DOLE

Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE): FY 2027 NEP and original submission: The FY 2027 National Expenditure Program (NEP) assigns PHP 47.057 billion to DOLE's department-wide scope: DOLE, six attached agencies and 17 regional offices, excluding automatic appropriations. The department's original FY 2027 submission to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) was PHP 70.426 billion.

Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA): NEP allocation and distinct requests: TESDA's FY 2027 NEP allocation is PHP 20.895 billion, already included in the DOLE-wide total. Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Secretary Jose Francisco "Kiko" Benitez reported a 46.8% shortfall against the agency's proposed budget; its original submission's peso total was not stated. He later described an additional PHP 20 billion broad wish list. The updated additional request was PHP 5.3 billion to restore the FY 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA) level and protect learner coverage, including TechPro training for senior-high-school teachers and training for barangay health workers and nutrition scholars. These new priorities were drawn from unfunded Tier 2 priorities. The updated request is one aggregate including its components.

DOLE and TESDA budget increase requests: Committee vice chair Rep. Rommel Rico T. Angara asked colleagues to support increasing the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) budget, specifically also the budget of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). In discussing the requests, he praised the performance of TESDA's secretary and staff. He gave no amount for either requested increase in this opening exchange.

DOLE: FY 2027 NEP, original submission and FY 2026 comparison: The FY 2027 allocation is compared with FY 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA) funding of ₱61.173 billion and FY 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP) funding of ₱44.382 billion. The presentation describes it as ₱14.116 billion below the GAA and ₱2.675 billion above the prior NEP. Against the original submission to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), it reports a ₱23.368 billion or 33.18% reduction.

DOLE: automatic appropriations and agency components: The stated department-wide allocation excludes automatic appropriations: ₱668.058 million for retirement and life insurance premiums and ₱375,000 for the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) special voluntary arbitration fund. The presentation says the total supports DOLE, six attached agencies and 17 regional offices. It allocates ₱20.955 billion to DOLE Proper, ₱2.694 billion to the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), ₱1.733 billion to the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), ₱369 million to the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), ₱332 million to NCMB and ₱79 million to the Institute for Labor Studies (ILS).

DOLE: allotment classes, operating costs and capital outlay: In the later FY 2027 NEP breakdown, the presentation assigns ₱38.89 billion to maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE), ₱8.443 billion to personnel services and ₱525 million to capital outlay. Personnel services increased by ₱0.021 billion from the prior year, including salaries and benefits for new and promoted employees, field non-permanent positions and terminal leave for mandatory retirees. MOOE is shown as ₱35.05 billion in FY 2026 NEP, ₱51.91 billion in FY 2026 GAA and ₱38.10 billion in FY 2027 NEP; the presenter describes the FY 2027 amount as ₱13.82 billion below the GAA and ₱3.44 billion above the prior NEP. Capital outlay is reported down ₱0.39 billion from FY 2026 NEP and ₱0.321 billion from FY 2026 GAA, attributed to scaled-down computerization and completed information-system projects.

DOLE: program changes, TUPAD request and attached-agency comparisons: The presentation lists higher allocations for alien employment permits, labor-market information, job fairs, the National Skills Registry System, labor-management relations, labor standards, tripartism and social dialogue, workers’ organization development, case management, workers with special concerns, the Government Internship Program and family welfare and kasambahay programs. It lists reductions for local employment promotion, the Trabaho Para sa Bayan Act, Public Employment Services, the DOLE Integrated Livelihood Program (DILP) and child-labor prevention. DOLE asks to restore Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) funding to its FY 2026 level, citing calamities, emergencies, unemployment and the need to maintain coverage for disadvantaged workers; this presentation gives no restoration amount or disposition. For attached agencies, the presentation assigns ILS ₱27.451 million for labor and employment research and NCMB ₱211 million for dispute resolution and labor-management relations. It reports an NLRC decrease of ₱41.409 million, mainly in labor arbitration, while the execution program increases ₱1.875 million; NWPC receives an additional ₱21.66 million and PRC has an overall increase of ₱45.882 million. For TESDA it reports reductions of ₱7.246 million in the policy program, ₱90.213 million in the regulatory program and ₱4.656 billion in the technical education and skills development program; its proposed budget is ₱4.754 billion below FY 2026 GAA. The presentation then reports a net ₱13.305 billion decrease across DOLE agencies. These are individual agency or program changes, not additional requests to add to the DOLE total.

DOLE budget utilization: The presentation reports obligation rates above 83% from FY2022 to FY2025. As of September 7, 2026, the overall DOLE obligation rate was 42%, while DOLE Proper's disbursement rate was 90%. The department committed to accelerate implementation and use the remaining allocations before the fiscal year closed.

Motion to defer DOLE budget rejected: Rep. Elijah Rumbaoa San Fernando moved to defer committee consideration of DOLE's fiscal year 2027 budget, expressly excluding TESDA. Vice Chair Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez objected, saying Secretary Tolentino had cited a court order and suggesting an administrative case against the judge who issued the writ without the required bond. Committee vice chair Rep. Rommel Rico T. Angara said he could not act before the motion was seconded; Rep. Percival “Perci” Cendaña then seconded it, and Rodriguez reiterated his objection. Deputy Speaker Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza moved to suspend the hearing. After resumption, Angara put the motion to a vote: seven members voted in favor, 31 against and none abstained. Angara declared the motion disapproved, and the hearing proceeded.

Livelihood releases for farmers and fisherfolk: Asked by Rep. Julius Cesar "Jay" V. Vergara about support for displaced farm workers, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Assistant Secretary Amuerfina R. Reyes said farmers and fisherfolk received support through the DOLE Integrated Livelihood Program (DILP). She reported releases of more than ₱412 million from 2022 through 2026, serving more than 25,000 beneficiaries. This was a record of program funding and beneficiaries, rather than a new appropriation request.

Voluntary arbitrators and maritime labor support: Deputy Speaker Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza asked Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Francis N. Tolentino to support increased funding for voluntary arbitrators, especially maritime voluntary arbitrators. He cited an education amount of ₱355,000. Tolentino said he supported the maritime labor concern and described a newly established maritime labor affairs office focused on seafarer rights and labor inspections, a remit Tolentino distinguished from the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), with maritime conciliators, mediators and arbitrators to help resolve pending cases. He said he would ask the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) to provide details on voluntary-arbitrator funding. NCMB OIC-Executive Director IV Teresita E. Audea explained that voluntary-arbitrator funds are included in the NCMB maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE), while arbitrator training is sourced from collective bargaining agreement (CBA) collections; she said an increase would help. Mendoza renewed his request. He did not specify an increase amount.

Funding need for a 24-hour rider call center: Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Francis N. Tolentino said the department was planning a 24-hour call center to receive platform riders' complaints but lacked sufficient funds. This arose in Rep. Dadah Kiram Ismula's questions about platform-worker rights. No funding amount was specified.

Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE): Labor Attorney's Office and National Academy for Labor Justice request: After Rep. Rommel Rico T. Angara recognized Rep. Ramon Jolo III B. Revilla as the next majority interpellator, Revilla cited Department Orders 257-26 and 258-26 establishing the National Academy for Labor Justice (NALJ) and Labor Attorney’s Office (LAO). He supported both initiatives and asked how they would help workers, suggesting that their funding be increased to strengthen labor-standards enforcement. Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Francis N. Tolentino said the LAO would extend free legal aid to workers who could not access a lawyer. He corrected his initial ₱50 million LAO figure to a ₱75 million request for 64 lawyers. To explain the need, Tolentino said that among Filipinos seeking legal help, 15% consulted a lawyer, 9% used government legal aid and 72% relied on informal advice; he also cited Filipino overseas workers as a group with limited access to lawyers and said labor complaints often went unpursued for lack of legal resources. He described the LAO as a nationwide service intended to address financial and logistical barriers and reduce pressure on the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO). For the NALJ, Tolentino requested ₱50 million to develop labor justice through legal education, professional formation, policy research and knowledge development. He described continuing education and leadership training for labor arbiters, conciliators and commissioners, research partnerships with the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) and law schools, and courses of 12 or 18 months. The combined request was ₱125 million to establish both under the administrative orders. Revilla urged the committee to grant the request, citing the burden on PAO lawyers and the need for dedicated help for workers; his support is not an appropriation approval.

Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) employment support priorities and SME funding wish list: Rep. Ramon Jolo III B. Revilla asked whether DOLE had a wish list to help people who had lost jobs, including possible additional subsidies through Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD), and asked how much funding was needed; he referred to a substantial decrease from FY 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA) to FY 2027 National Expenditure Program (NEP) without stating totals. DOLE Secretary Francis N. Tolentino identified small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially small restaurants, as needing more support through DOLE’s Adjustment Measures Program. He proposed a DOLE trust fund that could fill employer contribution gaps for workers’ Social Security System (SSS) and Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) benefits when small employers could not meet the contributions. DOLE Undersecretary Carmela I. Torres asked that youth-employability programs receive budget attention, particularly internships that help new graduates gain experience, labor-market information and public employment service offices (PESOs) that connect jobseekers with employers and vacancies. She reported 84 nationwide job fairs planned for September 14, with career guidance and referrals to skills training or certification, and described the Government Internship Program (GIP), Special Program for Employment of Students (SPES) and JobStart as routes to work experience and employer connections. Torres said the GIP’s proposed FY 2027 increase was reflected and hoped it would be granted. She also identified teamwork and artificial-intelligence training, climate and renewable-energy skills, and support for micro, small and medium enterprises through the Adjustment Measures Program as priorities. No specific total for these wider priorities was stated in this exchange.

DOLE labor-inspector staffing need: Rep. Sarah Jane I. Elago asked Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Assistant Secretary Amuerfina R. Reyes how many labor inspectors the department had, their coverage ratio, and the proposed funding to provide enough inspectors for workplace-safety enforcement. Reyes said DOLE had 1,210 inspectors for more than 1.2 million establishments, or about one inspector per 1,026 establishments; roughly 90% were micro-establishments. A study by the Bureau of Working Conditions estimated a need for more than 9,000 inspectors. Reyes said DOLE sought support to add staff over several years rather than in a one-time increase and included the need on its funding wish list. She did not give a peso cost for the staffing expansion.

OSH administrative-fine collections and requested breakdown: Rep. Sarah Jane I. Elago asked how much the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) had collected from administrative fines for Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) violations and how the collections were used. Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC) Executive Director Engr. Jose Maria S. Batino said the Center was accounting for violations and gave the collected total as ₱1,708,400, with a regional breakdown to be provided to the committee. Elago asked DOLE to submit how the fines were distributed and used, especially for OSH training, education and programs under the strengthened OSH law.

