Reverting TESDA to DOLE, a logical and sensible decision - Jinggoy

SENATOR Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada expressed belief that the move to revert back the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) as an attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is part of the rightsizing efforts of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. "It's a logical and sensible decision. And it's consistent with the law, RA 7796, which created TESDA and which likewise named the secretary of labor and employment as the chairperson of the board of TESDA," Estrada said.

The TESDA board, as stated in RA 7796 (TESDA charter) is primarily responsible for formulating, continuing, coordinating, and fully integrating technical education and skills development policies, plans, and programs and allocating resources based on the DOLE secretary's recommendations for the programs and projects the agency shall undertake.

These provisions are also cited in Executive Order No. 5 issued by President Marcos Jr. last September 16.

EO No. 5 ordered the transfer of TESDA as an attached agency of DOLE to rationalize the functional structures of government agencies with complementary mandates and to promote coordination, efficiency, and organizational coherence in the bureaucracy.

"While the DOLE is the policy-coordinating arm for the promotion of gainful employment opportunities, protection of workers and promotion of their welfare, TESDA, on the other hand, is tasked to manage and supervise technical education and skills development," Estrada said.

The move, the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development pointed out, is obviously aligned with the reform mechanism that the President mentioned in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA).

"Mas makatitiyak tayo na mapapahusay ang institutional capacity ng mga ahensya ng gobyerno kung magagampanan nila ang kanilang mga mandato at makatitiyak tayo ng mas maayos at mainam na serbisyo," he said.