Senate ratifies bicam report on Tulong-Trabaho bill

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate has ratified the bicameral conference committee report on a measure that seeks to narrow the unemployment gap in the country by improving the technical-vocational skills of Filipinos.

The House version of the bill was approved by the House of Representatives last October.

READ: Villanueva hails House approval of bill on technical-vocational training

Once ratified by both the Senate and the House, the bill will be transmitted to President Rodrigo Duterte for signature.

Senator Joel Villanueva, chair of the Senate committee on labor, employment and human resources development, said the measure aims to increase the funding for technical and vocational trainings by providing for a Tulong-Trabaho Fund.

The said fund would be managed by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).

During Villanueva’s sponsorship speech on the bicameral report last Monday, he said the Tulong Trabaho Fund will “provide qualified recipients with access to TVET (Technical-Vocational Education and Training) programs through the full payment of the selected programs’ training fees.”

He added that the fund could also be utilized to provide additional financial assistance to fund recipients such as transportation allowance and laboratory fees if needed.

“Sa panukalang batas na ito, ang ‘tulong’ ay ginawa po nating obligasyon ng gobyerno at ang programa para tiyaking akma ang kakayahan ng ating mga kababayan ay ginawa nating bahagi ng responsibilidad ng mga employers o industry bodies,” the senator said.

(In this bill, providing  ‘assistance’ to our people is the obligation of the government and the program that will ensure that our people have employable skills is part of the responsibilities of employers or industry bodies.)

“Hence, the reconciled bill involves industry bodies in the determination of qualified recipients of the Tulong-Trabaho Fund,” he added.

The consolidated version of the measure, approved by both the Senate and the House, seeks to institute Philippine Labor Force Competencies Competitiveness Program and free access to TVET. /ee