President Aquino declares May 3 as special
non-working day in celebration of ‘Sublian Festival’ in Batangas
President Benigno S. Aquino III has declared May
3, which falls on a Friday, as a special (non-working) day in the municipality
of Bauan, Batangas in celebration of "Sublian Festival".
The Chief Executive issued the declaration
through Proclamation No. 573 signed by Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr.
on April 29, to give the people of Bauan the full opportunity to celebrate and
participate in the occasion with appropriate ceremonies.
Sublian Festival is a yearly festive ceremony
commemorating the founding of the holy cross in Bauan, a town in Batangas. The
festival aims to revive the centuries-old tradition of dancing the Subli, an
indigenous dance of Bauan. PND (js)
President Aquino appeals to workers and
employers: Celebrate Labor Day
President Benigno S. Aquino III appealed to the
Filipino workforce and employers to set aside negativism and blame-throwing and
celebrate Labor Day (May 1) to recognize the industry and dedication of the
worker.
The President issued his appeal in his speech
keynoting a Pre-Labor Day dialogue with labor organizations in Malacanang on
Tuesday.
“Hindi po ba mas maganda kung imbes na tratuhin
ang Labor Day bilang araw ng piket at sigawan, ituring natin ito bilang
selebrasyon— isang araw na masayang nagdiriwang ang mga manggagawa at mga
negosyante dahil sa matagumpay at produktibong taon; isang araw na kinikilala
natin ang sipag ng bawat empleyado, at kung gaano kalaking biyaya ang magkaroon
ng isang trabahong marangal at bumubuhay sa pamilya mo?” the President said.
“Mula ngayon, sana ay ituring natin ang Labor
Day bilang Good Job Day. Tama na ang negatibismo. Marami tayong positibong
nagawa, at nangyari ito, hindi dahil sa mga reklamo o pagbabatuhang-sisi, kundi
dahil sa nagtulungan tayo. Panahon na para batiin natin ang isa't isa ng
"good job," he added.
He vowed to come up with working solutions to
persistent labor problems by continuing to focus at addressing four major
concerns: Ang mapanatili ang mga trabahong nariyan na; ang lumikha ng mas
marami pang trabaho; ang dagdagan ang kakayahan ng ating mga manggagawa; at ang
maigting na pagpapatupad sa ating mga batas” to protect the rights of the
common worker.
The President said he has directed the
Tripartite Industrial Peace Council to look into the process of amending the
Security of Tenure Bill to conform with existing labor laws and the Department
of Justice to beef up its efforts at addressing labor law violators.
He added that P187-million has already been set
aside for the Department of Labor and Employment to hire 372 Labor Law
Compliance Officers to augment the government’s apprehension of labor law
offenders.
“Inaasahan nating pagdating ng Oktubre,
makakatulong na sila sa paghuli sa sinumang umaabuso sa ating mga batas
paggawa,” the President said.
On the issue of job mismatch, the President said
he has ordered the labor market information service to provide relevant
information the most sought after job profiles such as those in the tourism,
business process outsourcing and agri-fisheries industries.
“Sa katunayan, nitong Enero, umabot ng 268,278
ang job vacancies sa Phil-Job.Net, habang may 116,795 ang bilang ng mga
aplikante dito. Ibig sabihin, may mahigit isandaang libong trabaho pa ang
kailangang punan, at oportunidad ito para lalo nating pag-ibayuhin ang
pagpapalakas sa mga kursong akma sa mga bakanteng trabaho,” the President said.
He pointed out that P900-million has been
allocated to fund the government’s Training for Work Scholarship Program (TWSP)
and the Private Education Student Financial Assistance Program (PESFA) in order
to hone its students’ knowledge and capabilities.
“Sa nakalipas na dalawang taon, umabot ng
480,430 ang scholars ng TWSP, at ayon sa huling tala ng TESDA, 70.7% ang
employment rate ng mga benepisyaryo nito. Ibig sabihin, sa 65,048 na
nagsipagtapos, 45,961 sa kanila ang nagtatrabaho na sa industriya ng animation,
call center, medical transcription, at software development. Patunay itong
habang nabibigyang-lakas sila para itimon ang sarili nilang kinabukasan, nagiging
katuwang din natin sila sa tuloy-tuloy na pag-ahon ng bayan,” the President
said.
