The volatility in our employment figures is a cause for concern and a challenge to our economic development.
The Trabaho Para sa Bayan Act, which we principally authored and sponsored in 2023, was enacted to identify industries with job-generation potential. Similarly, the Enterprise-Based Education and Training Framework Act was enacted exactly two years ago to ensure that industry-based training translates into actual employment.
The roadmap, inter-agency mechanisms, and legal mandates are in place but the latest Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data shows unemployment rising to 5.4 percent in September from 3.8 percent a year ago. This means 2.86 million Filipinos are jobless, about 900,000 more than in September 2025. While the labor force grew by 1.63 million, only 721,000 jobs were added. The challenge is no longer legislation, but implementation.
The Super El Niño will likely make this worse. PAGASA expects it to persist into the first half of 2027, with drought spreading across much of the country. The PSA already reports that paddy rice growing and muscovado sugar production alone shed 880,000 jobs in September. The Department of Agriculture (DA) warns that in a worst case, 4.6 million of the country’s 10.4 million farmers and fisherfolk could be affected. A prolonged drought means more farm workers losing their livelihoods in the months ahead.
Those workers will need somewhere to go, and the jobs of the near future will increasingly call for skills in artificial intelligence and robotics. Training Filipinos to harness these technologies must be at the center of implementation, not an afterthought. The Enterprise-Based Education and Training Framework Act was designed to link training to actual jobs, and the agencies must now align their programs with where the work is going.
Since the policy framework is already in place, our role now is oversight. We call on the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev), which leads the Trabaho Para sa Bayan Inter-Agency Council, together with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and other member agencies, to submit reports to the Senate as part of our congressional oversight functions. These should state which Trabaho Para sa Bayan targets have been met, which programs are underway, and which remain on paper. They should also cover how displaced agricultural workers are being supported, and what AI and robotics training programs are running and how many Filipinos they have reached.
Our workers and graduates have waited long enough for these laws to deliver meaningful results, with more and better-quality jobs. We will continue to press for accountability to turn these commitments into opportunities for Filipinos.
