Photo Release

On National Employment Recovery Strategy: Sen. Joel Villanueva, during Tuesday’s virtual hearing, September 28, 2021, on the proposed P24.7 billion budget of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and its attached agencies for Fiscal Year 2022, points out the importance of the National Employment Recovery Strategy (NERS) task force that was created by President Rodrigo Duterte under Executive Order (EO) No. 140 as the government’s master plan for the restoration of the country’s labor market. The EO institutionalizes the 20-agency strong NERS task force to implement the strategy from 2021 to 2022 in response to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Villanueva asked the rationale behind this, noting that under the NERS are several programs with P1.14 trillion budget coming from the different agencies, which included the DTI and the Department of Labor and Employment. DTI Sec. Ramon Lopez Jr., who chairs the task force, said the rationale is to consolidate all the efforts of the different agencies to accelerate the country’s job creation program. (Screen grab/Senate PRIB)