Senator Joel Villanueva highlighted the importance of creating regular, sustainable jobs under the government’s National Employment Recovery Strategy (NERS), saying that data presented by the labor department recently only scratched the surface of the massive unemployment triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
While 780,119 jobs were created from the NERS Action Agenda as reported by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Villanueva pointed out that three of the seven programs cited in the report merely generated short-term employment.
“Upon closer inspection of the report, the programs included the Government Internship Program (GIP), the Special Program for Employment of Students (SPES), and Tulong Panghanapbuhay para sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD). These are merely short-term employment, and not really new regular employment opportunities,” said the chair of the Senate labor committee at the DOLE budget briefing.
“Matagal na natin hinihiling na gumawa ng scorecard ng trabahong nalilikha sa ilalim ng NERS.”
“Kaya po matagal na natin hinihiling na gumawa ng scorecard ng trabahong nalilikha sa ilalim ng NERS. Gumawa po tayo ng talaan kung anong manggagawa ang kailangan ng industriya, at nasaan ang mga ito. We’ve sought clarification from DOLE to specify how many jobs were actually created under NERS since June this year,” the veteran legislator explained.
“Our displaced and disadvantaged workers need emergency employment. However, what they need and desire is stable and dependable regular employment,” continued the seasoned lawmaker, who is set to sponsor the labor department’s budget proposal in plenary as vice chair of the Senate finance committee.
The senator explained that the GIP, SPES, and TUPAD programs only served as temporary employment opportunities for beneficiaries.
GIP is a three-to-six-month internship program open for high school, tech-voc or college students who intend to pursue a career in government, according to the DOLE website.
On the other hand, SPES is “DOLE’s youth employment-bridging program which aims to provide temporary employment to poor but deserving students, out-of-school youth, and dependents of displaced or would-be displaced workers … to augment the family’s income to help ensure that beneficiaries are able to pursue their education.”
TUPAD is the government’s emergency employment program “for displaced workers, underemployed and seasonal workers, for a minimum period of 10 days, but not to exceed a maximum of 30 days, depending on the nature of work to be performed,” according to the DOLE website.
He pressed the department to account for the jobs created under NERS so that efforts to spur employment are monitored closely.
“Kwentas klaras po sana para hindi ‘false hope’ ang maiparating natin sa ating mga kababayan.”
“I know that NERS is an inter-agency or whole of government initiative but let us reach for our targets, specifically for DOLE. Ilan po ba ang malilikhang mga bagong trabaho ng ahensya? Ilan po kada industriya? Ilan po kada rehiyon? Ilan po kada probinsya?” Villanueva said. “Kwentas klaras po sana para hindi “false hope” ang maiparating natin sa ating mga kababayan.”
“It is important to emphasize the crucial role of our offices not only in employment recovery but in job creation. Hindi lang po pagsalba ng trabaho, hindi lang po panandaliang trabaho, kundi paglikha po ng matatag at pangmatagalang trabaho ang trabaho natin,” he added.
Unemployment in August reached 8.1 percent or about 3.88 million, while underemployment is 14.7 percent or around 6.48 million.
