Senator Legarda refiled Senator Bill 7 to amend RA 8759 to address underemployment and unemployment issues.
Senator Loren Legarda has refiled Senator Bill 7 which seeks to amend Republic Act (RA) 8759 or the Public Employment Service Office (PESO) Act of 1999 to include entrepreneurship, provide better employment, and entrepreneurial opportunities for all Filipinos.
Legarda, a four-term lawmaker, co-authored the PESO Act during her first term as senator and also co-authored RA 10691, which initially amended the PESO Act. She has refiled further alterations to the law as House Bill 631 during her term as Deputy Speaker in the House of Representatives.
She stressed that this amendment to the existing law would address the drawn-out underemployment and unemployment issues in the Philippines.
“The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that about 2.87 million Filipinos were unemployed in March 2022.
The underemployment rate increased from 14 percent in February to 15.8 percent in March 2022,” Legarda said
She reiterated that promoting entrepreneurship would help hone the skills of the Filipinos and encourage self-employment opportunities and generate more jobs.
“The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) reported that entrepreneurs have managed to generate 62.4 percent of the country’s employment or over five million jobs. Inarguably, entrepreneurs play a key role in creating job opportunities and consequently in stimulating the country’s economic growth,” she explained.
The measure intends to rename the PESO offices to Public Employment and Entrepreneurship Service Office (PEESO) and establish a Barangay Employment and Entrepreneurship Service Office (BEESO) in barangays.
Tags: #PESO, #employment, #entrepreneurship