NINETEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
First Regular Session
SENATE 
S. B. NO. 129
TIME;
BILLSl^ INDEX
Introduced by SENATOR JOEL VILLANUEVA
AN ACT
INSTITUTIONALIZING AND EXPANDING THE NATIONAL 
EMPLOYMENT RECOVERY STRATEGY (NERS) TO A 
NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT ACTION PLAN,
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
EXPLANATORY NOTE
On January 30, 2020, the Department of Health (DOH) confirmed the first case 
of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country, which was then reported 
as a “cluster” of pneumonia cases “of unknown cause” originating from Wuhan, China. 
Consequently, it resulted in the imposition of a ban on the entry of Chinese nationals 
from Wuhan City, and subsequently, to and from China, Hongkong, and Macau, 
Taiwan, and to some areas in South Korea.1
On March 7, 2020, the first local transmission of the COVID-19 was confirmed 
by the DOH, triggering the declaration of a state of public health emergency on March 
8, 2020, through Proclamation No. 922, and the imposition of the “community 
quarantine” on March 12, 2020, to prevent the further spread of the virus. On March 
16, 2020, the “enhanced community quarantine” was implemented in the entire Luzon 
area, wherein all persons are required to remain at home, all modes of transportation 
had been suspended, provision of essential goods and services are regulated, and 
uniformed personnel strictly enforced quarantine procedures.2
Since then, it is undeniable that all Filipinos have been widely affected. Micro, 
small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which account for 99.5% of all enterprises, 
or 952,969 businesses enterprises, and provided a total of 5,380,815 jobs or 62.66% 
of the country’s total employment based on the 2020 Philippine Statistics Authority 
(PSA) List of Establishments, faced severe uncertainties.3 As of April 29, 2020, the
1 Philippine Daily Inquirer, Timeline: One year of Covid-19 in the Philippines, available at
hltps://newsinfo. inaulrer.net/1406004/timellne-one-vear-of-covid-19-in-the-DhillDDines (last accessed June 25, 2022),
2 Id.
3 DTI, 2020 MSME Statistics, available at https://www.dti.qov.ph/resources/msme-statistics/ {last accessed June 25, 2022).


Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) reported that 52.66% of MSMEs fully closed 
their operations due to the pandemic.4
The informal economy was likewise affected by the public health crisis. The 
2008 Informal Sector Survey conducted by the then National Statistics Office (NSO) 
and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN 
ESCAP) found that there were approximately 10.5 million informal sector operators in 
the Philippines,5 and in 2018, the PSA reported that there were at least 15.68 million 
informal or self-employed workers nationwide.6 This was further exacerbated by the 
pandemic, as found by a report prepared by the Asian Development Bank, which found 
that the pandemic alone affected 1.7 million jobs up to January 2021, and employment 
in the informal sector rose by about 435,000.7
As of December 2020, the Department of Foreign Affairs had repatriated 
327,511 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), both land-based and sea-based.8 A 
survey conducted by the International Organization for Migration, with 8,332 
respondents who returned to the Philippines in 2020, showed that at least 70% of 
OFWs had their employment terminated, their contracts were not renewed, or their 
employers asked them to leave.9
Moreover, the COVID-19 crisis rapidly accelerated digitalization for several 
businesses, with the number of DTI-registered online business in October 2020 
reaching 82,000, compared to around 1,700 from January to March 2020, a whopping 
624% increase in volume of online payment transactions via Instapay and 130% for 
PESONet, and an expected e-commerce annual growth of 14.7% from 2021-2025.10 
However, these positive developments will need to be accompanied by a whole- 
society approach in ensuring that the labor workforce remain competitive and 
employable through ramped-up efforts for skilling, reskilling, and upskilling, particularly 
in digital skills, otherwise, this will further lead to greater digital divide and job-skills 
mismatch.
The foregoing are just a few of the examples of how the COVID-19 pandemic 
impacted the country and specific sectors. Thus, there is a need to institutionalize the 
present National Employment Recovery Strategy (NERS) of the country, which was 
originally constituted through Executive Order No. 140, series of 2021, to address the 
social and economic issues due to the pandemic, and the challenges and opportunities 
brought about by new technologies.
4 Philippine Daily Inquirer, DTI: Over half of MSMEs in PH fully stopped operations due to virus outbreak, available at 
https://business.inauirer.net/296227/dti-over-half-of-msmes-in-ph-fullv-stopped-operations-due-to-virus-outbreak {last accessed 
June 25, 2022).
5 Informal sector operators counted at 10,5 million (Results from the 2008 Informal Sector Survey). Philippine Statistics Authority,
available at https://psa.gov.ph/content/informal-sector-operators-counted-105-million-results-2008-informal-sector-survey {last 
accessed 
June 
25, 
2022); 
https://psa.gov.ph/statistics/survey/labor-and-employment/labor-force-
survey/title/Employment%20Situation%20in%20July%202018
6 Available at: https://pcw.gov.ph/magna-carta-of-workers-in-the-informal-economy/
7 Asian Development Bank, Philippines’ COVID-19 Employment Challenge: Labor Market Programs to the Rescue, available at 
https://bloQs. adb. orq/bloq/philippines-covid-19-emplovment-challenae-labor-market-proarams-to-rescue (last accessed June 
24, 2022).
8 Asian Development Bank, COVID-19 and Overseas Filipino Workers, available at
https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/767846/sewp-021-covid-19-ofws-return-migration-reintegration.pdf {last 
accessed June 25, 2022).
9 Id.
10 Dr. Rafaelita M. Aldaba, Department of Trade and Industry, COVID-19 and Digital Transformation of the Philippines, 
available https://pidswebs.pids.gov.ph/CDN/EVENTS/aldaba_adb_pids_10march.pdf {last accessed June 25, 2022).


