CLARK FREEPORT—The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), with 15 other agencies recently signed the First Time Jobseekers Assistance Act (FTJAA).
The agencies created Joint Operational Guidelines (JOG) to institutionalize the procedures for all implementers.
The agencies also issued pre-employment documents for first time jobseekers as provided under the Republic Act No. 11261 or the First Time Jobseekers Assistance Act.
DOLE Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma underscored the prime importance of the FTJAA JOG, that is to ease the financial burden of the first time jobseekers. “Isa ito sa mga pangarap namin sa Kagawaran — ang mabawasan ang pasanin ng mga ‘first time jobseeker’ sa paghahanap ng trabaho.”
For her part, Undersecretary Carmela I. Torres said "It is our goal to assist the 1.2 million potential graduates annually who are seeking employment by continuously engaging with the relevant stakeholders and push forward our collaboration with other government and development partners to realize our envisioned economic transformation for a prosperous, inclusive, and resilient society.”
Signatories who participated in the event include Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Ivan John E. Uy, Civil Service Commission (CSC) Chairperson Karlo Alexei B. Nograles, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Director-General Danilo P. Cruz, National Privacy Commission (NPC) Chairman John Henry D. Naga, and Public Employment Service Office Managers Association of the Philippines (PESOMAP) National President Luningning Y. Vergara. Other member-signatories in attendance are from the Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of Health (DOH), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA), Philippine National Police (PNP), and Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Completing the inter agency monitoring committee are the National Youth Commission (NYC) Executive Director Leah T. Villalon, Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC) President Tirso A. Ronquillo, and representatives from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Department of Justice (DOJ), Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG), and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).
Representative Juan Fidel F. Nograles, Chairperson of the House of Committee on Labor and Employment also graced the event and witnessed the ceremonial signing of the FTJAA JOG.
The FTJAA has been implemented since 2019 after the enactment of the R.A. No. 11261. Beneficiaries are over 300,000 to date with estimated 83 million pesos of government fees waived. Among the salient features of the FTJAA JOG include the definition of a first time jobseeker, proof of eligibility and validity, reporting and monitoring mechanisms, and grievance procedures.