Republic of the Philippines 
House of Representatives 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. _______ 
INTRODUCED BY REP. PM VARGAS 
AN ACT 
ESTABLISHING JOB PLACEMENT OFFICES IN PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS 
TO PROVIDE CAREER SERVICES TO THE YOUTH 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Article XIII Section 3 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution provides that 
the State shall afford full protection to labor and promote full employment 
and equality of employment opportunities for all. 
Although the employment rate as of Jan 2022 is high at 94.8 %, the 
Philippine Statistics Authority has reported that there are about 3 million 
Filipinos who are unemployed. Among the main causes of unemployment are 
low quality of graduates who are ready to take on available jobs and the lack 
of employment opportunities available.  
To allow Filipino graduates to become more competitive in the labor 
market, the State has enacted RA 10533 better known as the Enhanced Basic 
Education Act or the K-12 Program, in 2013. The program intends to educate 
future-ready Filipino students by allowing them time to master their skills 
and absorb basic competencies to make them well-prepared for either tertiary 
education level or to be ready to enter the labor workforce or pursue the 
entrepreneurial track. 
About a decade after its implementation and with more than 5 Million 
Senior High School graduates later who have finished the K-12 program, the 
job market is now flooded with employable workforce. However, ready and 
competent to land jobs, many employers still prefer undergraduate level as 
their new-hires.  
September 14, 2022
8:19 am
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To increase the overall employability of SHS graduates, this bill seeks 
to establish Trabaho Center in every public high school in the country by 
bridging the existing gap between the demands of the labor market and the 
skills and knowledge of the supply of graduates.  The Trabaho Center shall 
include linking the industries to our academic institutions for continuous 
checking of curricula and courses offered, providing career coaching for 
students, and, eventually, facilitating the employment of students. 
 
With this intervention in public high schools, the bill hopes to move 
graduates from classroom to workplace more prepared and with higher 
confidence and preference by the employers.  
 
In view of the foregoing, the immediate passage of this bill is earnestly 
sought.  
 
 
 
REP. PM VARGAS   
 
Fifth District, Quezon City 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Republic of the Philippines 
House of Representatives 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. _______ 
INTRODUCED BY REP. PM VARGAS 
AN ACT 
ESTABLISHING JOB PLACEMENT OFFICES IN PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS 
TO PROVIDE CAREER SERVICES TO THE YOUTH 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines 
in Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Trabaho Centers 
in Schools Act”. 
SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. -  It is the policy of the State to promote 
full employment and equality of employment opportunities for all, and to afford 
full protection to the youth entering the labor force. In line with the current 
reforms in the education sector, the State recognizes the need to prepare the 
youth in choosing the career tracks that they intend to pursue and to aid in 
matching senior high school students with career opportunities after 
graduation. 
SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. – For the purpose of this Act, the following 
terms shall refer to: 
(a) Career Advocacy Activities – series of activities intended to prepare
students for productive career decisions that includes but is not
limited to career assessment and coaching, trainings and job-
matching.
(b) Career Development Plan – annual career development tool that
outlines the intended outcomes and the strategic management of
programs/services to collectively achieve the end goals of the
Trabaho Centers.
(c) Labor Market Information (LMI) – any information concerning the
size, composition, functions, problems or opportunities of the labor
market or any part thereof.
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(d) National Career Assessment Examination (NCAE) – system of 
assessing or evaluating the potential or aptitude of each and every 
high school student to guide their decisions in pursuing further 
education or employment. 
 
(e) Skills Registry System (SRS) – an existing system utilized by the 
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) containing potential 
applicant and employment information. 
 
SECTION 4. Establishment of Trabaho Center in Schools. – Job Placement 
Offices (JPOs), hereinafter referred to as “Trabaho Centers,” shall be 
established in all public high schools. The Trabaho Centers shall work in 
coordination with the Provincial, City or Municipal Public Employment Service 
Offices (PESOs) and shall be supervised by Trabaho Center Coordinators in 
Department of Education (DepEd) Division Offices. The Trabaho Center 
Coordinators shall encourage partnership among Educational Institutions 
(EIs), Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), Industry Associations and 
Members, and Local Government Units (LGUs) in the establishment and 
management of the Trabaho Centers. In applicable areas, existing JPOs in 
educational institutions shall continue to operate as Trabaho Centers subject 
to the provisions of this Act. Schools shall explore new and innovative systems 
to carry out the provisions of this Act, including partnering with the private 
sector or NGOs for an online platform. The Trabaho Centers shall be 
responsible for preparing the youth in choosing career tracks fit for their 
talents, skills and preferences and in matching these to the needs of the 
current and future labor market.   
 
