QUEZON CITY, (PIA) — Representatives from the tripartite sector recently convened to set strategic plans and actions following the President’s approval of the tripartite-endorsed Labor and Employment Plan (LEP) 2023-2028.
In a strategic planning workshop organized and facilitated by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) held September 4 in Manila, stakeholders from the government, employer, labor, private, civic organization, and academic sectors shared inputs to craft the strategic targets and outcomes of the national plan. This is to ensure that the set indicators are attainable and relevant to both workers and employers.
Labor Undersecretary Carmela Torres
The LEP 2023-2028 aims to improve the productive and transformative capacity of the economy with specific and targeted development interventions on workers, focusing on three key areas of labor and employment: promotion of employment and human resource development (HRD); workers’ protection and welfare; and labor relations.
“The responsibility for [LEP 2023-2028] implementation, monitoring, and evaluation is not the DOLE’s and/or the government’s responsibility alone but is collectively shared with the private sector, with ALL. It is the whole of government and the whole of society’s participation, contribution, and responsibility,” Labor Undersecretary Carmela Torres said
Torres enjoined all stakeholders to actively participate in validating and reviewing targets that will form part of the LEP results matrix.
Productive, remunerative, freely chosen, and sustainable work
Among the identified interventions to promote employment and HRD in the country include aligning educational curricula to labor market requirements that entail a review of the current curricula, modules, and training standards in basic and higher education, TVET offerings, and professional development programs.
Under the LEP, the labor and employment sector also aims to invest more in research to conduct impact studies on employment.
DOLE also continues transforming its existing programs, e.g., Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers Program, to align with the industry demand for green jobs and skills.
Rights-based labor governance
Strengthening the capacities of government and social partners through labor governance education, specifically in the areas of freedom of association (FOA) and civil liberties, is also among the strategies to ensure a labor and employment sector that respects fundamental principles and rights at work, international labor standards, and human rights.
The LEP also targets the creation of modernized, updated, and problem-solving-focused labor education programs to promote a common understanding of labor concepts, such as FOA, collective bargaining, bipartism, and tripartism, among others.
Equitable and inclusive social protection
In promoting inclusive and equitable social protection for workers and their families, the LEP aims to strengthen collaboration and partnership among government agencies in expanding social insurance coverage and benefits for marginalized and vulnerable workers.
Social partners also emphasized the incorporation of skills development in social protection programs to ensure sustainable interventions for vulnerable workers.
To intensify promotion and access to labor and employment programs in the countryside, awareness-raising and information dissemination programs will also be strengthened with the help of partners in the local governments.
To further improve the LEP results matrix and address the issues raised by the worker and employer groups, DOLE Undersecretaries Carmela I. Torres, Atty. Benedicto Ernesto R. Bitonio, Jr. and Atty. Benjo Santos M. Benavidez also provided inputs, particularly in the areas of policy direction and program administration.
Once finalized, the results matrix will form part of the LEP and will serve as a guide in labor and employment policy and program development in the next five years.(dole/pia- ncr)
