Rep. Verzosa wants 20% discount on gov’t documents for poor job seekers

Tutok to Win party-list helps the poor in acquiring government documents for their employment requirements by proposing to give them discounts on government-issued papers.

MANILA, Philippines — Tutok to Win Representative Sam “SV” Verzosa recently filed House Bill 4828, or the Poor Job Applicants Discount Act, which grants poor job applicants a 20% discount on government-issued pre-employment documents.

The bill, filed on September 14, encourages and aids poor job seekers to secure gainful employment by providing them a 20% discount on securing documents from government agencies. 

“Malaking tulong sa mga nag-aapply ng trabaho ang 20% discount sa bayarin para sa barangay clearance, NBI clearance, police clearance, medical certificate, marriage certificate, birth certificate, TOR at certificate of good moral character. Yung iba nating mga kababayan, hindi pa sila natatanggap sa trabaho pero marami na agad gastos sa mga requirements at baon na agad sa utang. Kaya ito ang naisip natin bilang tulong din sa kanila,” said Verzosa regarding the financial obstacles faced by poor job applicants.

(This 20-percent discount on barangay clearance, NBI clearance, police clearance, medical certificate, marriage certificate, birth certificate, TOR and certificate of good moral character will be a big help to those applying for a job. So many of our fellow Filipinos are already spending so much before getting a job, which is why most are incurring colossal debt. That is why I thought of helping them.)

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) earlier reported that 2.99 million Filipinos remain unemployed as of June 2022. It also reported that poverty in 2021 reached 18.1 percent, meaning that around 19.99 million Filipinos live below the poverty threshold of PhP 12,030 per month for a family of five.

“Edukasyon at trabaho ang solusyon sa pag-ahon mula sa kahirapan. Nakaka-alarma na patuloy ang pagtaas ng bilang ng mga Pilipinong walang trabaho na ngayon ay aabot na sa tatlong milyon. May mga kabataang graduate nga sa kolehiyo pero hirap naman makapagsimula sa paghahanap ng trabaho dahil sa mataas na bayarin sa pagkuha pa lamang ng mga requirements.” said by the Tutok to Win party-list lawmaker on the plight of poor job applicants while seeking employment. 

(Education and employment are the solutions to help people out of poverty. The increasing number of Filipinos without a job is alarming; imagine three million. Some young applicants just graduated but find it hard to land a job because the requirements demand so much from their pockets.)

Verzosa, currently the vice chairperson of the House Committee on Poverty Alleviation, strongly recognizes labor as an essential component of the economy and that increasing employment is key to poverty reduction and improved welfare for the poor. 

“Nais natin na mabigyan ng patas na oportunidad sa pagkuha ng trabaho ang mahihirap nating mga kababayan na nagsusumikap makaahon sa kahirapan. Kaya naman ang Tutok to Win party-list ay isinusulong na maisabatas ang 20% discount sa mga kinakailangang dokumento mula sa gobyerno ng mga mahihirap na aplikante,” added Verzosa.

(We want to give the applicants from the poor sector equal opportunity in getting a job, for they want to get out of poverty through perseverance. That is why Tutok to Win party-list is pushing for this proposal to become a law.)

The enactment of this bill requires coordination among PSA, NBI, DOH, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Justice, Philippine National Police, National Anti-Poverty Commission, and Commission on Higher Education.

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JPV