SECTION 5. Trabaho Center Career Advocates. – All Trabaho Centers shall 
have at least one (1) Trabaho Center Career Advocate with the following 
functions: 
 
(a) Keep an up-to-date database of job vacancies from employers to 
facilitate the exchange of labor market information between young 
job seekers and employers by providing employment information 
services specific to Senior High School, both for local and overseas 
employment; 
 
(b) Provide job linkages and networks to employers in coordination with 
the provincial, city or municipal PESOs; 
 
(c) Develop and administer testing and evaluation instruments for 
effective job selection, training and coaching specific to young 
jobseekers currently enrolled in educational institutions. Provided, 
That examinations are administered by qualified professionals; 
 
(d) Organize or coordinate career enhancement trainings or seminars for 
young job seekers, as well as those who would like to pursue further 
education, livelihood or self-employment programs; 


 
(e) Provide career advocacy and coaching, mass motivation and values 
development activities integrated in career programs specifically 
designed for Enhanced Basic Education Curriculum students; 
 
(f) Connect and partner with concerned NGOs to expand opportunities 
in improving the quality of employment facilitation programs offered 
in their school; 
 
(g) Lead the teachers within their school in the administration of the 
annual National Career Assessment Examination (NCAE) and assist 
the students in understanding how to use their test results as guide 
in choosing their career tracks; 
 
(h) Prepare and submit to the Trabaho Center Coordinator a school 
specific annual career development plan and budget, including other 
regular funding sources and budgetary support; and  
 
(i) Prepare and submit a quarterly progress report on students assisted 
and coached to the Trabaho Center Coordinator. 
 
SECTION 6. Trabaho Center in Division Offices. – Each DepEd Division 
Office shall appoint a Trabaho Center Coordinator who shall: 
 
(a) Coordinate with the LGU, PESO, the Local School Board (LSB), and 
Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) in the creation of the annual key 
career planning tool for their division, taking into consideration track 
preferences of students in their respective divisions and the industry 
most relevant to their area; 
 
(b) Monitor the planning, implementation and evaluation of career 
facilitation programs and materials of Trabaho Centers in Schools; 
 
(c) Convene Career Advocates from the different Trabaho Centers under 
their respective divisions for the creation of modules or guides 
contextualized to cover their local industry; 
 
(d) Share best practices among divisions and other Trabaho Centers in 
the country in a modality that would be most efficient to the 
institution; 
 
(e) Train Career Advocates in the administration of testing and 
evaluation instruments for effective job selection, counseling, career 
guidance, mass motivation and values development activities to be 
implemented for the career programs. 
 


(f) Utilize the DOLE’s Skills Registry System (SRS) to manage the 
records of transactions in relation to career facilitation and relay 
information to Trabaho Centers in Schools; 
 
(g) Consolidate necessary information technology structures and 
systems to improve the collection, processing, analysis, report 
development and dissemination of youth career preferences and 
existing labor market information; and 
 
(h) Provide linkages to training providers needed by the schools in 
relation to local industry. 
 
SECTION 7. Qualifications of Trabaho Center Career Advocates. – 
Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 27 of Republic Act No. 9258, 
otherwise known as the “Guidance and Counseling Act of 2004”, career and 
employment advocates, who are not registered and licensed guidance 
counselors, shall be allowed to conduct career advocacy activities for students 
of the school where they are currently employed: Provided, That they undergo 
training programs related to career advocacy. Career advocates employed shall 
hold a non-teaching position and shall focus on activities for youth 
employability programs in coordination with the DOLE and other relevant 
agencies and partner institutions, both public and private. 
 
SECTION 8. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and Technical 
Vocational Institutions (TVIs) – Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and 
Technical Institutions (TVIS are encouraged to establish Trabaho Centers in 
their schools to prepare their students in choosing career tracks fit for their 
talents, skills, and preferences and in matching these to the needs of the 
current and future labor market, in accordance with the provisions of this Act.    
 
SECTION 9. Information Dissemination. – The Philippine Information 
Agency, in coordination with the DepEd, DOLE, and the Department of Interior 
and Local Government (DILG), shall ensure proper and adequate information 
dissemination of the contents and benefits of this Act to pertinent entities in 
all provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays. 
 
SECTION 10. Appropriations. – The amount necessary to implement the 
provisions of this Act shall be charged against the current year’s 
appropriations of the DepEd. Thereafter, such sums as may be necessary for 
its continued implementation shall be included in the annual General 
Appropriations Act. 
 
SECTION 11. Implementing Rules and Regulations. – Within ninety (90) 
days from the effectivity of this Act, the Secretary of Education, in coordination 
with the DOLE, the DILG, Commission on Higher Education (CHED), 
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Technical Education and Skills 
Development Authority (TESDA) and other relevant agencies shall formulate 
the necessary rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this Act. 
 


SECTION 12. Separability Clause. – If any if this Act is held invalid or 
unconstitutional, the same shall not affect the validity and effectivity of other 
provisions hereof. 
 
SECTION 13. Repealing Clause. – All laws, decrees, executive order, and 
rules and regulations contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this 
Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly. 
 
SECTION 14. Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days from 
the date of its publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) 
newspapers of general circulation. 
 
Approved,