Trabaho. Tahanan. Magandang Buhay.
‘Yan po ang tatlo sa mga pangunahing mithiin ng ating mga kababayan.
Trabaho. Tahanan. Magandang Buhay.
May dahilan kung bakit una ang trabaho sa mga minimithi ng bawat Pilipino. Kapag may katiyakan sa trabaho, natutugunan ang mga batayang pangangailangan ng isang pamilya, at ito ay pagkain, pananamit at tahanan.
Kapag may trabaho nabibigyan sila ng pag-asa na ang pangarap na sariling tahanan ay makakamit, at mula doon, maipupundar at maitatatag ang isang matiwasay at magandang buhay.
Nagmumula ang katuparan ng magandang buhay sa pagkakaroon ng trabaho.
Ito ang dahilan kung bakit napakahalaga ng tungkuling ginagampanan ninyo, at kung bakit itinuturing kong malaking karangalan na humarap sa inyo sa araw na ito.
As PESO managers, you serve as facilitators of employment; at a basic level, your work is to match the needs of the industries with the qualifications of applicants. But for me, you are facilitators of the dream and aspiration of every Filipino to provide his loved ones a better life, to secure for his children a better future.
The philosopher Confucius once said, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, give a man a rod and you feed him for a lifetime.”
As government workers, as servants of the people, it is our mandate and duty to provide each and every Filipino the means to provide for himself and his family, to put food on the table, to have a roof over his head. Of course there are those who truly need the nurturing hand of government, and for them we have extended assistance through various social welfare programs. But for the majority of Filipinos, the most important help that government can extend is to empower them, to help restore and reinforce their dignity.
The Philippine government has for a long time acknowledged this responsibility concretely. It has adopted and enforced, since 1948, a series of laws that address the need to provide gainful employment, foremost among them are the Labor Code of the Philippines, The Local Government Code, and the Public Employment Service Act.
Yet the realization of our objective remains elusive, despite the preponderance of laws and regulations. A growing population, poverty, and job attrition as a result of global economic disruptions are among the many factors that stand in the way of our goal to provide decent jobs for our countrymen. And some of these are external factors over which we have no control.
The latest employment statistics should serve as a reminder that our work is far from finished. The unemployment rate for July 2011 is posted at 2.8 million Filipinos, or 7.1 percent, an increase of point one percent from the previous year. Meanwhile, the underemployment rate is 7.1 million, or 19.1 percent, or an increase of 1.2 percent from the previous year.
This is why I consider your theme “Disente at Produktibong Trabaho, Peso ang Kaagapay ng Estado” timely and relevant. It is both a statement of purpose and a call to action.
I would like to acknowledge the initiatives taken by the different local public employment service offices in assisting the public in finding jobs, improving their skills and competencies, and contributing to our nation’s development.
Of equal importance is the valuable assistance provided by PESO in the government’s campaign against illegal recruitment, a responsibility that has been entrusted to me by our President.
With the institutionalization of PESOs as the official government agency for those seeking employment, and the information and awareness campaigns that you undertake, we are able to remove the opportunities for illegal recruiters to take advantage of the desperation of fellow Filipinos. It is therefore imperative that we move towards strengthening the PESOs, not only to help our countrymen find employment, but as a vital agency at the forefront of the fight against illegal recruitment.
We must admit, however, that there are still areas for reform. I am glad that the Department of Labor and Employment has identified these areas and have taken pro-active steps to address them.
I would also like to issue an appeal to all stakeholders to actively participate in building the data warehouse for the National Skills Registry System, which was launched at last year’s PESO Congress, since all of us will greatly benefit from a central source of information on skills certification and accreditation, licensure, and local and overseas employment.
It is no secret that the lack of funds hinders the further institutionalization of our PESOs. This has always been a problem for developing countries, yet this is not and should not be an excuse to abandon our mandate. The lack of resources is not limited to PESOs. It is also a concern in most government agencies, and that includes the government housing agencies under HUDCC which I chair. But as I have always said, a fair amount of creativity can always compensate for the lack of resources.
One avenue which our PESOs can pursue is to actively enlist the assistance of the local government units. And we could consider bringing in the barangays for our programs.
When I do the Pabahay Caravans where we inform the public of the avenues available to them in housing, I could also convince the local government officials to establish and strengthen their PESOs. This way we could hit two birds with one stone.
The PESOs may also collaborate with the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) by getting the list of job opportunities in the housing projects that we are undertaking.
I am likewise optimistic about the positive outcome of a collaboration between the PESOs and HUDCC in providing jobs for construction workers and related professions.
From July 2010 to June 2011, a total of 881,504 jobs were generated from the construction of 108,853 housing units. This includes housing units constructed through private funds that were provided guarantees by the Home Guaranty Corporation. I believe we can explore the possibility of coursing the demand for labor for housing projects through the local PESO, in order to generate employment in the communities where the projects are located.
My fellow workers in government,
We invest our blood, sweat and tears not for the salary. I’m sure almost all of you will agree with me on this.
And while there will be those who consider working in government as simply a job where they are compensated for watching the wall clock signal lunch break, merienda, or time out, I am certain that a great many of us invest our blood, sweat and tears so that we may be instruments in helping our people live a life that is free from indignities, from poverty.
Panatag ako na marami sa atin, at alam kong kasama ko kayong nandito sa araw na ito, ay kaisa ko sa adhikaing mabigyan ng magandang buhay ang ating mga kababayan.
Trabaho. Tahanan. Magandang Buhay.
Yan ang minimithi ng ating mga kababayan. At ang katuparan ng kanilang mga mithiin ay nagmumula sa Trabaho.
The formula is quite simple—with appropriate and decent jobs for our people, we pave the way to our dreams of a better life.
That, my friends, is our responsibility, and I hope we can all work together at making this dream a reality, however hard the road, however thankless the job may be.
Umaasa ako na hindi bibiguin ng mga opisyal at kasapi ng PESOPhil ang ating mga kababayan.
Maraming salamat po at mabuhay ang PESOPhil, mabuhay ang sambayanang Pilipino.