PRC Negros Island Region office: 2027 funding and status: Rep. Ma. Isabel L. Sagarbarria asked why the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) still lacked a regional office for the Negros Island Region (NIR) two years after its creation. She noted that the Dumaguete office reported to Region 7 in Cebu and the Bacolod office to Region 6 in Iloilo, and cited about 4,000 examinees at the Philippine Nurses Licensure Examination in Dumaguete on August 29 to 30 as evidence of service demand. Secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Francis N. Tolentino, said PRC was close to signing, or may already have signed, an agreement for a prospective building site in Dumaguete. PRC Chairperson Charito A. Zamora said the FY 2027 National Expenditure Program (NEP) included a Tier 1 allotment of ₱3.617 million for the NIR, while PRC had appealed to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for a Tier 2 budget of ₱12.480 million to support the regional transition. Zamora said the track was toward a full-fledged NIR office, with a larger Dumaguete space planned for 2027. Asked whether a regional director would be in place, she said probably not under the current NEP funding; if the Tier 2 appeal were granted, PRC could study the transition, but she did not promise a director.

Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE): TUPAD restoration request: Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Undersecretary Warren M. Miclat requested additional FY 2027 funding for Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD), on top of the department's earlier request for additional 2027 funding. He asked to restore the FY 2026 funding level to preserve worker coverage. Miclat said restoration would benefit an additional 672,776 disadvantaged workers. Rep. Rommel Rico T. Angara thanked Miclat and noted the request as the hearing proceeded; the request was not approved in this exchange.

DOLE and TUPAD budget growth, community role and policy challenge: During the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) FY 2027 budget discussion, Undersecretary Warren M. Miclat confirmed an additional TUPAD request of ₱10.25 billion after Rep. Antonio L. Tinio asked for its amount. Tinio presented a historical comparison: in 2016, DOLE had a total budget of ₱9.12 billion, including ₱3.2 billion for TUPAD, or 36% of the department total. In 2026, he said DOLE's budget was ₱30 billion, of which ₱22 billion, or 75%, went to TUPAD; he cited 82% as the program's share in 2024. Over the ten-year period, Tinio calculated that the total DOLE budget grew 229%, TUPAD grew 588%, and the rest of DOLE's budget grew 29%. He said congressional interventions had increased TUPAD beyond its NEP level when budgets became GAA, beginning in 2019 and especially under the Marcos Jr. administration. These are Tinio's chart-based figures, distinct from the department-wide totals in the opening presentation.

Tinio questioned whether DOLE had become an ayuda agency, arguing that TUPAD had grown far faster than the rest of the department and that the largest increase request was for TUPAD. He asked whether this was the most productive use of public funds, contrasted it with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), which he said lacked resources for long-term skills development, and raised barangay-level patronage as a concern.

Secretary Francis N. Tolentino said TUPAD expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic to assist displaced workers, then evolved beyond short-term financial assistance to address local needs, poverty and disasters, including in fourth- and sixth-class municipalities. He cited assistance for fisherfolk, sugarcane workers and transport cooperatives and drivers; school-opening and community work; and tutoring pupils in reading, writing and arithmetic. He also pointed to the Government Internship Program (GIP), through which some participants later found work with fire-service and police agencies. Tolentino said TUPAD could support community-specific projects and offered Tinio a portfolio of program examples; he mentioned possible future work involving artificial intelligence and shipbuilding in Zambales. Tinio acknowledged the Secretary's defense but renewed his objection that TUPAD continued expanding after pandemic restrictions ended, questioned its productivity and repeated the concern about patronage. The exchange records no committee action on the additional request .

Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE): 2027 NEP reductions across DOLE and attached agencies: Rep. Antonino B. Roman III said DOLE's FY 2027 National Expenditure Program (NEP) was about 8% below FY 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA) and asked which submitted programs had been removed and should be restored. Secretary Francis N. Tolentino referred the question to Undersecretary Warren M. Miclat. Miclat identified reductions in DOLE Proper's Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD), livelihood and computerization programs; he said capital outlay for computerization had been scaled back. He reported increases for the Institute for Labor Studies (ILS), National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) and Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). The National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) decrease reflected non-approval of proposed information and communications technology (ICT) requirements under maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) and capital outlay, including acquisition funding. The National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) decrease reflected retirement of five commissioners and coterminous employees, non-approval of additional ICT requirements and replacement vehicles. The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) had reductions in MOOE for the Special Training for Employment Program (STEP), Training for Work Scholarship Program (TWSP), Lifelong Employability and Advancement Program (LEAP), micro-credentials for near-hires, in-service workers and the future workforce; Miclat also identified reduced foreign-assisted project funding for Supporting Innovation in the Philippine Technical and Vocational Education and Training System (SIPTIVETS), and no capital outlay provision for ICT or vehicles. Asked how computerization cuts affected DOLE work, Miclat said FY 2026 funding was available for hardware; the next-year cut was to capital-outlay purchases, while FY 2025 continuing funds remained for computers and were already in procurement.

DOLE: distinct National Academy and Labor Attorney's Office requests outside the ILS NEP increase: Roman asked whether the National Academy for Labor Justice (NALJ) and Labor Attorney's Office (LAO), previously proposed by DOLE, were among the programs left unfunded. Tolentino confirmed both were submitted and said he had written separately to the House Speaker, members and committees, with a further letter planned to the Senate President. He described the earlier NALJ and LAO requests as complementary but separate. Tolentino said the LAO request would fund free nationwide legal assistance and 64 lawyers. Roman later asked for the LAO's staffing computation, describing 64 labor arbiters and 32 legal officers; Tolentino said he would provide the justification and digital file. For the NALJ, Tolentino described an 83-page proposal to retool the existing Institute for Labor Studies through a governing board, chancellor, improved library and research program, continuing education and professional formation for labor arbiters, conciliators and commissioners, and labor-justice policy research and knowledge development. He said the NALJ request was separate from the current ILS NEP increase, which was for ILS itself; the NALJ request would require separate itemization, including facilities such as a digital library and moot court. He also described codifying issuances and developing reference resources for the NLRC and labor arbiters. Tolentino agreed to submit the NALJ justification that day; Angara said the Secretariat would furnish Roman a copy after copies were prepared. Asked whether the requests were a package, Tolentino said the two offices were separate but worked together. The exchange established document-submission arrangements; no appropriation decision was made. Tolentino separately mentioned an ad hoc Maritime Labor Affairs Office to support seafarers and compliance with the International Labour Organization (ILO); no amount was stated for that idea.

TUPAD funding, beneficiary reach and disbursement: Rep. Roberto Nazal said the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) budget was falling from ₱21.28 billion to ₱11.03 billion, with target beneficiaries dropping from about 1.48 million to 672,776. Asked how much to restore and how many more workers it could serve, DOLE Secretary Francis N. Tolentino referred him to Undersecretary Warren M. Miclat. Miclat gave a different beneficiary baseline of 932,777 for 2026 and discussed the 2027 NEP reduction. He said the cut reduced reach by about 672,000, leaving 300,000-plus, and reiterated the restoration request, which he associated with restoring 672,776 workers to reach almost one million beneficiaries. He said the annual target was about one million and that planning assumed 20 workdays, within a 10-to-90-day range. When asked for the larger potential beneficiary pool, Miclat deferred to the program manager; Tolentino said disasters and sudden job losses were unpredictable and argued for flexible funds, citing TUPAD support after a steel-plant closure in Misamis Oriental. On disbursement, Miclat first called 97% the 2026 utilization rate, then confirmed after Nazal's follow-up that 97% was the rate at end-2025 and the latest 2026 disbursement rate was 87%.

DILP allocation and restoration: Nazal said the DOLE Integrated Livelihood Program (DILP) was cut by ₱462 million and that the FY 2027 target was for 48% of livelihood projects to remain operating after two years. Miclat compared a 2026 budget of ₱2,689,092,000 with a 2027 budget of ₱2,227,092,000, explaining that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) uses absorptive capacity and the 2025 utilization rate in setting allocations. He said restoration would help.

Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE): TUPAD monitoring-fund proposal: Rep. Anna York P. Bondoc, M.D. characterized Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD) as short-term employment rather than ayuda. She proposed using an unspecified percentage of TUPAD funds for monitoring, including hiring independent monitors, and called for clear work deliverables. The proposal was not quantified, and no response or disposition is recorded in this round.

Trabaho para sa Bayan Plan funding: Rep. Iris Marie Demesa Montes asked what the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) received from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for the Trabaho para sa Bayan Plan, citing its place in the 2027 budget priorities. DOLE Undersecretary Carmela I. Torres answered that the allocation for "this year" was ₱3 million to implement the plan. She said its development was a joint effort of DOLE, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DepDev), and that DOLE was rolling it out with DepDev. Montes said the answer prompted her concern about the seriousness of the stated priorities and said she would raise with DBM the lack of funding for the Department of Education's (DepEd) ARAL program. The exchange identifies the ₱3 million as this year's plan implementation budget; it does not identify it as the 2027 NEP allocation.

DOLE inspectorate funding and staffing: Rep. Salvador A. Pleyto asked whether the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) had enough funding for technical inspection personnel. DOLE Secretary Francis N. Tolentino said funding was insufficient and referred him to Undersecretary Warren M. Miclat. Miclat reported an FY 2026 inspectorate-program/labor-law-compliance-system budget of PHP 822 million, including PHP 498 million for labor-inspector salaries. For FY 2027, he cited PHP 524 million in the staffing-budget discussion, without specifying whether it was an addition or a total. Miclat said the inspectorate requirement was 1,210, with 1,036 filled and 171 vacancies at the time of reporting. He added that DOLE had originally requested about 2,000 positions in 2018 and had included a renewed request in a Government Optimization Program submission to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) as the number of establishments grew.

DOLE and PRC regional office access and facilities: Rep. Eulogio "Leo" R. Rodriguez thanked DOLE Secretary Francis N. Tolentino for support in establishing a government office building in Legazpi that he said was intended to accommodate DOLE and other essential offices. Rodriguez endorsed the DOLE budget. Rep. Rommel Rico T. Angara later said DOLE still needed land and that he would take care of the building. These facility statements and budget endorsement are not an appropriation approval; no amount or formal disposition is stated. Rodriguez described PRC as among the agencies intended to occupy the Legazpi office building and endorsed its budget. He said mobile operations incurred their own expenses and that there was no fund for them, making the arrangement useful for residents who otherwise had to travel to Legazpi. Angara said a PRC sub-office in Aurora was a possible next target, with no decision recorded. Rodriguez expressed support; no budget amount or approval of a PRC sub-office is recorded.

DOLE FY 2027 increase proposal and records-based comparison: Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez said his records showed the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) budget was PHP 9 billion lower than its FY 2026 level. He asked the department to submit its priorities in ranked order so the committee could consider the most important needs if it could not fund everything. Rodriguez said he intended, at the proper time, to move to approve the DOLE budget in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) and increase it based on the agency's priorities. He expressed confidence in presiding Vice Chair Rommel Rico T. Angara's support for an increase. This was a planned motion and expression of support; the unit records no motion disposition or approved augmentation.

