Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. 
Introduced by Representative MARLYN L. PRIMICIAS-AGABAS 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, under Article II, Section 18, 
declares it a policy of the State to affirm labor as a primary social economic force. 
Moreover, Article 3 of the Labor Code of the Philippines states that the State shall 
afford protection to labor, promote full employment, ensure equal work opportunities. 
These constitutional and statutory declarations underscore the government’s 
obligation to create a labor environment that is both inclusive and responsive to the 
evolving demands of the economy. 
Yet, despite sustained economic growth and expanded access to education, the 
Philippine labor market continues to grapple with high levels of unemployment and 
underemployment, driven in large part by a persistent misalignment between the 
qualifications of graduates and the actual needs of industries. According to the Labor 
Force Survey of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the number of unemployed 
individuals in June 2025 was posted at 1.95 million. This was higher than the number 
of unemployed individuals in June 2024 at 1.62 million. In May 2025, the number of 
unemployed individuals was posted at 2.03 million. 
The disconnect between the skills acquired in higher education and technical-
vocational institutions and those demanded by businesses continues to undermine 
both individual livelihoods and national productivity. A major reason for this is the 
absence of a structured, long-term mechanism that enables continuous dialogue and 
cooperation among the education sector, government, and industry. Without such 
coordination, reforms remain fragmented and reactive, failing to respond effectively to 
the rapid changes in local and global labor trends. 
This bill seeks to address these long-standing challenges by creating a Tripartite 
Council composed of representatives from the government, academe, and industry. 
The Council will serve as a centralized, institutional mechanism for coordination, 
planning, and policy formulation focused on labor market alignment. It shall monitor 
economic and labor trends, conduct assessments of academic and technical 
programs, evaluate graduate competencies based on national and international 
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1:54 pm
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benchmarks, and recommend policies and reforms to improve the quality and 
relevance of education and training in the country. Through this Council, the 
government can institutionalize a sustained collaboration between sectors that will 
enable the country to adapt to the evolving needs of the labor market and ensure that 
Filipinos are not only educated but also employable. 
By institutionalizing this multi-sectoral collaboration, the State can bridge the 
persistent gap between education and employment, ensuring that Filipino graduates 
are not only equipped with theoretical knowledge but also with the practical skills 
demanded by today’s industries. In doing so, the Council will contribute to reducing 
unemployment and underemployment, strengthening national competitiveness, and 
advancing inclusive development. 
In light of these urgent challenges and the opportunities they present, the 
immediate enactment of this measure is respectfully and earnestly sought. 
MARLYN L. PRIMICIAS-AGABAS 


Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. 
Introduced by Representative MARLYN L. PRIMICIAS-AGABAS 
AN ACT 
INSTITUTIONALIZING A TRIPARTITE COUNCIL TO FORMULATE POLICIES 
ADDRESSING UNEMPLOYMENT, UNDEREMPLOYMENT, AND JOB-SKILLS 
MISMATCH, DEFINING ITS POWERS AND FUNCTIONS, AND APPROPRIATING 
FUNDS THEREFOR 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Declaration of Policy. - It is declared the policy of the State to 
promote the sustained development of a skilled citizenry and maintain a reservoir of 
national talents consisting of Filipino scientists, entrepreneurs, professionals, 
managers, high-level technical manpower, and skilled workers and craftsmen in all 
fields. Skills development can reduce unemployment and underemployment, increase 
productivity, and improve the standards of living. 
To this end, the State shall ensure the relevance and adequacy of academic 
courses in the higher education curriculum and training programs offered in technical-
vocational institutions in relation to the needs and requirements of the business and 
industry sectors and the over-all human resource requirement of the country pursuant 
to its economic development goals. 
SEC. 2. Creation of a Tripartite Council. - There is hereby established a 
Tripartite Council, hereinafter referred to as the Council, that shall formulate policies 
and programs to address the job-skills mismatch in the country. It shall be a 
coordinating body among the government, academe and industry sectors to primarily 
monitor economic trends in the global and domestic markets, including those pertaining 
to business and commerce and the local labor market, and to generate information 
relative to employment, unemployment, underemployment, and job-skills mismatch. 
The Council shall be made up of representatives from the government, academe, and 
industry. 
The government representatives shall be composed of the following: a 
Commissioner of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED); a Deputy Director-
General of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA); an 
Undersecretary of the Department of Education (DepEd); an Undersecretary of the 
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE); and an Undersecretary of the 
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Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). 
The representatives of the academe shall be the presidents of the federations 
of public and private higher education institutions (HEIs), public and private technical-
vocational institutions (TVIs), and accreditation bodies of higher and technical-
vocational educational institutions, which include the following: Philippine Association 
of State Universities and Colleges; Association of Local Colleges and Universities; 
Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations; Technical-Vocational 
Schools and Associations of the Philippines; National Network of Quality Assurance 
Agencies; and the Federation of Accrediting Agencies of the Philippines. 
The representatives of the industry sector shall be the presidents of the 
following business and industry federations: Employers Confederation of the 
Philippines; Makati Business Club; Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the 
Philippines Foundation, Incorporated; Information Technology and Business Process 
Association of the Philippines; Philippine Business for Education; Management 
Association of the Philippines; Philippine Business for Social Progress; and the People 
Management Association of the Philippines. 
 