Under this bill, the NERS shall be institutionalized and expanded to become the 
National Employment Action Plan (NEAP), which shall be the country’s employment 
recovery and generation masterplan. It shall have the following objectives:
1. To stimulate national and local economic growth and development through 
linked investment incentives to the creation of more decent employment to 
address unemployment, underemployment, and rising precarity and 
informality of work arrangements;
2. To promote the employability, competitiveness, wellness, and productivity 
of workers through efficient and effective delivery of skills development and 
enhancement programs, and maximization of opportunities in the labor 
market in a post-Covid-19 world; and
3. To provide support and incentives to businesses, whether existing or 
emerging, particularly micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and 
ensure the security and preservation of employment.
The bill enumerates action components to achieve the foregoing objectives, 
and allows the inclusion of additional action components, and their corresponding 
success measures and performance indicators to ensure flexibility in the achievement 
of its objectives.
The bill also proposes to reconstitute the NERS Task Force created under E.O. 
No. 140, s. of 2021 as the Inter-Agency Council for Jobs and Investments, or lAC, 
which shall be co-headed by the NEDA Director-General, DTI, DOLE and TESDA 
secretaries. Additionally, in view of the invaluable insights and contributions of the 
private sector in the implementation of the NERS and to guarantee the private sector’s 
participation, the lAC will include representatives from employers’ organizations and 
labor groups. The lAC may likewise establish working groups which will focus on 
developing employment recovery and job creation in specific industries and emerging 
sectors, such as, but not limited, to construction, tourism, agriculture, IT and business 
process management, and manufacturing.
Lastly, local government units will play a crucial role in the localization of the 
National Employment Action Plan through the formulation of plans, programs, or 
projects geared towards employment recovery and job generation within their 
respective jurisdictions.
In view of the foregoing, the immediate passage of this bill is earnestly sought.
SENATOR J
VILLANUEVA


NINETEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
First Regular Session
SENATE
S.B. No. 129
DATE
INDEX
BILLS
Introduced by SENATOR JOEL VILLANUEVA
AN ACT
INSTITUTIONALIZING AND EXPANDING THE NATIONAL 
EMPLOYMENT RECOVERY STRATEGY (NERS) TO A 
NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT ACTION PLAN,
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled:
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SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Trabaho Para sa Lahat ng 
Pilipino Act. ”
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policies. - It is the policy of the State to afford full protection to 
labor, local and overseas, organized and unorganized, promote full, productive and freely 
chosen employment and livelihood, and ensure equal employment opportunities for all, 
irrespective of sex, race, color, religion, poiitical opinion, national extraction or social origin.
Accordingiy, the State shail ensure, in pursuit of poverty reduction through decent 
employment, an environment that encourages more employment and entrepreneurship 
opportunities, provide comprehensive support to existing and emerging businesses, 
particularly to the micro, smali and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and improve the 
employability and productivity of workers.
SEC. 3. Coverage. - This Act shall apply to national, regional, and local government units 
(LGUs), without prejudice to the right of the LGUs within the Bangsamoro Autonomous 
Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to opt to adopt their own regional employment plan.
SEC. 4. National Employment Action Plan (NEAP). - A National Employment Action 
Plan, integrating the 2021-2022 Nationai Employment Recovery Strategy (NERS) from 
the pandemic, shall be the State’s employment recovery and generation masterplan which 
shall have the following objectives:
(a) To stimuiate nationai and iocal economic growth and deveiopment through iinked 
investment incentives to the creation of more decent employment to address 
unemployment, underemployment, and rising precarity and informality of work 
arrangements:


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(b) To promote the employability, competitiveness, wellness, and productivity of 
workers through efficient and effective delivery of skills development and 
enhancement programs, and maximization of opportunities in the labor market in 
a post-Covid-19 world; and
(c) To provide support and incentives to businesses, whether existing or emerging, 
particularly micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and ensure the 
security and preservation of employment.
For this purpose, the Inter-Agency Council for Jobs and Investments (lAC) under Section 
4 of this Act shall formulate the NEAP, which shall integrate and implement the NERS 
within one (1) year upon the lifting of the declaration of the state of calamity. The NEAP 
shall have clear action components, success measures, and performance indicators, 
including, but not limited to:
(a) Provision of support for the establishment and growth of MSMEs, including 
increased access to financing and capital, and other incentives, to promote self- 
reliance and spur employment generation;
(b) Equipping unskilled workforce, particularly youth and women, with skills training 
and other opportunities to improve their employability and competitiveness;
(c) Encouraging and incentivizing employers and other private sector organizations, 
including industry stakeholders, that offer training, including technology, 
knowledge and skills transfer, upskilling and reskilling, apprenticeship, on-the-job 
training, and other similar activities, geared towards the improvement of the 
workforce;
(d) Formulating plans and incentives and facilitating the transition of workers from the 
informal to the formal economy through the provision of assistance for formalization 
of their livelihoods, such as business registration;
(e) Empowering the workforce through orientations, seminars, and all other modes on 
their rights as guaranteed by the 1987 Constitution, Presidential Decree No. 442, 
or the Labor Code of the Philippines, and different rules and regulations, including 
the right to self-organization and collective bargaining;
(f) Identifying priority sectors, key and emerging industries, and other areas with high 
employment potential, for purposes of encouraging domestic investment and 
foreign direct investment in such sectors, implementing targeted support and 
subsidy to volatile sectors, and providing support to create value-added supply 
chain;
(g) Expanding the implementation of active labor market policies and programs, 
including employment facilitation and job matching services, create innovative 
means to reach more workers, and improve the efficiency of delivering such 
services;
(h) Enhancing tripartism and social dialogue through increasing the participation and 
representation of youth, women, and workers in the informal economy, among 
others, in labor issues and concerns;


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(i) Developing affordable schemes to encourage and incentivize workers in the 
informai economy to be enrolled in the Social Security System;
(j) Promoting ethical and fair recruitment to protect the rights of migrant workers 
through improved supervision of recruitment agencies, prosecution and conviction 
of traffickers and iilegal recruiters, and intensified occupational safety and health 
inspections, among others; and
(k) Impiement the full-cycie and comprehensive nationai reintegration program for 
documented and undocumented Overseas Fiiipino Workers.
For this purpose, the lAC shaii describe and set standards for the development of 
additional action components, and their corresponding success measures, and 
performance indicators.
SEC. 5. Inter-Agency Council for Jobs and Investments (lAC). - The NERS Task 
Force, created under Executive Order No. 140, series of 2021, is hereby reconstituted as 
the Inter-Agency Council for Jobs and Investments. It shall be composed of the following:
(a) Director-General of the National Economic and Deveiopment Authority (NEDA), as 
Chairperson;
(b) Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as Co-Chairperson;
(c) Secretary of the Department of Labor and Empioyment (DOLE), as Co- 
Chairperson;
(d) Director-General of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority 
(TESDA), as Co-Chairperson;
(e) Secretary of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), as member;
(f) Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), as member;
(g) Secretary of the Department of Finance (DOF), as member;
(h) One (1) representative from the employers organizations; and
(i) One (1) representative from the iabor organizations.
The lAC chairpersons and members may designate their representatives, who must be 
next-in-rank to the principal member and fully authorized to decide for and on their behalf.
The DOLE shall serve as the Secretariat of the lAC. It shall be composed of existing 
personnel from the DOLE, and shall provide administrative, operationai, and technical 
support to the lAC.
The lAC shall coordinate and obtain resource persons from other government agencies 
and instrumentaiities as well as private stakeholders as may be necessary to realize the 
objectives of this Act.


