MANILA — Senator Joel Villanueva on Tuesday welcomed the results of the survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority, which showed that the country’s unemployment rate has improved from 5.7 percent in April 2017 to 5.5 percent last April.
“We are positive that more ‘Jobs, Jobs, Jobs’ will be generated by the ‘Build, Build, Build’ program of the administration, and if skills development and retooling programs of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) will be bolstered for more skilled workers, ultimately, investors will do business here, increasing quality employment opportunities within the country,” said Villanueva, chair of the Senate committee on labor, employment, and human resources development.
He said the lack of employment opportunities or low pay in the country “has always been the reason for the huge number of our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), working in 190 countries all over the world.”
“(B)ut if more investors will do business in the country and we have skilled workers, working abroad would just truly be an option and not a compulsion to skip abject poverty,” Villanueva added.
Noting the increase in number of OFWs deployed from 2.2 million in 2016 to 2.3 million in 2017, Villanueva urged the TESDA, Commission on Higher Education, and the economic managers to prioritize skills upgrading and the creation of quality jobs in the country.
“The continued outflow of workers has huge social costs, not to mention the depletion of the country’s competitive advantage, which is skilled labor. That’s why TESDA must continue and bolster its training to tap more skilled workers and open more job opportunities for the Filipino workforce,” said the senator. (Senate PR/PNA)
