DOLE to hold Visayas consultation for nat’l labor, employment summit
The Department of Labor and Employment 7 will host the Visayas-wide consultation on October 28 and 29 in preparation for the conduct of the multi-partite National Summit on Labor and Employment in Manila on Dec. 1, 2010.
Expected to attend are representatives from the Regional Development Councils, Regional Coordinating Councils, Regional Tripartite Industrial Peace Councils, youth sector, and civil society.
The DOLE’s plan to organize and conduct a National Summit on Labor and Employment is an offshoot of its reforms in pursuit of the 22-point labor and employment agenda of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III.
“The overarching goal of this agenda is in the form of a marching order to the DOLE: invest in our country’s resource, our human resource, to make us more competitive and employable, while promoting industrial peace based on social justice,” Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said.
The Summit, themed “Developing our human resources, promoting full and productive employment, and ensuring social protection for all,” aims to convene the DOLE’s multipartite national and regional stakeholders towards the formulation, validation, and presentation of the 2011-2016 Labor and Employment Agenda as an input to the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan for 2011 to 2016.
“We envision the Labor and Employment Agenda to outline labor and employment strategies, policies, programs, and activities that will support efforts in translating the development agenda of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III in the next six years,” Baldoz added.
Specifically, the Agenda aims to expand employment opportunities and ensure at the same time that the expansion of jobs translates to reduction of the people’s poverty.
“We also aim to produce during the Summit a Human Resource Development Agenda, and to forge a Philippine Jobs Pact toward achieving inclusive growth in the country, the main goal of the Aquino administration,” Baldoz added.
She said the DOLE aims to achieve a balanced, broad-based consensus by involving its social partners, key sectors, and other stakeholders on the challenge of coming out with a responsive and relevant Philippine Labor and Employment Agenda for the next six years.
“In essence this represents the President’s emphasis on public-private sector partnerships to attain economic and employment growth,” Baldoz said.*
