EO on jobs task force in the works – Nograles

By Prince Golez

An executive order (EO) is being readied to institutionalize the National Employment Recovery Strategy (NERS) Task Force, according to Cabinet Karlo Nograles.

In an interview over the government-run PTV-4, Nograles said the NERS Task Force was formed to ensure a faster economic recovery and boost employment due to Covid-19 lockdown.

“Another initiative that was discussed yesterday was the 2021-2022 National Employment Recovery Strategy or NERS. As most already know, the country’s employment was hit hard by the pandemic. Unemployment peaked last April at 17.6 percent or 7.2 million Filipinos,” the Palace official said.

“While we were able to half that to 8.7 percent by October 2020, we recognized that a coherent national strategy can help create a policy environment that encourages generation of more employment and entrepreneurship opportunities,” he also said.

Nograles said the Task Force will be co-chaired by the Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Trade and Industry, and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

Its members shall include the Department of Tourism, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Information and Communications Technology, Department of Agriculture, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education, Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Transportation, Department of Science and Technology and National Security Council.

“Among the policy considerations that the NERS Task Force has initially discussed are the emphasis on the need for a whole-of-government approach that will help create jobs and encourage more investments vis-a-vis key government policy and program interventions such as the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act, the Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa, the Build, Build, Build, and others,” said Nograles.

Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)