District livelihood grants: Rodriguez described the DOLE Integrated Livelihood Program, with PHP 20,000 per beneficiary and a PHP 200,000 group example. He cited fish vending and farmers' groups as local uses.

Labor-law compliance funding and inspector staffing: Rep. Jan Franz Norbert Joselito A. Chan noted that the National Expenditure Program (NEP) provided around ₱877 million for the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) labor-laws compliance program and asked what allocation would be ideal to support inspections that can establish violations at large employers. DOLE Undersecretary Felipe N. Egargo Jr. estimated that about 9,000 inspectors were needed to reach most establishments; DOLE Secretary Francis N. Tolentino said the shortfall was 8,000. The exchange quantified a staffing need, not a new priced request or a specific additional appropriation. Chan said labor law is only as strong as the department that enforces it, urged DOLE to tell the committee plainly what funding should be restored, and expressed full support for the department and its staff.

Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE): Sugar Amelioration Program allocations, distributions and proposed minimum cash bonus: Rep. Sarah Jane I. Elago asked how the Sugar Amelioration Program (SAP) divided its cash-bonus fund and how much was reserved for sugar workers. DOLE Assistant Secretary Amuerfina R. Reyes clarified that 80% went to cash bonuses and 20% to a socioeconomic-program-related fund, which covered death and maternity benefits and implementation administration. Reyes separately cited 9% for socioeconomic projects without specifying its denominator. For 2024-2025, she reported cash bonuses totaling PHP 142.46 million awarded to 3,764 mill workers and 437,667 field workers. She separately reported first-quarter FY 2026 maternity claims of 685 totaling PHP 5.4 million and 424 death-benefit claims totaling PHP 5.9 million. Migratory sugarcane workers in distress could receive a one-time PHP 4,000 on top of other social-protection assistance. Elago then asked for the 2025-2026 cash-bonus allocation and worker-distribution breakdown. The requested 2025-2026 total remained unanswered. Elago cited worker reports of cash bonuses below PHP 500 per year and said transportation costs could exceed the bonus; she supported a proposal for a minimum PHP 5,000 cash bonus, particularly during the tiempo muerto period when sugar-industry workers may lack income. No adoption or approval of that proposed minimum is recorded.

Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE): funding for International Labour Organization Convention No. 190 implementation: Elago asked how much DOLE would allocate next year to implement its Department Order No. 259, Series of 2026, on International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 190 (C190) guidance for the private sector, including labor inspection, hotline No. 1349, family-welfare technical assistance and learning materials. Assistant Secretary Reyes said she did not have the Gender and Development (GAD) budget figures with her and described GAD work as embedded across DOLE programs. She said C190 campaigns and capacity building were continuing and incorporated into existing programs; the National Tripartite Industry Peace Council had issued workplace guidelines, and DOLE had templates for employer policies, reporting, feedback and handling C190 cases. No separate C190 allocation amount was given in this exchange. Reyes offered to provide a copy of the department order.

NLRC e-resolution funding and award execution: Presiding Vice Chair Rep. Rommel Rico T. Angara read a civil society organization (CSO) question citing a proposed PHP 50,300,000 special provision for the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) e-Resolution and Tracking System. The question asked for the current average time from final award to actual release and whether the funding would close the gap between winning a labor case and getting paid. NLRC Chairperson Grace E. Maniquiz-Tan said PHP 50 million would help, noting that the commission had no new information-technology program after requests were denied and more than PHP 50 million had been cut from its requests. She said she would check the case status; the commission had information on filed complaints and labor-arbiter decisions but did not provide an average time to payment or a status for commission decisions and execution. Angara directed that the requested information be sent to the CSOs.

National Minimum Wage Act study provision and NWPC role: Angara read a second CSO question about a proposed PHP 5 million special provision for the National Minimum Wage Act and a zero allocation for the upcoming year, asking where the 2027 funding stood, whether the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) was resourced to study and cost a national minimum wage, and whether government supported replacing the regional wage-board system. NWPC Executive Director Maria Criselda Sy said the commission provides technical assistance to Congress and the Senate and defers to them on whether to enact a national minimum wage. She said taking a position for or against legislation is outside the commission's mandate; she did not identify a 2027 study allocation or costed work plan.

Labor-market information and inspectorate funding: On the CSO question about labor-market information (LMI) for the national plan, DOLE Undersecretary Carmela I. Torres said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is vice chair of the Education and Workforce Development Group and is responsible for supplying labor-market information, including hard-to-fill occupations and critical and emerging skills. DOLE works with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), the Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DepDev), the Department of Education (DepEd), and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and needs budget for LMI; Angara noted that the current allocation was very small. In the next CSO question, Angara cited PHP 1.283 billion for an expansion of the labor-laws compliance and inspection program and asked how many of 763 inspectors shown on paper were actually in the field. Secretary Francis N. Tolentino said nearly 700 labor inspectors were working and the balance were retaking examinations, after earlier exams were too difficult and included material not related to labor law. He rejected the framing that the ratified convention was a promise the inspectorate could not enforce, saying the inspectorate had operated before ratification and needed reinforcing with qualified staff and appropriate funding. He cited a ratio of barely one inspector per 40,000 people. Assistant Secretary Amuerfina R. Reyes added that inspectorate staffing also includes auditors who review inspectors, technical safety inspectors for boilers and mechanical systems, and hearing officers; she said DOLE was filling available positions, which Angara confirmed. The cited expansion figure was part of the CSO question, not an approved appropriation.

DOLE TUPAD and labor-justice restoration requests: Committee Chair Rep. Mikaela Angela B. Suansing asked Secretary Francis N. Tolentino what would happen if TUPAD funding were not restored. Tolentino cited declining employment, an expanding labor force and community projects that would be affected, including tutoring for Grade 1 to 3 pupils and skills-based reintegration of returning overseas Filipino workers. Suansing asked for a consolidated letter covering the TUPAD restoration and the earlier aggregate NALJ/LAO labor-justice request. Tolentino agreed; he described additional labor attorneys and training for mediators, conciliators, arbiters and commissioners as the labor-justice uses.

DOLE overseas labor-policy desks and personnel request: Tolentino said labor-attache functions had moved to the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), leaving a gap in DOLE representation. Based on letters sent to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), DOLE requested a desk in Geneva, Jakarta, and Washington, D.C., staffed by three people to coordinate labor-policy matters, including maritime conventions. He cited a total request of PHP 137 million for the three posts. Suansing asked that the pending DOLE requests be submitted by 12 noon the next day so the Budget Amendments Review Committee (BARC) could deliberate; Tolentino agreed to submit them.

Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) - FY 2026 GAA and FY 2027 NEP comparison: Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Secretary Jose Francisco "Kiko" Benitez said TESDA received a record-high FY 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA) budget of ₱26 billion. For FY 2027, TESDA's National Expenditure Program (NEP) allocation is lower than the FY 2026 GAA. TESDA's share of the total education budget was 2.2% in FY 2026 and is 1.88% in the FY 2027 NEP. By August 2026, fund utilization was similar to spending at the same point in the prior year; Benitez said TESDA would catch up.

TESDA FY 2027 restoration and program additions: If TESDA could not obtain its Tier 2 requests, Secretary Benitez asked for at least a FY 2027 budget equal to the FY 2026 GAA. He requested the updated additional funding request summarized above, with scholarships to serve 162,000 more learners; components included ₱933.9 million for the Training for Work Scholarship Program (TWSP), serving 37,356 more learners; ₱777.655 million for the Special Training for Employment Program (STEP), serving 24,758 more learners; and ₱2.4 billion for Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education (UAQTE), serving 46,730 more learners. Benitez said amendments to the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education law had just been signed and should be funded, including free technical and vocational education and training at higher qualification levels. He also requested ₱612 million to align TechPro with Grade 12 in the strengthened senior high school curriculum, and ₱621 million for training community-based health care workers, including barangay health workers and nutrition scholars, as an expansion of child-development-worker training.

TESDA additional request for learners: Committee vice chair Rep. Rommel Rico T. Angara asked for the committee to obtain a copy of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) additional funding request presented by Secretary Jose Francisco "Kiko" Benitez, describing it as crucial for the country's learners.

TESDA budget support: Rep. Elijah Rumbaoa San Fernando opened by supporting the budget of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), which he called one of the government's well-performing agencies, then set that topic aside to raise a separate matter.

Construction-worker training awaiting funds: Rep. Percival "Perci" Cendaña relayed concerns from the National Union of Building and Construction Workers and Nagkaisa Labor Coalition that the Construction Workers Training Program had been interrupted in June 2026, potentially depriving up to 300 workers of training. He asked why it had not proceeded and whether DOLE was considering resumption. Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Secretary Jose Francisco "Kiko" Benitez clarified that the question concerned TESDA: the program was part of an agreement with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and TESDA had not received the funds still held by DPWH for training workers displaced from DPWH projects. Asked when it would resume, Benitez said TESDA was waiting for the transfer. Cendaña said he would continue following up.

TESDA AI training and LEAP micro-credential funding: Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Secretary Jose Francisco “Kiko” Benitez said TESDA helped craft the AI upskilling roadmap with DOLE. He reported 36,766 beneficiaries in 2026 for institution-based AI and data courses and 10,000 BPO workers for enterprise-based education; community-based micro-credentials were another route into AI-enabled tools and jobs. Benitez said the Office of the President had provided ₱500 million for micro-credentials under LEAP, primarily as part of the broader AI-adoption effort.

TESDA: field positions, capital outlay and separate scholarship and diploma requests: TESDA Secretary Jose Francisco "Kiko" Benitez said TESDA had requested additional field positions to implement programs more efficiently and more capital outlay; he said the FY 2027 proposal provided no capital outlay. He asked at minimum that TESDA's FY 2027 scholarship budget be restored to a level equivalent to its FY 2026 GAA, so scholarship slots would not shrink during implementation of education reforms. Benitez described the broader TESDA wish list summarized above, which he thought was unlikely to be granted, and said its largest portion related to universal access to quality tertiary education. Within that discussion, he requested PHP 2.4 billion for diploma programs nationwide: two- to three-year higher-level NC3-to-NC5 programs taught by TESDA or TESDA institutions and ladderized into bachelor's degrees with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), supporting the recent amendment to the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education law. Roman asked whether the diploma amount continued the scholarship request; Benitez clarified that it funded the diploma programs. Benitez described the scholarship restoration need as approximately PHP 5.4 billion, alongside the updated aggregate request summarized above. These are stated as different scopes and comparison bases; the transcript does not say they should be added together. Benitez also cited unfunded legislation for local-government training centers under TESDA as a continuing need. Roman asked for a breakdown of TESDA's additional requests; Benitez said it had been included in the presentation delivered to the committee that morning, and Angara said he would direct that a copy be furnished. Roman voiced support for budget increases for both TESDA and DOLE; no approval is recorded in this exchange.