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SEC, 6. Powers and Functions of the lAC. - The lAC shall have the following powers 
and functions:
(a) Formulate a medium and long-term NEAP, and make the necessary changes 
thereto, in order to address the recovery of the labor market and the prevailing 
employment issues therein, including providing employment objectives and 
targets, action components and performance indicators, implementation and 
coordination mechanisms, and monitoring and evaluation. The NEAP shall 
undergo an annual review and evaluation of its implementation, accomplishments, 
and recommendations to address gaps in its execution;
(b) Conduct a comprehensive analysis of the employment situation and labor market 
in the country, review of existing policies and programs affecting the workforce in 
general and the informal economy, youth, and women, in particular, and map 
initiatives undertaken with the support of the private sector, non-government 
organizations, or international development organizations;
(c) Harmonize the employment, livelihood and training projects and programs of the 
National Government towards the preservation and creation of more jobs;
(d) Collaborate with local government units in planning, devising, and implementing 
employment recovery and job generation programs within their localities, and 
ensure their alignment with the NEAP;
(e) Create working groups in support of the development and implementation of the 
NEAP;
(f) Tap civil society organizations, employers organizations, labor unions and groups, 
and other partners, where feasible, for joint programs and technical cooperation 
initiatives to augment and expand employment generation and livelihood projects;
(g) Engage in promotional activities to expand the reach of national and local 
employment campaign;
(h) Craft and provide guidelines for the institutionalization of the NEAP in each 
government agency;
(i) Submit to the Office of the President, the Senate of the Philippines, and the House 
of Representatives a report on the review and evaluation of the implementation of 
the NEAP; and
(j) Perform such other functions that may be related to the implementation of the 
NEAP.
SEC. 7. Establishment of lAC Working Groups. - To pursue a whole-of-government 
approach in the implementation of the NEAP, working groups may be established by the 
lAC, as may be necessary. The creation of working groups shall be in line with the 
objectives and targets as may be indicated in the NEAP, and shall work on developing 
employment recovery and job creation in specific industries and emerging sectors, such 
as, but not limited to, construction, tourism, agriculture, IT and business process 
management, and manufacturing.


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Industry sector representatives, including representatives from the labor and employers’ 
groups, shall be consulted and shall participate in the working groups.
SEC. 8. Active Participation of Local Government Units. - LGUs shall formulate plans, 
programs, or projects geared towards employment recovery and job generation within 
their localities. The lAC, together with the DILG, shall craft policies and guidelines, and 
provide support to local government units in the localization and alignment of their 
respective plans with the NEAP.
SEC. 9. Report to Congress. - The lAC shall submit an annual report to Congress on 
the status of implementation, accomplishments, and recommendations in employment 
recovery and job generation.
SEC. 10. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within ninety (90) days from the 
effectivity of this Act, the NEDA, in coordination with DOLE, DTI, TESDA, DMW, DBM, 
DOF, and other concerned agencies and private stakeholders, shall formulate the 
implementing rules and regulations for the effective implementation of this Act.
SEC. 11. Separability Clause. - Any portion or provision of this Act that is declared 
unconstitutional or invalid shall not have the effect of nullifying other portions or provisions 
hereof as long as such remaining portions can still subsist and be given effect in their 
entirety.
SEC. 12. Repealing Clause. - All laws, ordinances, rules, regulations, other issuances 
or parts thereof, which are inconsistent with this Act, are hereby repealed or modified 
accordingly.
SEC. 13. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in 
the Official Gazette or in two (2) newspapers of general circulation.
Approved,