Tripartite Council (Creation)

Senate Office of the cretary TWENTIETH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) First Regular Session ) 25 AUG 27 P3:33 SENATE RECEIVED BY: 1295 S. No. _ Introduced by SENATOR MARK A. VILLAR AN ACT CREATING A TRIPARTITE COUNCIL TO ADDRESS UNEMPLOYMENT, UNDEREMPLOYMENT, AND THE JOB-SKILLS MISMATCH PROBLEM IN THE COUNTRY, AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR EXPLANATORY NOTE Job-skills mismatch is a situation where there are more jobs available than there are qualified job-seekers, or a mismatch between qualifications and available positions. According to a 2022 study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), despite the high employment rate, forty percent (40%) of Filipino employees are overqualified for their jobs with academic credentials beyond what is needed in their jobs, yet earning only five percent (5%) more for finishing their education. Also, job-seekers accept jobs that require fewer skills than what they trained for, most likely because they took a college degree program with little demand in the job market. According to the Philippine Business for Education, job-skills mismatch in the Philippines is a huge problem that stems from years of disconnect. It is largely contributory to unemployment and underemployment in the Philippines, which prevents the State from fully maximizing the potential of our young workforce. Employers are actively hiring, yet many vacancies remain unfilled. As such, many people still have difficulty finding jobs. This proposed bill seeks to address the problematic situation of jobs and skills mismatch that has plagued our fresh graduates and the workforce.

Through this bill, a Jobs-Skills Mismatch Resolution Tripartite Council will be created, which will formulate policies and programs to address this issue. It shall conduct an inventory, review, and evaluate courses, academic programs, and curricula of public and private higher educational institutions (HEIs) without violating their academic freedom, and the training programs in Technical Vocational Institutions. It shall assess the qualifications, skills, and competencies of students and graduates of higher education courses and technical-vocational education and training, or TVET. This shall be a needs-based inventory of job specifications and skills requirements of various industries. Ultimately, the council will serve all sectors of the workforce, whether government or private. The Council shall be composed of representatives from the government, academe, and industry sectors. It shall be attached to the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for administrative and budgetary purposes. This bill is a step closer to addressing the problems of unemployment, underemployment, and job skills mismatches in the country. Therefore, passage of this bill is earnestly sought. MARK A. VILLAR

Senait Bffire of the Sourcetarp TWENTIETH CONGRESS OF THE ) REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) First Regular Session 25 AUG 27 P3:33 ENAT 099. RECEIVED BY: S. No. Introduced by Senator MARK A. VILLAR AN ACT CREATING A TRIPARTITE COUNCIL TO ADDRESS UNEMPLOYMENT, UNDEREMPLOYMENT, AND THE JOB-SKILLS MISMATCH PROBLEM IN THE COUNTRY, AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

Section. 1. Declaration of Policy. - It is declared the policy of the State to reduce

2 the levels of unemployment and underemployment, increase productivity, and improve the standards of living in the country through the sustained development of a skilled citizenry and maintenance of a reservoir of national talents s consisting of 5 Filipino scientists, entrepreneurs, professionals, managers, high-level G technical manpower, and skilled workers and craftsmen in all fields. To this end, the State shall ensure the relevance and adequacy of academic programs of higher education institutions (HEis) and training programs offered in 9 technical-vocational institutions (TVIs) in relation to the needs and requirements of the business and industry sectors and the over-all human resource requirement of the country pursuant to its socioeconomic development goals.

