Palace expects job optimism to further grow with new law

FILE: Secretary Salvador Panelo’s Press Briefing (Photo screengrabbed from PCOO)

MANILA — Malacañang is expecting more optimism over the availability of jobs after President Rodrigo Duterte signed a law which waives government fees for documents needed for employment.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo made this remark after a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed that net optimism on job availability rose to “excellent” with +43 in June 2019, six points higher than the “very high” with +37 in March 2019.

“We expect this level of optimism to grow further especially with President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s signing into law Republic Act 11261, popularly known as the First-Time Jobseekers Assistance Act, last May 2019,” Panelo said in a statement.

“The Palace looks at this landmark legislation as a government’s investment in our young people, where 1.3 million of them are expected to benefit annually, as government-issued documents and clearances are mandated to be waived for first-time job seekers,” he added.

Meanwhile, Panelo also downplayed the 1 percent increase in adult joblessness from 19.7 percent in March 2019 to 20.7 percent in June 2019 as “seasonal.”

“We attribute this uptick as ‘seasonal’ since data gathering was conducted when students just recently graduated from their universities or colleges and started looking for employment, with SWS including in the figure those seeking jobs for the first time,” Panelo said.

On April 10 this year, Duterte signed Republic Act 11261 or the First-Time Jobseekers Assistance Act which prohibits the collection of government fees and charges in the issuance of documents required in the application of first-time jobseekers, so long as they submit a barangay certification as proof. The law covers not only fresh graduates but also out-of-school youth.

These documents include police clearance certificate, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) clearance, barangay clearance, medical certificate, birth certificate, marriage certificate, transcript of academic records issued by state colleges and universities, tax identification number (TIN), unified multi-purpose ID (UMID), and other documentary requirements issued by the government that may be required by employers.

In signing the new law, Duterte recognized the need to “promote full employment and equality of gainful work and opportunities for its citizens.”