Palace sees new law boosting optimism over job vacancies

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Saturday said it expects more optimism over the availability of jobs after President Rodrigo Duterte signed a law that would waive government fees on documents needed by first-time jobseekers.

According to a recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, net optimism on job availability rose to “excellent” with +43 in June 2019 from “very high” with +37 in March 2019.

“We expect this level of optimism to grow further especially with President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s signing into law Republic Act 11261, popularly known as the First-Time Jobseekers Assistance Act, last May 2019,” presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement.

Panelo said the administration viewed the law as an “investment” of the government in the youth, with 1.3 million first-time jobseekers expected to benefit from it every year.

Meanwhile, the SWS also found that adult joblessness was up by one point to 20.7% (9.8 million jobless adults ) in June 2019 from 19.7% (9.4 million jobless adults) in March 2019.

READ: SWS: 9.8 million jobless Filipino adults, but job optimism ‘excellent’

Panelo called the development “seasonal” because the recent data was gathered when students had just graduated.

/atm