Sec. 2. Creation of a Tripartite Council. - There is hereby established a Tripartite

Council, hereinafter referred to as the Council, that shall formulate policies and programs to address the problems of unemployment, underemployment, and job-skills mismatch in the country. It shall be a coordinating body among the government, academe, and industry sectors to primarily monitor economic trends in the global and domestic markets, including those pertaining to business and commerce and the local labor market, and to generate information relative to employment, unemployment,

1 underemployment, and job-skills mismatch. The Council shall be made up of representatives from the government, academe, and industry. The government representatives shall be composed of the following: a 4 Commissioner of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED); a Deputy Director- 5 General of the Technical Educationand Skills Development Authority (TESDA); an Undersecretary of the Department of Education (DepEd); an Undersecretary of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE); an Undersecretary of the Department 8 of Science and Technology (DOST); an Undersecretary of the Department of Trade 9 and Industry (DTI); a Commissioner of the Civil Service Commission (CSC); and a 10 Commissioner of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). The representatives of the academe shall be composed of the presidents of the federations of public and private HEis, public and private TVIs, and accreditation bodies of higher and technical-vocational educational institutions, which shall include the following: Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges; Association ofLocal Colleges and Universities; Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations; Technical-Vocational Schools and Associations of the Philippines; National Network of Quality Assurance Agencies; and the Federation of Accrediting 18 Agencies of the Philippines. The representatives of the industry sector shall be composed of the presidents of the following business and industry federations: Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines; Employers Confederation of the Philippines; Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation, Incorporated; Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines; Philippine Business for Education; Management Association of the Philippines; Philippine Business for Social Progress; and the People Management Association of the Philippines. The Council shall be headed by a CHED Commissioner as Chairperson, and the Deputy Director-General of the TESDA shall be its Vice-Chairperson. The members of the Council, except for the ex officio members, shall receive per diem for every meeting attended in accordance with existing rules and regulations. The Council shall be attached to the CHED for administrative and budgetary purposes.

The CHED shall provide a secretariat to the Council to be manned by the organic 2 personnel of the CHED and may be augmented by the employees from the member- agencies of the Council through detail or secondment. For the effective performance of its functions, the Council may, upon the recommendation of the CHED and the TESDA, revise the composition of its members.

Sec. 3. Powers and Functions of the Council. - The Council shall have the

following specific powers and functions: (a) Monitor the trends in the domestic and international labor market vis-a-vis the incidence of unemployment, underemployment and the job-skills mismatch in the country; (b) Formulate short-term and long-term policies, plans and programs that shall address job-skills mismatch, unemployment, and underemployment; (c) Conduct an inventory, review and evaluation of courses, academic programs and curricula of public and private HEIs and technical education and training programs of TVIs; (d) Conduct an assessment of qualifications, skills and competencies of students and graduates of higher education courses and technical-vocational education and training and benchmark these with national and international standards such as the Philippine Qualifications Framework, Association of Southeast Asian Nations Qualifications Reference Framework, and other relevant frameworks and international agreements to which the Philippines is a signatory. (e) Conduct an inventory of job specifications and skills requirement of various industries; (f) Recommend to the President of the Philippines, Congress and other government institutions such policies to address the problems of unemployment, underemployment and job-skills mismatch; (g) Request the assistance of government agencies in the performance of its duties and functions; (h) Hold regular quarterly meetings; and (i) Perform such other functions as may be necessary for its effective operation to achieve the objectives of this Act.

Sec. 4. Annual Report and Assessment. - Upon effectivity of this Act, the

2 Council shall submit an annual report to Congress on the status of employment of college students and new HEI or TVI graduates for the last five (5) years, as well as an assessment of the trends in the labor market and the skills required by various industries and business establishments.

Sec. 5. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within sixty (60) days after the

effectivity of this Act, the CHED shall, in coordination with the TESDA, DepEd, DOLE, DOST, DTI, CSC, and PRC, as well as other education stakeholders, promulgate the 9 rules and regulations for the effective implementation of this Act.

Sec. 6. Appropriations. - The amount necessary for the implementation of this

Act shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

Sec. 7. Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Act is declared invalid or

unconstitutional, the provisions not affected thereby shall continue to be in full force and effect.

Sec. 8. Repealing Clause. - All laws, executive orders, presidential decrees,

presidential proclamations, letter of instruction, rules and regulations or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

Sec. 9. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its

publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. Approved,