Jinggoy lauds DOLE for workshop on recession

Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada lauded Labor Secretary Marianito Roque for heeding his call to conduct a multi-sectoral workshop on the effects global economic crisis.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) action program workshop will be held tomorrow, January 30, 2009, at the Ichikawa Hall of the Occupational Safety and Health Center at the corner of North Ave. and Science Road in Diliman, Quezon City.

DOLE has invited employers and labor groups, representatives of industries, members of the academe, local government units, manpower agencies, Senate and House committees on labor and employment, and other concerned government agencies including the National Economic Development Authority, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Agriculture, Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Philippine Economic Zone Authority, and the Social Security System.

Estrada, who is the concurrent chairman of the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development, and the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Labor and Employment (COCLE), said the DOLE workshop aims to assess the impact of the global economic crisis to the local economy and the labor force and "formulate deliverable policy measures and services to assist affected stakeholders."

"I laud the efforts of Labor Secretary Roque for initiating a workshop on the economic crisis to find solution to the layoff of workers, which I had earlier proposed. We must act together and without delay on this impending social crisis," said Estrada.

Estrada, however, regrets that he could not personally attend the whole day event because he is still recovering from a viral infection.

Estrada said the government and the other sectors of the society should cooperate to find ways to help displaced workers in the country and overseas Filipino workers abroad.

Experts agree that in the coming months, as the global recession hits on domestic grounds, more OFWs and local laborers will be retrenched. Some forecasts show that 300,000 to 500,000 can lose their jobs this year. IBON Foundation, Inc, an independent think tank, says that the number of unemployed and underemployed could worsen which now stands at near 11 million.