TESDA scholarship balances, referrals and pre-plenary reporting: Rep. Roberto Nazal cited the Department of Budget and Management's preliminary year-end 2025 report that the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) had ₱6.74 billion unobligated and a 66.5% disbursement rate against obligations; he said ₱16.77 billion remained unobligated as of August 2026. He asked how much of the balances was scholarship funding and why schools and courses he had referred had not been approved. TESDA Secretary Jose Francisco “Kiko” Benitez said he needed the school names because allocations depend on schools' absorptive capacity and qualifications available in each area. He said much of the 2026 scholarship funding had been released only two to three weeks earlier and was entering processing; he described overall allocation as nearly 82%. When Nazal asked again about qualified referrals where funds were available, Benitez said competing schools offering the same qualifications in an area were a usual bottleneck and told Nazal the decision was not because of his referral. Nazal said he would resubmit the list and requested before plenary complete 2025 and latest 2026 reports for TWSP, STEP, Tulong Trabaho and other scholarship programs, including allocations, utilization, balances and distribution by region, province, school and course, plus written reasons for rejected referrals. Chair Rep. Rommel Rico T. Angara asked the Committee Secretary to note the requested lists. Nazal closed by urging Congress to restore and increase funding for both TESDA and DOLE; this was advocacy, not a formal motion.

Project UNLAD funding, rollout and outcome reporting: Rep. Renee Louise M. Co asked for an update on Project UNLAD, describing ₱740 million in the 2026 budget for artificial-intelligence upskilling for workers under the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), in partnership with the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP). TESDA Secretary Jose Francisco "Kiko" Benitez referred the question to Deputy Director General Galo B. Glino III, who described TESDA delivery through enterprise-based training and partner technical-vocational institutions: for 2026, TESDA allocated funding for 10,000 slots for business-process outsourcing workers to gain AI skills, while partner institutions such as STI were delivering around 34,000 slots for AI and data upskilling. These are separate figures for described delivery channels, not a combined total. Benitez clarified that Project UNLAD is joint with DICT and that some of the ₱740 million is DICT funding; around ₱500 million originally belonged to TESDA, for which TESDA would provide an updated rollout report. He said the program was ongoing and expected to continue into 2027. On measuring results, he described employability and employer-defined micro-credential training needs developed with IBPAP; for LEAP-funded micro-credentials, he cited employment rates, including trainees' earnings gains from the training. Co asked for the accomplishment report to show how the 2026 funds were used, the different training modalities and partner roles, and measurable gains, including certification and assessment results. She raised reports she had received that some employed workers were given only a PowerPoint presentation as training, and sought detail on how TESDA's broader AI-upskilling roadmap addresses displacement concerns. Benitez agreed to provide the update and include the modalities, certification, and assessment rates.

Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA): training-center support and budget endorsement: Rodriguez thanked Secretary Tolentino for a TESDA training building and endorsed the TESDA budget. Angara said he had built a training center for TESDA and described it as help for remote provinces, including Rodriguez's Catanduanes and Angara's Aurora. The exchange records support and the member's budget endorsement, not an appropriation decision or amount.

TESDA FY 2027 increase proposal and priorities request: For the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Rodriguez said his records showed a PHP 5 billion reduction. This was his rounded records-based comparison. He asked TESDA to submit a ranked list of priorities, explaining that the committee might not be able to fund every request but hoped to support the highest priorities. Rodriguez said he intended to move at the proper time to approve the TESDA NEP budget and increase it, and expressed confidence that the budgets of both agencies would be augmented. No increase amount, formal motion disposition, or resulting appropriation is recorded here.

TESDA facilities, capacity and budget endorsement: Rep. Anna York P. Bondoc, M.D. asked why the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) has a smaller budget than the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), given the need to serve out-of-school youth and people returning to technical-vocational training when college does not lead to work. TESDA Secretary Jose Francisco "Kiko" Benitez said TESDA was the smallest agency budget among the two and that preference for higher education was part of the difference; he thanked Bondoc for making the point. Bondoc said she would move for TESDA's budget to be much larger. She also said her district was willing to build facilities but TESDA could not keep pace with the buildings available. Benitez said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) had not provided a budget for the public-sector expansion she was asking about, while citing a SIPTIVET project for facilities, regional training and innovation centers, and regional training centers. He said the Pampanga facility was at Clark and would be managed by Puyat School. He said provision to public institutions was gradually increasing. Her budget endorsement named no amount, and no vote or disposition is recorded in this exchange.

Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA): child-development-worker program decrease and distinct training request: Elago noted a FY 2027 decrease of PHP 49,000 in TESDA's child-development-worker program and asked about its training coverage. TESDA Secretary Jose Francisco "Kiko" Benitez clarified that the earlier PHP 621 million wish-list item was for barangay health workers and barangay nutrition scholars in the anti-stunting response, while funds remained for child-development-worker training. The request was part of the additional funding already presented, rather than another addition.

TESDA scholarship priorities and long-term plan funding: For the CSO questions on how the long-term workforce plan is reflected in annual allocations and carried from the National Expenditure Program (NEP) into the General Appropriations Act (GAA), TESDA Secretary Jose Francisco "Kiko" Benitez said 75-80% of TESDA scholarship budgets go to the plan's priority sectors, many of which overlap with DOLE's employment-generating sectors. He said the priority list was narrower than DOLE's and was part of area-based, demand-driven planning, alongside Tulong Trabaho and national development plans. Benitez said an Education and Workforce Development Group being institutionalized under DepEd was intended to sustain funding allocations and implementation initiatives across the plan's 10-year horizon.

TESDA FSL access appropriation question and training commitments: Angara asked how much TESDA appropriated in 2026 for Filipino Sign Language (FSL) interpretation to make training accessible to deaf clients, and whether the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for RA 12199 had been issued for the 2027 training program for child development workers under the ECCD law. TESDA Secretary Jose Francisco "Kiko" Benitez confirmed that the IRR had been promulgated. He did not give an amount for 2026 FSL interpretation; instead, he said TESDA had completed Filipino Sign Language training modules and was about to begin training trainers to expand access to the modules. Angara asked the Committee Secretary to gather the outstanding information requested by the CSOs.

TESDA updated restoration request and new proposals: Secretary Jose Francisco "Kiko" Benitez corrected the earlier TESDA request to the updated aggregate summarized above, saying it would restore the FY 2026 GAA level and protect the number of learners served. Suansing noted that two new proposals had zero allocation in the NEP. Benitez described TechPro training to give senior-high-school teachers the National Certificates and TVET background needed for the following school year's Grade 12 rollout, and training for barangay health workers and nutrition scholars as an extension of the anti-stunting initiative. He described the proposals as new and different and said they were selected among priorities not funded in Tier 2. Suansing requested the updated institutional amendment by 12 noon the next day for BARC deliberation; Benitez acknowledged the request.

Employment, worker protection and social protection outcomes: DOLE describes priorities spanning employment generation, pathways from education to work, sustainable livelihoods, decent work, labor justice, social protection, social dialogue and digital service delivery. It reports 751,710 technical-vocational enrollees, 668,937 graduates and 789,223 certified individuals as of July 2026, and 74 licensure examinations with 173,841 passers. As of August 2026, youth programs had assisted 164,245 people; DOLE aimed to reach more than 220,000 youth beneficiaries in 2027. It reports more than 1,600 job fairs and over 64,000 hires on the spot, and reports a 91% placement rate for public employment services. Labor inspection covered more than 176,000 establishments and nearly 2.3 million workers; the 2027 inspection target was 190,000 establishments. It also reports six wage orders, TUPAD emergency employment for over 932,000 beneficiaries and DILP livelihood aid for 36,000 people; 2027 proposed targets were 672,776 TUPAD and 43,748 DILP beneficiaries. Other reported results include more than 61,000 processed workers’ compensation claims, over 58,000 child laborers monitored and labor education reaching nearly 874,000 workers, employers and students.

Labor justice results: For labor justice, the Single Entry Approach (SENA) had an 84% settlement rate, around ₱1.173 billion in settlements and over 27,000 workers benefiting. Preventive mediation had an 88% settlement rate, approximately ₱112 million in settlements and over 7,500 workers benefiting. Notices of strike and lockout had an 80% settlement rate, approximately ₱418.9 million in settlements and over 5,600 workers benefiting. Case management had a 99% disposition rate and approximately ₱6.76 billion in monetary awards benefiting more than 99,000 workers. Actual strikes and lockouts were 80% disposed, involving approximately ₱35.19 million in settlements and 284 workers benefiting. Voluntary arbitration settled 60%, generating around ₱2.96 billion in settlements and benefiting 1,458 workers. For 2027, DOLE proposed a 100% case-disposition target and continuation of its labor-dispute targets.

Training delivery, scholarship priorities and geographic reach: TESDA delivers enterprise-based, institution-based and community-based training through private technical-vocational institutions, public local universities and colleges, state universities and colleges, technical-vocational institutions and TESDA training institutions. Benitez said scholarship funds follow national government priorities and education-sector planning. He described geographic concentration in industry-focused areas alongside poverty-reduction initiatives, and said 2026 scholarships could support approximately 630,000 to 650,000 Filipinos within a nationwide training ecosystem with capacity for roughly 1.5 to 1.6 million slots.

Digital learning, credentials and higher-level qualifications: TESDA launched the Skills Passport in 2026 as an all-in-one app for personalized learning journeys; Benitez reported 354,000 users. It includes a career compass and is designed to connect learners with e-vouchers for full qualifications. The Lifelong Learning Framework Act and its implementing rules place implementation responsibilities on TESDA. The agency was developing micro-credentials and literacy remedial modules with Khan Academy. Benitez reported a 120% increase in higher-level National Certificate attainment since 2022, 1,412 diploma programs, and 648 programs reviewed for alignment with revised Philippine Qualifications Framework Level 5 descriptors. Work with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) on credit transfer and ladderized pathways was intended to support more diploma programs and seamless progression to tertiary education.

Workforce programs, industry partnerships and reported outcomes: For artificial-intelligence skills, TESDA was preparing a roadmap to expand AI literacy and develop local talent, with a 2026 plan to upskill 10,000 business-process outsourcing workers through enterprise-based training. It led workforce planning for semiconductors and electronics; the roadmap targeted $70 billion in semiconductor revenue and $40 billion in electronics revenue by 2030. Benitez reported 140,000 electronics-assembly skills assessments since January 2025 and a pilot linking Level 5 skills to engineering degrees. TESDA described local-government partnerships, including daycare-worker training and a waste-management pilot in Naga. It reported that 81.64% of TVET graduates were employed in 2025 and said it was improving follow-up on job quality. Other reported results included 1,299 registered enterprise-based programs, 1.6 million online learners across 225 courses, and 91,905 enrollments in AI-related courses. Asian Development Bank-funded SIP TVETs were intended to expand regional capacity for higher-level diplomas.

