Sen. Joel Villanueva on Sunday called for the institutionalization and localized employment structures in the National Employment Recovery Strategy (NERS).
He said that the strategy should be strengthened through the participation of local government units (LGUs).
“The NERS should be sustained beyond its deadline this year and provide guidance particular to the needs of every LGU,” he said, adding that “each LGU should have a say on how it will participate in employment recovery so that we can say it is truly national in scope.”
Based on Executive Order No. 140, series of 2021, the NERS is a medium-term employment recovery strategy anchored on the updated Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 and ReCharge PH, which takes into consideration “the changes in the labor market brought by the pandemic and the fast adoption of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies”.
Villanueva, chair of the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment, and Human Resources said that LGUs should be empowered under an institutionalized NERS, which is part of the senator’s campaign platform of income security and employment empowerment.
“While we need a consistent policy for emergency job generation, each local government unit has their own specific supply and demand from the job market, with each having their own experience in the pandemic,” he said.
“LGU participation in national employment recovery is a no-brainer,” he further said.