Republic of the Philippines.
House of Representatives
Quezon City

17" Congress
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO.4081

Introduced by Representative DEOGRACIAS B. RAMOS, Jr.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Unless men and women in rural communities are given local job opportunities,
many of them will flock to urbanized areas in and around the country to seek
better life thereby fueling rapid urbanization which is already causing
problems and challenges. Traffic jam in Metro Manila alone is bleeding the
country at least P3 Billion a day according to NEDA in September 2015.

The purpose of this bill is to provide employment to poor rural folks by making
them the preferred project employees in non-skilled jobs of infra projects
funded by the government in their locality. This will entail no additional cost to
the government compared to funding other lead agencies to hire them for the
same purpose.

As the agency tasked to develop the country’s infrastructure, this bill also
enjoins the Department of Public Works and Highways to target unskilled
locals in areas with infrastructure investment even if funded from other
departments.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development will help in the
determination of the poor rural folks who will qualify under the program.

Under the present administration, allotment for infrastructure asset will rise to
six percent (6%) of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), upping the previous
administration's allocation. With this so much money, this bill will create rural
employment however temporary, and spread the wealth to poor Filipinos.

All considered, the immediate approval of this bill is earnestly sought.

‘AMOS, JR.
Secohd District, Sorsogon


Republic of the Philippines
House of Representatives
Quezon City

17" Congress
First Regular Session

House eri no.493.4

Introduced by Representative DEOGRACIAS B. RAMOS, Jr.

AN ACT PROVIDING FOR EMPLOYMENT
TO INDIGENTS IN RURAL AREAS

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in
the Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. This shall be known as Rural Employment for the
Poor Act of 2016.

SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. The State shall promote a just and
dynamic social order that will ensure the prosperity and independence of the
nation and free the people from poverty through policies that provide
adequate social services, promote full employment, a rising standard of living,
and improved quality of life for all. :

SECTION 3. Rural Employment Program. The Department of Public Works
and Highways (DPWH) shall implement the Rural Employment for the Poor
Program, in coordination with the Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD).

The program shall provide temporary employment in rural areas to a qualified
head of family or single adult member of poor families, or out of schoo! youth,
who agrees to do unskilled manual work for the duration of a government
infrastructure project, or as long as the unskilled jobs are still needed as
determined by private contractors.

The laborers, as qualified in the immediately preceding paragraph, shall make
up a sizeable portion of the total unskilled workforce in a government
infrastructure project. For this purpose, the DPWH shall see to it that private
contractors fully comply with this requirement.

SECTION 4, Rural Areas. Rural areas are local government units that are not
part of highly urbanized cities, independent component cities, or component
cities.


SECTION 5. Role of DSWD. The DSWD shall make the determination of the
poor who will qualify for this program.

For the purpose of this act, the poor shall refer to individuals and families
whose income falls below the poverty threshold as defined by the
government.

SECTION 6. Rate of Assistance. Every qualified individual shall receive the
applicable mimimum wage pay for the place of work, Philhealth, Pag-IBIG,
and Social Security Sytem (SSS) benefits.

SECTION 7. Types of Works and Activities. In all infrastructure projects of
the National Government, qualified individuals shall be hired as project
employees only.

SECTION 8, Implementing Rules and Regulations. To implement this Act, the
Secretary of DPWH, in consultation with the Secretary of the DSWD, shall
issue the implementing rules and regulations within ninety (90) days from
approval of this Act.

SECTION 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,