Overseas Filipino workers and senior high school pathways: In convergence with the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), TESDA offered free skills assessment and training pathways for overseas Filipino workers, including returning or repatriated workers interested in entrepreneurship. TESDA also reported assessment for 427,000 senior high school learners seeking National Certificate II and III credentials, and 6,143 teachers trained as assessors since 2024. For 2027, it planned to train 4,888 teachers in National Certificate courses and 23,845 in TVET methodology to deliver the strengthened senior high school TechPro curriculum, aligning industry-driven standards and assessment with the Department of Education (DepEd) curriculum.

DOLE priorities for workers: DOLE Secretary Francis N. Tolentino said DOLE's FY 2027 priorities were employment opportunities, a future-ready workforce, worker rights and welfare, social protection, labor justice and industrial peace. He described Trabajo Agad as a way to create jobs and deliver faster, more accessible services, and said the Future-Ready Manggagawa initiative would equip workers with skills and resilience for changing work. He also emphasized stronger worker and social protection, labor justice, industrial peace, and a responsive, accountable, digitally enabled department.

Wage Order No. 27 and the injunction dispute: San Fernando questioned the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) about implementing Wage Order No. 27. He cited a Pasig Regional Trial Court order making a preliminary injunction conditional on a bond of ₱10 billion, asked whether the petitioners had posted it, and said they had acknowledged they could not. He argued that without the bond there was no writ preventing DOLE from implementing the wage increase, and urged implementation from July 25. DOLE Secretary Francis N. Tolentino said he was not aware that a bond had been posted; he confirmed DOLE had filed a motion for immediate resolution with the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) on September 3. Tolentino said DOLE could not unilaterally disregard an outstanding court order because the court, rather than the department or litigants, had to determine its effect. He described Administrative Order No. 264 as clarifying Article 126 to include implementation, monitoring, execution and compliance with wage orders. When San Fernando pressed him for a direct answer, Tolentino said, "Ipapatupad po namin" ("We will implement it"), but also said implementation depended on the government's decision and that DOLE would act when the court directed it to. San Fernando challenged that position, invoking Article 126 and the appeal process under Article 123 through the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC). He said minimum wage earners were losing ₱60 each day.

Wage Orders 27 and 28, the staged increase and the dispute over 25 pesos: Rep. Elijah Rumbaoa San Fernando asked Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) National Capital Region Regional Director Atty. Roy L. Buenafe to explain Wage Order No. 28. Buenafe said it provided a PHP 60 increase, bringing the highest minimum wage in NCR to PHP 755. Buenafe said Wage Order No. 27 had also provided PHP 60 at the outset, which workers were expecting, and that Order No. 28 realized that increase. San Fernando disputed that account: he said Order No. 27 called for a PHP 85 increase, with PHP 60 in the first tranche and the remaining PHP 25 payable in January 2027 if the order was not suspended. Because Order No. 28 stated a total increase of PHP 60, San Fernando argued that workers had lost the additional PHP 25 and characterized the effect as a wage decrease.

Buenafe maintained that the regional wage board could still exercise its delegated authority months after issuing an order. San Fernando said the usual practice was to review wages 60 days before the prior order's anniversary unless the board identified a supervening event; Buenafe agreed with that description. Buenafe added that the board might reconvene to assess the actual economic effects of the global crisis. The exchange records the dispute and possible further review, not a final resolution of the orders' relationship.

NWPC wage simulations and the regional board's decision: San Fernando challenged the basis for regional wage orders, citing an August 2026 paper by Montesa of the University of the Philippines School of Economics and asking the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) to show a computation supporting PHP 60 rather than PHP 85. NWPC Executive Director Maria Criselda Sy explained that regional boards use proxy indicators and wage simulations as inputs, while the boards deliberate on the final amount. She said she had not seen the specific Wage Order No. 28 Buenafe referenced and therefore described the simulations used for the NCR board's PHP 85 increase. The reported estimates were PHP 44 using the 2026 inflation forecast; PHP 29 to restore purchasing power; PHP 31 using the 2027 gross domestic product target; another PHP 31 using regional GDP growth; PHP 38 using an assumed minimum-wage measure; and PHP 51 using an average across several years. The board's two-tiered-system simulation yielded PHP 85, giving a higher share to the region's existing average wage.

Sy said these estimates informed deliberation rather than mechanically setting the award. Some board members wanted PHP 75 in one tranche, while others considered that amount too costly; the board agreed on PHP 60 for the current year and PHP 25 in January. She described the wage boards as independent bodies. San Fernando answered that the simulations remained far from workers' lived reality and argued that board members' preferences, rather than the formulas, ultimately determined the increase. Sy said the board used the latest wage order as its reference because economic and consumer-price conditions had changed since older data.

San Fernando's alternative wage estimates and continuing opposition: San Fernando argued that if wages had kept pace with labor productivity since 1989, the minimum wage would be around PHP 1,000. Separately, he said a basic calculation using lost purchasing power since 2018 called for a PHP 200 wage increase. He maintained that the NWPC simulations were far from workers' circumstances and that wage boards relied ultimately on members' preferences. He then argued that DOLE should have defended Wage Order No. 27 instead of allowing Wage Order No. 28 to displace its scheduled increase. San Fernando claimed workers had been denied PHP 2 billion already, with the amount growing by PHP 66 million per day until the PHP 60 increase was paid. He said he would carry his continuing opposition to DOLE's position to the plenary, framing the wage-order dispute as a central workers' issue.

Farm work, TUPAD and transition to livelihoods: After the suspension, Rep. Rommel Rico T. Angara recognized Rep. Julius Cesar "Jay" V. Vergara from Nueva Ecija. Vergara said the sugar, rice and onion industries were in trouble and asked whether the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) could help farm families whose children no longer wanted to farm. He noted that Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) generally gives 10 to 30 days of work per beneficiary and can be extended to 90 days, and asked about a flexible transition for displaced farmhands into the DOLE Integrated Livelihood Program (DILP) during long off-seasons or disaster recovery. DOLE Secretary Francis N. Tolentino acknowledged the concern, referred to a recent decline in the labor-force survey for agriculture and the spread of a problem affecting sugarcane, and asked Assistant Secretary Amuerfina R. Reyes to explain TUPAD extensions and interventions for distressed agricultural workers. Reyes described TUPAD as emergency employment and a stopgap for families needing immediate income during off-season. DOLE was planning transition pathways so participants would not remain dependent on TUPAD: farmers and fisherfolk also receive DILP livelihood support, while participants' children could enter the Government Internship Program and then TESDA skills training, with the possibility of starting businesses. She added that TUPAD may run for up to 90 days, continuously or in stages depending on the work program, and that DOLE provides technical help preparing project proposals and work programs. She also mentioned social-amelioration support, including maternity and death benefits, and coordination across government in a crisis.

Agricultural crisis response and coordination: Vergara proposed an inter-agency task force to coordinate planning amid the continuing state of calamity and energy emergency, with rising costs for food, fertilizer and farm implements. Reyes responded that DOLE had partnered with the Department of Agriculture (DA) to move farmers' products to other locations and include transportation-related services so the goods could be delivered. Vergara urged the agencies to see the difficulty farmers faced in obtaining rice; he described a local practice of buying and advancing the rice and delivering it directly to barangays after trips to the National Food Authority (NFA) and Food Terminal Inc. (FTI). Reyes described the existing DA coordination in response to Vergara's concern.

Agricultural training and opportunities for farmers' children: Vergara asked TESDA Secretary Jose Francisco "Kiko" Benitez to give young people from farming families who were losing access to education or hope a chance through TESDA programs. Benitez said TESDA welcomes anyone who wants to enroll and described an agricultural-training ecosystem being upgraded with smart-agriculture and digital tools to support mechanization. He reported 78,820 scholarship slots in the agricultural sector for 2026. He said rice-farmer training at farm schools had previously been provided through the DA and TESDA had no share in the 2026 RSF funding for that training. In Negros, where sugarcane faced disease and productivity challenges, TESDA was working with partners on sugarcane-production training that was then being rolled out; Benitez said the modules could be expanded or reviewed to reflect current conditions. He also said TESDA was willing to enroll farmers' children and fisherfolk in the training they sought. Vergara closed by supporting Benitez, Tolentino and their departments, saying their earlier disagreement could be resolved around their shared goal of improving the country.

Regional wage orders and implementation: Rep. Percival “Perci” Cendaña addressed the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), saying 27 working days and two holidays had passed since the Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) held up the wage increase for workers in the National Capital Region (NCR). He estimated that NCR minimum-wage workers had not received almost ₱2 billion in wages. He asked how DOLE would implement other pending regional wage orders after the workers' petitions succeeded. DOLE Secretary Francis N. Tolentino said Administrative Order No. 264, which DOLE issued prospectively after the Pasig RTC restraining order, expanded the definition of proceedings in Article 126 to guide regional wage boards on monitoring, execution and implementation. Asked whether DOLE would stand by those orders even if other regional courts issued injunctions, Tolentino said it would; he said the order gave regional wage boards a stronger basis to implement them.

DHL warehouse closure and union allegations: Cendaña said he had visited a picket line of the DHL United Workers Union (DUWU), written to DOLE and received the department's response the previous day. He asked whether DOLE had seen the termination letter or agreement between DHL and Robinsons Supermarket Corporation. Secretary Tolentino said the department and National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) were following the matter through current discussions and asked DOLE OIC-Assistant Secretary Catherine L. Parado to respond. Parado said the NCMB had seen a service agreement with an expiry in 2025; Cendaña asked about DHL's reported announcement of a three-year extension, and Parado said DOLE had not seen that announcement. Cendaña then asked why DOLE had not used Article 292B of the Labor Code to stop the mass termination. Parado said the warehouse had closed, the service agreement had ended and the transition had occurred, making suspension of the redundancies moot because they took effect on August 31. Cendaña called the situation union busting and asked what mechanism could prevent such labor-rights violations.

Electric-cooperative collective bargaining safeguards: Cendaña welcomed DOLE's creation of the Electric Cooperative Industry Tripartite Council (ECITC) but said the National Electrification Administration (NEA) had suspended, rather than rescinded, policies that allowed it to interfere with collective bargaining. He asked Secretary Tolentino to issue a joint directive protecting workers' rights to organize, bargain collectively and strike before the ECITC was fully operational. Tolentino said DOLE and NEA were working through a technical group, described NEA's plans for tripartite engagement and said NEA Administrator Antonio Mariano C. Almeda had committed to addressing the issue; he said NEA was concerned about losing regulatory powers and the work would take time and referred to the International Labor Organization (ILO) flagging the matter. Cendaña warned that the policy remained in force after a year of promises and again requested an interim DOLE issuance protecting collective bargaining agreements (CBAs). Tolentino invited Cendaña to send a representative to the September 29 meeting with NEA. Cendaña said Power Centro would attend and renewed his request for an issuance before that meeting. No interim issuance commitment was made in this exchange.

