“I therefore direct the council and all concerned government agencies to fasttrack the issuance of the IRR of the law so that our workers and stakeholders can immediately benefit from it,” the President said.
The council will be chaired by the director-general of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and co-chaired by the secretaries of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
Marcos encouraged other government agencies and the local government units (LGUs) to work with the council “to ensure the effective integration of the plan into their policies and programs.”
The PCO added that aside from the “Trabaho Para sa Bayan Act,” there are complementary efforts that are expected to create more job opportunities. These include the Senate’s approval of the “Public-Private Partnership Act” and the launch of the “National Innovation Agenda and Strategy Document for 2023-2032.”
By focusing on these key initiatives, the government aims to “propel the nation toward a more resilient and prosperous future, ensuring that the Filipino workforce not only survives but thrives in an evolving job market.”
With a formal masterplan for job creation in place, the prospects look promising for Filipinos to secure their desired employment within the confines of our own country. This bodes well with Filipinos’ preference for staying close to their families and contributing to the local economy. It is hoped that the “Trabaho Para sa Bayan” will live up to its name and promise of providing employment for all — especially for those who urgently need one, the youth who are starting to build a career, and for the OFWs who have finally decided to return home.
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Credit belongs to: www.mb.com.ph