The Council shall be headed by a CHED Commissioner as Chairperson, and 
the Deputy Director-General of the TESDA shall be its Vice-Chairperson. 
The members of the Council, except for the ex officio members, shall receive 
per diem for every meeting attended in accordance with existing rules and regulations. 
The Council shall be attached to the CHED for administrative and budgetary 
purposes. 
The CHED shall provide a secretariat to the Council to be manned by the 
organic personnel of the CHED and may be augmented by the employees from the 
member-agencies of the Council through detail or secondment. 
SEC. 3. Powers and Functions of the Council. - The Council shall have the 
following specific powers and functions: 
a) Monitor the trends in the labor market, both domestic and international, and the 
incidence of unemployment, underemployment and the job-skills mismatch 
problem in the country; 
b) Formulate short-term and long-term policies, plans and programs that shall 
address job- skills mismatch, unemployment, and underemployment; 
c) Conduct an inventory, review and evaluation of courses, academic programs 
and curricula of public and private HEIs and training programs implemented by 
TVIs; 
d) Conduct an assessment of qualifications, skills and competencies of students 
and graduates of higher education courses and technical-vocational education 
and training and benchmark these with national and international standards 


such as the Philippine Qualifications Framework, Association of Southeast 
Asian Nations Qualifications Reference Framework, other frameworks, and 
international agreements to which the Philippines is a signatory; 
e) Conduct an inventory of job specifications and skills requirement of various 
industries; 
f) Recommend to the President of the Philippines, Congress and other 
government institutions policy measures that need to be undertaken in 
addressing the problems of unemployment, underemployment and job-skills 
mismatch; 
g) Hold regular quarterly meetings; and 
h) Perform such other functions as may be necessary for its effective operation to 
achieve the mandate of this Act. 
SEC. 4. Annual Report and Assessment. - Upon the effectivity of this Act, the 
Council shall submit an annual report to Congress on the status of employment of 
college students and new graduates for the last five years, as well as an assessment 
of the trends in the labor market and the skills required by various industries and 
business establishments. 
SEC. 5. Appropriations. — The amount necessary for the implementation of 
this Act shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act. 
SEC. 6. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within ninety (90) days after 
the effectivity of this Act, the CHED shall, in coordination with the TESDA, DepEd, DTI 
and DOLE, as well as other education stakeholders, issue the rules and regulations for 
the effective implementation of this Act. 
SEC. 7. Separability Clause. - If, for any reason, any portion or provision of 
this Act shall be held unconstitutional or invalid, the remaining provisions not affected 
thereby shall continue to be in full force and effect. 
SEC. 8. Repealing Clause. - All laws, presidential decrees, executive orders, 
rules and regulations, issuances or parts thereof, which are inconsistent with the 
provisions of this Act, are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly. 
SEC. 9. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. 
Approved,