Electric-vehicle training and scholarships: Cendaña cited the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)'s shift toward electric vehicles and asked, on behalf of the Philippine Metal Workers Alliance, whether TESDA had technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programs for the electric-vehicle industry. TESDA Secretary Jose Francisco “Kiko” Benitez said TESDA had competency standards and training regulations for electric vehicles, with training rolling out in the energy sector. He offered to send a list covering two-, three- and four-wheel vehicles, trucks and buses, including programs developed with foreign companies. Cendaña also asked which areas offered scholarships for these programs; Benitez agreed to provide that information.

Wage Order 27 litigation and implementation: Mendoza read an argument attributed to the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) that an order granting preliminary-injunction relief does not itself operate as a writ until required conditions are met and the writ is formally issued. He asked Tolentino for his view on implementing Wage Order No. 27 while the court matter remained pending. Tolentino said DOLE had worked with the OSG on the pleading and agreed with its position; he cited the Supreme Court ruling in Active Wood Products v. Intermediate Appellate Court that parties could not unilaterally disregard an injunction. He said DOLE and the OSG jointly prepared a September 3 motion to resolve the issue. Tolentino said DOLE was seeking a lawful way to deliver workers' wage increases promptly, but court action and other filed cases were outside the department's control. Mendoza urged the department to find a quick solution and opposed issuing another National Capital Region (NCR) wage order before No. 27 was resolved. Tolentino said wage boards continued to act within the Labor Code and argued that courts should stop restraining wage-board action.

NCR Wage Orders 27 and 28: tranches, status and board vote: When Mendoza asked the National Capital Region (NCR) director whether Wage Order No. 28 had been issued, DOLE NCR Regional Director Atty. Roy L. Buenafe said the regional wage board had issued it the previous night as a ₱60 one-time increase. Tolentino clarified that Wage Order No. 27, then before the court, provided a first tranche of ₱60 for this year and ₱25 for the following year; the ₱85 was not the first tranche payable that year. Buenafe said Wage Order No. 28 had been forwarded to the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) for further processing; if affirmed, it could be published on Friday and take effect September 26 or 27. Mendoza asked about back wages and Buenafe's vote. Buenafe reported a four-to-three board vote, with three government representatives and one employer in favor and two labor representatives and one employer dissenting; the back-wages question remained unresolved. Mendoza said he remained unsatisfied and asked the parties to discuss a solution before complicating the matter further.

Alien Employment Permit case involving Coach Tab Baldwin: Rep. Dadah Kiram Ismula asked about the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)'s reported ₱4.9 million fine against Coach Tab Baldwin for employment without a valid Alien Employment Permit (AEP), in a case she linked to the deaths of Ateneo de Manila University student-athletes during training. Secretary Francis N. Tolentino said DOLE found Baldwin and Ateneo jointly liable; Ateneo and Baldwin appealed on August 20, and the Office of the President directed DOLE to forward the case file within 10 days with any comment. The appeal was before the Office of the President, and the fine had not been paid. Asked how to prevent a repeat after Baldwin had worked from 2013 to 2026, Ismula urged proactive monitoring of foreign employees. Tolentino said Baldwin was documented after the Bureau of Immigration issued a visa, while Ateneo argued he was not an employee. Tolentino said DOLE applied the four-factor test to actual work rather than titles such as consultant, acting coach or trainer, and would clarify requirements with universities and ask for contracts; he said no contract had been presented in this case.

Platform-worker rights and protections: Ismula asked for DOLE's position on House Resolution No. 1139, from the Akbayan Reform Block, which calls for immediate ratification of International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 193 on decent work in the platform economy. Tolentino said he supported the measure and would prepare a resolution supporting it, while noting ratification would go through the Senate. He recalled proposing legislation for gig-economy workers in 2021 and described work toward a system that would recognize platform workers' rights, including shelter during rain and benefits when sick. He said the work was still developing and that he had spoken with platform groups. Ismula cited almost 9.9 million gig workers nationwide and asked whether DOLE's fiscal year 2027 budget included a program for them. Tolentino described rider training, ensuring platform providers supply riders with proper safety gear and work on a labor advisory to address due process when a rider is removed from an app; he said losing access to the app can effectively end a rider's work. He did not identify a specific fiscal year 2027 allocation in this answer.

Women's employment and unpaid care: Ismula cited a female labor-force participation rate of 43.8%, compared with 68.3% for men, and asked what concrete steps DOLE was taking to narrow the gap. Assistant Secretary Amuerfina R. Reyes described gender and development programs, employment facilitation, capacity-building, information on labor rights and inspections that check protections for women, children and workers. Reyes also reported that women's participation had risen from almost 50% in 2025 to more than 53% in the latest labor-force survey. Ismula also cited a Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) study reporting that women spent 28 hours per week on unpaid care work, compared with 8.6 hours for men, and asked about gender-responsive programs. Reyes called unpaid care a major challenge and pointed to the Care Workers Act, continuing education about women's rights, livelihood programs for unpaid women workers, and social-protection partnerships with the Social Security System (SSS), Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) and Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund), particularly for domestic workers.

Enterprise training, apprenticeship and portal: Ismula asked about implementation of the Enterprise-Based Education and Training Framework Act (EBET Act), enacted on November 7, 2024, beginning with graduates' employment rate. TESDA Secretary Jose Francisco “Kiko” Benitez said the rate was usually 89.74%. Asked whether EBET reached priority industries and skills, Benitez said providers mainly offered upskilling, particularly in artificial intelligence (AI), while TESDA needed more enterprise partners in advanced manufacturing and semiconductors; he said training regulations and pathways were ready for those sectors. He added that registration was difficult for some enterprises in Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) zones because of restrictions on combining incentives, and identified the suspension of the six-month probationary period after apprenticeship as another difficulty under the EBET law, saying enterprises should comply. Asked how many apprenticeship-specific programs TESDA had and wanted by 2028, Benitez said it currently had 85, separate from general EBET and upskilling programs, and wanted to expand them, especially in construction and traditional trades. Ismula also asked when the EBET digital one-stop portal would operate and what labor-dispute processes it would simplify. Benitez said the portal remained under development while TESDA revised area-specific registration procedures; he identified enterprise-level labor conflict-resolution mechanisms as a difficult part of registration and certification. He gave no launch date.

Unemployment and labor-market pressures: Rep. Ramon Jolo III B. Revilla cited 3.14 million jobless Filipinos in July, compared with 2.59 million in July the previous year, and rising costs of living, electricity and fuel amid the continuing Middle East war. Undersecretary Carmela I. Torres acknowledged higher unemployment and attributed pressure to new labor-market entrants, slower growth and weather disturbances affecting agriculture. Torres cited July rates of 5.3% and 4.9% rising to 6%, without identifying what those two starting figures measure, and GDP growth of 2.3%. She said many young people aged 15 to 24 could not enter suitable work.

Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and DOLE job matching in local employment settings: Revilla praised the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) for identifying applicants’ missing requirements and directing them to the education or training they needed, including in his Rosario district’s export-processing, fisheries and factory employment settings. TESDA Secretary Jose Francisco “Kiko” Benitez followed by describing existing job-matching work between TESDA and DOLE through Skills Passport: trainee information is matched with data from the Public Employment Service Office (PESO) to make vacancies and occupational pathways clearer. Revilla thanked Benitez and supported continuing the programs, saying workers’ opportunities and services could improve through the agencies’ shared efforts.

NCR Wage Orders 27 and 28, and the case for higher wages: Elago asked when Wage Order No. 28 was approved, when it would take effect and for a copy. DOLE Regional Director for the National Capital Region (NCR), Atty. Roy L. Buenafe said the NCR Wage Board approved it on September 7, 2026, with a ₱60 increase that would bring the intended NCR minimum wage to ₱755. The signed order had been forwarded to the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) for affirmation; Buenafe expected publication as early as Friday and effectivity on September 26 or 27 if the Commission acted. Elago argued that Wage Order No. 28 should remain separate from the enjoined Wage Order No. 27. If the temporary restraining order on No. 27 were lifted, Elago said the increase would be ₱120 in 2026, plus the ₱25 second tranche in January 2027. Citing the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DepDev), she said the poverty threshold outside NCR was ₱488 per day for a family of five and that minimum wages in 12 regions were below that threshold. She urged Congress to discuss a national minimum wage and a living wage while ensuring subsidies for small businesses. At the end of her round, Elago again requested the signed Wage Order No. 28 for Congress; Buenafe agreed on the record to provide a copy.

Maternity and paternity leave compliance and return-to-work complaints: Asked how DOLE monitored implementation of maternity and paternity leave and when the latest valuation report had been submitted, Reyes described the leave-compliance inspection program. She reported paternity-leave inspections at more than 81,000 establishments and maternity-leave compliance of 99% in 2025 and 2026, with more than 24,000 establishments covered as of July 2026. Elago relayed women workers' reports that, after taking paid maternity leave, they returned to find they no longer had jobs. She said she would bring such complaints to DOLE for action and urged that the law not be used to discriminate against women.

Inspector independence, assistance and worker protection: Elago asked whether DOLE had a way to protect labor inspectors' independence after reports that employers were tipped off before inspections and hid workers or equipment. Reyes had described a technical-assistance approach for micro-establishments: inspectors would help them comply and allow 20 days for correction rather than immediately issuing a noncompliance report. DOLE DOLE Secretary Francis N. Tolentino added that the planned National Academy for Labor Justice would train inspectors to strengthen integrity and cited the shortage of inspectors. Elago supported increased funding, training and protection for inspectors, alongside a clear way for workers to report violations without risking their job security.

C190: legislative and public-sector follow-through: After Reyes described DOLE's private-sector guidelines, Elago urged the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to issue guidance for the public sector and said Congress should pass an enabling law for ILO C190. She identified the Safe World of Work Bill proposed by the Gabriela Women's Party as a measure to support, campaign for and fund in future years. No legislative action or funding commitment is recorded in this exchange.

Child labor: coordinated prevention and support for families: Asked about programs to end child labor and protect working children, DOLE Assistant Secretary Amuerfina R. Reyes said the 2025 figure had risen slightly from 2024 but remained on a longer downward trend: more than 900,000 in 2021, over 600,000 in later years, and more than 513,000 in the latest data she cited. She described DOLE as chair of the National Council Against Child Labor, with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as co-chair and 19 government agencies, employers', workers' representatives and non-governmental organizations participating. The Philippine Program Against Child Labor and DOLE's Child Labor Elimination Program include capacity building, information dissemination and midterm evaluation; Reyes said recommendations were incorporated into future work. She also described social-protection and employment-facilitation support for families, alongside coordination with social partners, as necessary to help remove children from labor. Elago called for sustained protection of these efforts and the rights and welfare of working children.

