June 27, 2024 - President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. urged the labor sector to actively implement the "Trabaho Para sa Bayan" (TPB) Plan during the first-ever 2024 National Employment Summit in Manila. The TPB Plan is a 10-year national roadmap aiming to generate at least three million new jobs by 2028.
President Marcos highlighted the TPB Plan as a key driver for employment creation and economic recovery. He emphasized the plan aligns with existing development strategies like the Philippine Development Plan and the Workforce Development Plan.
"Beyond generating employment, what we want to achieve is creating quality jobs," said President Marcos, stressing the importance of workers' welfare, empowerment, competitiveness, and security.
The government is actively addressing job-skills mismatch, underemployment, and unemployment through reforms in basic education and the integration of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Senior High School.
The President emphasized collaboration as key to success. He called on all stakeholders, including workers, employers, government agencies, and private sector partners, to work together in a spirit of Bayanihan (community cooperation) to address the evolving needs of the local and international labor markets.
Expressing optimism for the future, President Marcos said, "We have exciting times that lie ahead... We look forward to the new jobs, the new sectors, the new opportunities that are waiting for us and for the Philippines." He urged all stakeholders to work towards achieving the full potential of the workforce and ensure a decade of "meaningful employment and economic growth."