On non-wage benefits, the President said that he
had signed Executive Orders 134 and 135 last week that sets Employee
Compensation Benefits (ECB) of government workers equal to the ECB of those in
the private sector.
“Napag-alaman din nating hindi pantay ang
Employees’ Compensation Benefits ng mga nagtatrabaho sa pamahalaan, kumpara sa
pribadong sektor. Halimbawa, kung may mangyaring masama sa isang empleyado ng
gobyerno habang nagtatrabaho, wala siyang makukuhang carer's allowance, at
siyamnapung piso lang kada araw ang matatanggap niyang Temporary Total
Disability Benefit. Samantala, ang nasa pribadong sektor, dalawandaang piso
kada araw na ang kanilang TTD, may 575 pesos pa silang carer's allowance,” the
President said.
“Upang gawing patas, nilagdaan natin nitong
nakaraang linggo ang EO 134 at 135 na ginagawang pareho ang Employees’
Compensation Benefits na natatanggap ng pribado at pampublikong sector,” he
added.
The President stressed the need to amend the
Social Security System Pension Scheme whose contribution rate has only
increased twice since 1980. He said this failure to increase the contribution
rate has made the state pension’s unfunded liability balloon to P1.1-trillion.
“Ngayon, kung magdadagdag lamang tayo ng .6% sa
contribution rate, at gagawin itong 11%, 141 bilyong piso agad ang maibabawas
sa unfunded liability ng SSS,” the President said.
“Ang mga ganitong reporma sa pamamahala ay
ginagawa natin upang mapanatiling matatag ang ating mga istitusyon, at masiguro
ang pangmatagalang pakinabang nito sa mamamayan,” he added.
“May panibagong lakas ang ating ekonomiya, at
nagmula ito sa pinagsanib na dedikasyon at tiyaga ng mga manggagawa at
negosyanteng Pilipino. Kayo ang gumawa nito. Maraming salamat sa inyong sipag;
good job sa napakalaking ambag sa bansa; good job sa mas marami pa nating
magagawa,” the President noted. PND (rck)
Aquino attends job, livelihood fair in Tarlac
City
TARLAC CITY: President Benigno S. Aquino III
attended Tuesday the Tarlac Job and Livelihood Fair here in Camp Servillano
Aquino aimed at providing employment to the people of Region 3 particularly the
new graduates.
The President toured the booths joining the job
affair upon arrival at Camp Servillano. He was accompanied by Labor Secretary
Rosalinda Baldoz and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority
(TESDA) Director General Joel Villanueva.
The booths include the recruitment area for both
local and overseas, TESDA Health and Wellness Treats, Department of Labor and
Employment (DOLE) Supported livelihood projects and Department of Trade and
Industry (DTI) trade fair and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration
(OWWA) both.
The Tarlac and Livelihood Fair showcases 66
participating employers (41 local and 25 overseas) with 2,522 local and 35,000
overseas job vacancies.
The Philippine National Police, the Armed Forces
of the Philippines, Philippine Navy, Philippine Air Force and the Philippine
Military Academy also participated in the job fair. Agencies providing
pre-employment documentation services such as the Social Security System (SSS),
Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI),
National Statistics Office (NSO), PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG Fund, Department of
Foreign Affairs and the PNP also joined the event.
The OFW-3M (Mag-impok, Magnegosyo Movement)
Savings and entrepreneurship advocacy project participated in by about 100
current OFW family leaders.
OFW-M3 reinforces current savings promotion and
enterprise development components of the Philippine Reintegration program. The
Tarlac provincial government promoting the One-Town, One Product (OTOP)
project, also joined the job and livelihood fair.
The job and livelihood fair here is a kick-off
event for the Labor Day celebration in Region 3. The event is in partnership
with the Public Employment Service Office (PESO) aimed at making available
employment opportunities to new graduates, job seekers, and workers reentering
the work force.
Throughout the country, there are 74 job and
livelihood fairs with 2,903 participating employers and recruitment agencies.
The government said there are around 4,000 job vacancies for those seeking
employment for the May 1 Labor Day celebration. PND (as)