Child-development-worker training and certification: Asked who received scholarships, whether graduates were deployed to child-development centers and what happened where a local government unit (LGU) had no center, Benitez said TESDA served incumbent child-development workers (CDWs) already employed by LGUs. Priority went to workers on the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Council list who lacked college degrees, many of them volunteers; the target was about 9,000 a year from nearly 70,000 workers nationwide. Other workers could access the online ECCD National Certificate III program. Benitez said the amended ECCD law linked higher allowances and honoraria to TESDA certification. Elago also raised CDW wages, benefits and childminding needs.

Market vendors: organizing representatives and proposing dialogue on public-private markets: Elago asked what DOLE had learned from consultations with market vendors. Secretary Francis N. Tolentino clarified that he had visited markets in the Camanaba area, not conducted consultations. He recommended that vendors organize into supervised groups whose members have equal rights, and distinguished private stall concessionaires and privately operated or quasi-public markets from public markets. Elago said national agencies needed to hear public-market vendors' concerns, especially as markets were privatized or operated through public-private partnerships, and proposed a DOLE dialogue or consultation so vendors could raise policy and implementation issues. Tolentino offered the organizing recommendation, but no commitment to the proposed dialogue is recorded.

TUPAD: annual eligibility, monitoring and duplicate-beneficiary checks: Elago asked what DOLE had done about the Commission on Audit (COA) report on repeat Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD) beneficiaries. Secretary Tolentino said there should be a grace period and that work opportunities should be extended to others. Assistant Secretary Reyes clarified that existing guidance allowed participation only once per calendar year. She said DOLE was enhancing its monitoring system across regional offices to detect duplicates, coordinating with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) portal to validate identities and IDs, and had sent a memorandum directing regional offices to closely monitor whether contracted work followed its terms and approved work program. Reyes cited limited field staff and said partner agencies also helped monitor, including to ensure workers performed their jobs and were protected while doing them.

Closing report requests: Single Entry Approach and gender-and-development compliance: Elago asked that the record include a request for a status report on DOLE's use of the Single Entry Approach (SENA) and on DOLE and TESDA compliance with their Gender and Development (GAD) mandates. No response to this report request appears before the round ends.

AI's impact on BPO and call-center work: Sagarbarria said more than 15,000 people worked in the information and communications technology and business process outsourcing (ICT-BPO) industry in Negros Oriental and asked how the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) would help BPO and call-center workers whose jobs could be displaced or changed by artificial intelligence (AI), including whether companies adopting AI would be encouraged to retrain and redeploy current workers. Undersecretary Carmela I. Torres said AI was transforming jobs rather than simply replacing them; she cited study unemployment rates of 3 to 4% and identified BPO, clerical and administrative support, finance and accounting, processing, and some sales and service roles as affected. She also described emerging AI specialist, engineer, trainer, auditor and data analyst roles. Torres said DOLE was working with the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) on training and youth support, employment facilitation through Public Employment Service Offices, skills development, social protection and gender-responsive measures. She said DOLE was part of a government AI-governance network led by the Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DepDev) and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

Access to TESDA training for independent applicants: Sagarbarria asked how people outside BPO companies, including independent applicants, could access the training. Benitez said TESDA's partnership with IBPAP focused on employers' current needs: it could upskill current employees and offer micro-credentials to near-hires for skills they lacked to qualify. Institution-based courses were open to employed and unemployed learners, with modules such as prompt engineering, data annotation and analytics. Benitez said TESDA was also planning a convergence with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) for the following year to expand AI adoption and worker transition.

DILP livelihood-package and franchise pilot: Rep. Roberto Nazal proposed piloting complete livelihood packages through established businesses, such as food carts with equipment, starter supplies, training and continuing support, with DOLE paying qualified providers after verified delivery and subject to procurement and audit rules. Assistant Secretary Amuerfina R. Reyes said such a pilot was possible and that DILP serves low-salaried beneficiaries; she invited Nazal to share a particular proposal. Reyes and Undersecretary Carmela I. Torres distinguished this from the Adjustment Measures Program, which supports existing micro and small enterprises with technology, equipment, systems and productivity improvements. Nazal clarified he meant a DILP business-matching or franchise-fair pilot, where beneficiaries could choose an established business model; the exchange left this as a proposal to explore, not an approved pilot.

EBET enrollment, graduates, portal and integrators: Nazal asked how TESDA's enterprise-based education and training (EBET) programs performed. Deputy Director General Nelly Nita N. Dillera reported about 30,043 EBET enrollments and 19,379 graduates; combining EBET with its predecessor enterprise-based training (EBT), she reported about 79,477 enrollments and 61,466 graduates. Dillera said TESDA's one-stop portal was due to launch in the third week of September, with digitized program registration and information on qualifications and participating enterprises. She also described an integrator approach to help micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that lack capacity to run their own training, with TESDA developing potential integrators to support them.

Child influencers: Advisory No. 12, enforcement and corporate responsibility: Rep. Anna York P. Bondoc, M.D. asked Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Francis N. Tolentino about Labor Advisory No. 12 and safeguards for children performing monetized internet content, including possible exploitation by parents or employers. Tolentino described protections for children below 15 in parent-controlled and employer-controlled work: no work from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., a working-child permit for employer work, and an earnings allocation of 20% to the family and 80% to the child's education, well-being and health. He said the advisory addressed entertainment and advertising work and cited International Labour Organization (ILO) commitments. He said the guidelines had been disseminated and offered Bondoc a copy. Asked about enforcement and the number and ages of child influencers, Tolentino said the Bureau of Local Employment (BLE) monitored entertainment work, including television, and could monitor online accounts by follower counts. DOLE Assistant Secretary Amuerfina R. Reyes described a child-protection hotline, reports and validation by regional offices, interviews with bloggers and parents, checks for working-child permits, and monitoring to protect schooling, health and play. Bondoc urged that corporations paying for advertisements not use children without permits and face fines. Reyes said existing law and regional labor inspections covered formal-sector companies; she confirmed inspectors examined child work and that DOLE also monitored social media. Bondoc illustrated the policy concern with private earnings she said could reach PHP 50,000 per mention and PHP 100,000 or PHP 200,000 per post for children, and said filming at home was still work. These are earnings examples, not DOLE budget figures.

TUPAD: monitored community work, examples and proposals for wider recognition: Bondoc offered examples of TUPAD as work with defined, monitorable results. She described Government Internship Program (GIP) participants serving as assistant teachers or administrative aides in schools, with the Department of Education (DepEd) monitoring them. She shared a community garden linked to the first 1,000 days: DOLE paid workers, the Department of Health (DOH) supported breastfeeding education, and the Department of Agriculture (DA) supported food security; she said the garden output made monitoring visible. She also described estero cleanup as natural flood control and said estero rangers monitored it. Bondoc asked DOLE to publish examples of TUPAD work and proposed a conference to recognize innovative projects so others could learn from them. She also suggested rebranding TUPAD to counter its association with ayuda and thanked Secretary Tolentino and DOLE staff for assistance, including regional director Geraldine M. Panlilio. No response to the conference or rebranding proposals is recorded in this round.

Ladderized pathways and province-led workforce planning: Bondoc described a government TESDA school beside a senior high school and a state university in her district and asked how the three could connect through ladderization. Benitez said a one-education system should provide the most seamless pathway possible, qualification by qualification, based on local sector needs and the senior high school's facilities and trainer capacity. TESDA and the state university could jointly offer short-term and diploma courses. He said TESDA planned to launch Train Lokal the following month so local government units, particularly provinces, could develop workforce plans and align the education priorities and curricula of the Department of Education (DepEd), TESDA and CHED to local needs. Bondoc asked whether TESDA should be established in each of five state colleges in her district; Benitez said each could instead offer an appropriate technical and vocational education and training (TVET) program, with institutions specializing according to Pampanga's needs to make better use of the training ecosystem and infrastructure. Bondoc emphasized the need to serve out-of-school youth; Benitez cited college dropouts of about 35-40% after the second year.

Public and private TESDA providers and regional hubs: Bondoc asked how TESDA institutions were divided between public and private providers and said she preferred a government school in her district. Benitez reported 4,715 private institutions and 271 public institutions, identifying local universities and colleges and state universities and colleges with TESDA programs among the public institutions, and separately cited 178 TTIs. He estimated that public providers represented 8-9% and private providers 91-92% nationwide, later describing about 90% of technical-vocational institutions as private. He said public institutions tend to serve local needs, including chartered, emerging or otherwise needed courses, while institutions could specialize by area; he favored complementing private provision rather than competing with it. Asked about a regional hub at the district's TESDA school, Bondoc said it had three hectares of titled land. Benitez described a regional training center linked to an innovation center as a hub or apex for a developing polytechnic system, with TESDA considering regional models and Pampanga as the location because of the available land. Bondoc closed by thanking TESDA and the regional director and expressing full support for DOLE and greater support for both agencies.

TUPAD community projects and geotagging: Montes said her region had introduced changes to the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program and was piloting 31-day work periods, compared with 7- or 10-day periods, so community-gardening work could show results. She said participating women had committed to continue planting after their paid work period, and also described coastal cleanup. Region IV-A was using geotagging to see TUPAD work in real time, though areas without signal could not use it. She commended DOLE for listening and reforming implementation.

Youth unemployment and employment matching: Montes asked how DOLE could scale up employment, especially for young people and new graduates, amid the July labor-force figures she cited: unemployment rising from 4.9% to 6%, a fall in labor-force participation to 63.6% from 65%. DOLE Secretary Francis N. Tolentino gave the agency's figures: unemployment increased to 6% from 5.3%, and unemployed people rose year on year from 2.59 million to 3.14 million. He referred to the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Skills Passport and DOLE and TESDA coordination. DOLE Undersecretary Carmela I. Torres linked youth unemployment to new labor-market entrants and slower economic and industry growth, and said DOLE was identifying affected youth and job-loss areas including agriculture and manufacturing. She described school-to-work links through the Government Internship Program, the Special Program for Employment of Students, JobStart, and employment facilitation, with education and labor plans guiding young people toward growth centers and hard-to-fill or emerging occupations. TESDA Secretary Jose Francisco "Kiko" Benitez said the response included matching job openings with jobseekers and addressing skills mismatch with the Department of Education (DepEd), TESDA, and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). He cited DOLE public employment service offices, JobStart, online job platforms, and TESDA's Skills Passport as ways to connect available work and qualified applicants, and said technical and vocational education and training (TVET) graduates could access openings online. He added that demand must be matched by industry job creation, and identified information and communications technology, artificial intelligence, maritime, tourism and services, semiconductors, and advanced manufacturing as sectors with openings for which workers should be trained. Montes extended support to DOLE and TESDA to continue protecting labor rights and creating opportunities, while calling for every peso entrusted to DOLE to be spent wisely, transparently, and strategically. She urged stronger programs so workers would be prepared, protected, and competitive, and said the 2027 budget should translate into jobs and opportunity.

Construction-site safety and support for stronger labor enforcement: Rep. Salvador A. Pleyto urged strict enforcement of occupational safety and health standards under DOLE Department Order No. 13, Series of 1998, drawing on his experience as an engineer and former regional director. He said work-related construction accidents had caused deaths and left some workers unable to work, and asked whether DOLE had enough inspectors. Tolentino and Pleyto discussed the scale of inspection needs, including the roughly 7,000 establishments and 38 inspectors in Region III. Tolentino said even 1,210 inspectors would be insufficient and reported fewer than 700 currently qualifying, while Miclat later reported 1,036 filled positions. Tolentino said statutory inspection powers could not be delegated again to private social inspectors, though they could observe. After hearing Miclat's staffing and funding figures, Pleyto said DOLE's budget should increase in FY 2027 to protect construction workers and expressed strong support for increasing both DOLE's and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) budgets, asking that they be increased further. This was an expression of support and request; no amount or disposition is recorded in this exchange.

Economic-zone labor compliance and enforcement: Rep. Renee Louise M. Co asked whether the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) continued issuing Tripartite Certificates of Compliance with Labor Standards (TCCLS) under its Incentivizing Compliance Program (ICP) for economic-zone companies. DOLE Secretary Francis N. Tolentino initially said the process continued and referred her to Assistant Secretary Amuerfina R. Reyes. Reyes clarified that new TCCLS issuance had stopped, while monitoring of previously issued certificates and inspections in economic zones continued under existing department orders; she later confirmed there was no current specific framework for zone locators, but that all zones remained under compliance monitoring. For 2026 through July 31, Reyes reported 761 companies covered and estimated violations at 261 companies. DOLE provides a 20-day correction period after inspection and may issue an order through the regional director if a company does not comply. Reyes agreed to provide Co the company-level data, violations and corrective actions. On incentives, Reyes said DOLE had no specific certification or incentive; inspection findings would inform company evaluations and compliant firms could receive priority for DOLE training and services. Co asked whether labor violations had led to loss of tax incentives under the Board of Investments (BOI) Omnibus Investments Code. Reyes said DOLE had no information on companies that had lost incentives for that reason, and committed to provide inspection records, including labor-standard and occupational-safety violations. Co explained her concern by citing prior reports of eco-zone companies requiring business-process outsourcing workers to enter buildings after an earthquake before safety clearance, and asked for the requested information so worker safety and any linked incentives could be examined.

Livelihood sustainability, group projects and fishing associations: Rep. Eulogio "Leo" R. Rodriguez asked whether the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) tracked projects' operational status and beneficiary income after one or two years, and how it assisted projects constrained by markets, capital or mentoring. Assistant Secretary Amuerfina R. Reyes said two-year monitoring and evaluation were conducted and cited a 2025 impact evaluation: more than 54% of individual projects remained operational, with 2,761 of 5,000 individual projects still operating; group projects had a success rate above 83%, which she said was higher and consistent with previous-year records. Reyes said DOLE encouraged group projects based on the evaluation, continued technical assistance and monitoring, and coordinated with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and TESDA. She described a graduation approach toward self-sufficiency, while continuing hands-on support until that point and using evaluation results for 2026 and later projects. DOLE Assistant Secretary Amuerfina R. Reyes said regional offices devote what she estimated as 30% of the livelihood project to group projects, a gradual shift encouraged by the impact evaluation. She described the share as an estimate ("I think it is 30%") rather than a precise appropriation amount. Group projects had shown higher continuation, and the agency was using evaluation results for its 2026 projects and later years while continuing technical assistance and partner-agency support. Rodriguez proposed that livelihood assistance include larger boats for fishing associations rather than only small individual boats, arguing that fishers increasingly needed to reach deeper waters and that farmers and other informal workers lost income after storms. He offered the idea as a proposal; no response, costing or disposition is recorded before the discussion turns to facilities.

District employment, internship and livelihood programs: Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez described TUPAD assistance in his district and Government Internship Program (GIP) participants who had found work in national agencies, including the Bureau of Internal Revenue, customs, highways offices and the Land Transportation Office. He credited the internship with building work habits and employment prospects.

TESDA industry-linked training and toolkit conditions: Rodriguez praised TESDA Secretary Jose Francisco "Kiko" Benitez for focusing training on employer and industry needs, saying training should not be offered where there are no employers. He described TESDA activity in his district through the Special Training for Employment Program (STEP), the Training for Work Scholarship Program (TWSP), and Enterprise-Based Education and Training (EBET). Rodriguez said toolkits were issued on a usufruct basis rather than as full personal ownership, were not for sale, and warned beneficiaries that selling them could lead to jail. He said he knew of no online resale listings. These program and toolkit statements were Rodriguez's account of local implementation.

PLDT regularization case and inspection evidence: Chan used the Manggagawa sa Komunikasyon ng Pilipinas v. PLDT case to argue that DOLE's visitorial and enforcement powers need enough inspectors and reliable evidence. He recounted that DOLE inspected PLDT in 2016 under Article 128 and that the Labor Secretary ordered regularization of contracted workers in January 2018; the final count he cited was 7,344. He said the Supreme Court's February 2024 decision set aside some worker categories, including janitorial, information-technology, back-office and call-center work, after labor-law compliance officers had interviewed no more than 1,000 people and applied those findings to 7,344. Chan cited the Court's conclusion that sampling or probability-based conclusions were not substantial evidence. Tolentino acknowledged the continuing inspectorate manpower shortage, saying the nationwide complement was expected to be 1,210 but remained below 700, and said adequate inspection might have produced sufficient compliance evidence in the case; he asked Undersecretary Egargo to address the details. Egargo said DOLE would verify the case's outcome with the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court and report back. He said that under new Department Order No. 238, interviews were no longer random and inspectors were interviewing all workers to capture the relevant evidence. Asked what an inspection must contain to withstand judicial review, Egargo described a tripartite process representing employers, workers and government.

Bicol wage review after fuel-price shock: Chan said the Bicol minimum wage was ₱455 per day, or about ₱11,830 per month, and asked whether the Region V Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) had formally assessed a supervening condition after diesel prices doubled over two months. Region V Director Geraldine M. Panlilio said wage deliberations were underway to review the current order in light of conditions. National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) Executive Director Maria Criselda Sy explained that, before a wage order reaches its anniversary, the board may assess whether a supervening condition exists, but the commission must affirm the assessment before a public hearing. Chan confirmed that the NWPC could operationalize the existing rules, and Sy affirmed. She added that once an approved wage order takes effect, its second tranche is effective and cannot be changed.

DOLE and TESDA programs as lifelines: education-to-work pathways, flood recovery and job matching: Rep. Atty. Miro S. Quimbo said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) protects workers, while its employment programs can also create life-changing opportunities. He described these programs as "lifeboats" for people facing temporary hardship and urged that they continue. He cited Government Internship Program (GIP) participants who had studied criminology or allied medical fields and, after leaving school, could find employment while seeing a direct link between education and work. In his district, Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD) had helped the city recover from flooding, an important disaster-response use even though that was not the program's original purpose. Quimbo also praised Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Secretary Jose Francisco "Kiko" Benitez for aligning courses with employers' needs. He commended DOLE Secretary Francis N. Tolentino's leadership, said the department was in good hands and expressed support for the secretaries. These remarks were support for the programs and agencies; Quimbo made no budget motion, and no appropriation approval is recorded.

Quimbo clarifies the injunction and Wage Orders 26, 27 and 28: Rep. Atty. Miro S. Quimbo asked DOLE National Capital Region Regional Director Atty. Roy L. Buenafe to clarify the wage-order timeline. Quimbo said Wage Order No. 26, dated 18 July 2025, set the minimum wage at PHP 695; Buenafe confirmed. Quimbo said Wage Order No. 27, issued on 20 July 2026, set PHP 755 in its first tranche; Buenafe confirmed that figure as the first tranche. Quimbo then stated that the first tranche was PHP 60, which Buenafe affirmed. They clarified that the further PHP 25 was due in January 2027.

Quimbo described Wage Order No. 27 as under an injunction that had taken effect, while an issue remained pending over failure or non-posting of the required bond. He said the court had not set the injunction aside, that it remained effective unless rescinded, and that the absence of a bond filing did not itself establish sufficiency before a court order; Buenafe agreed. Quimbo asked whether Wage Order No. 27 could revive if the court later declared the injunction functus officio because of the bond failure. Buenafe answered, "Perhaps." Quimbo then said the board might have to follow a court order reinstating No. 27, which could make Wage Order No. 28 useless; Buenafe agreed that the board might take that direction. These were conditional descriptions of a pending court and board posture, not a final ruling.

For the current posture, Quimbo argued that Wage Order No. 27 had never taken effect and that the relevant baseline therefore remained No. 26 at PHP 695. On that basis, he said No. 28 raised wages by PHP 60 rather than reducing them; Buenafe confirmed. Quimbo praised the wage board's initiative as a response to workers' needs, while also acknowledging its independence and suggesting the Secretary of Labor's pro-labor stance had influenced its action. After Quimbo finished, presiding Vice Chair Rep. Rommel Rico T. Angara said he had allowed the clarification because the earlier answer had not satisfied him, emphasizing that Wage Order No. 27 was not yet in effect. Quimbo's account differs from San Fernando's earlier wage-decrease argument; this exchange does not resolve the disagreement or the legal status of the injunction.

Deaf hiring and regional staffing data: The final DOLE question, from FSL Nation, asked how the Department complied with Republic Act 10524 hiring quotas for persons with disabilities (PWDs), particularly deaf people, including permanent positions for deaf employees and Filipino Sign Language interpreters in prior years and for 2027. Undersecretary Warren M. Miclat said DOLE complied with the law and that the central office had two PWD employees, with equal access to posted vacancies for all qualified applicants; he said regional data would be gathered. Angara clarified that the request concerned positions for deaf people and interpreters, and said the committee would pass the correct data to the CSOs. The requested deaf-specific staffing counts were not supplied during the exchange.

Committee motions to terminate and adjourn the FY 2027 hearing series: Senior Deputy Speaker Ferdinand L. Hernandez moved to terminate the committee hearing on the proposed FY 2027 DOLE budget, including its attached agencies, under House Bill No. 10858. Chair Mikaela Angela B. Suansing put the motion before the committee; it was duly seconded, drew no objection, and was approved. This approved motion terminated the hearing and did not approve an appropriation or any of the requested budget amendments. Suansing then announced that the scheduled Committee on Appropriations hearings on House Bill No. 10858, the FY 2027 General Appropriations Bill, were complete. Hernandez moved to adjourn the committee's budget hearing series; Rep. Julienne "Jam" L. Baronda seconded. With no objection, Suansing approved the adjournment and concluded the day's proceedings.