SPEAKER Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez today lauded the signing by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the EBET (Enterprise-based Education and Training) Law.
The newly signed law would allow the government, with the collaboration of the private sector, to keep the number of jobless Filipinos down through various training and up-skilling programs, Romualdez said in a press statement.
Romualdez led other House Members in witnessing the signing rites for the EBET Law at Malacanang Palace Thursday morning.
He said the signing of the law is timely following the report of the Philippine Statistics Authority that the unemployment rate fell to 3.7 percent in September from four percent in August and 4.5 percent in September 2023, he said.
“As I have always declared, as in inflation, the continuing challenge for us is to ensure that joblessness remains at the lowest level possible. The EBET Law will help us accomplish this task,” he added.
The law would help resolve labor-related problems like job-skills mismatch and lack of competencies among workers.
“We are hopeful that the law could effectively address these issues so we can prepare our workers for the demands of the local and foreign market, and assist them in finding new or additional employment so they can help their families,” he stressed.
Under the EBET law, workers eligible to participate in the EBET program are those who are either new entrants to the labor force or employed workers who opt to undergo training through an EBET Program to acquire new skills, upgrade skills and obtain entrepreneurial know-how.
Among other qualifications, an EBET applicant must possess the appropriate aptitude and capacity to understand and follow oral and written instructions and submit a recent fit-to-work certificate, which shall be provided free of charge by a Department of Health-recognized health clinic or licensed physician.
If this is not feasible, the firm or entity screening the applicant shall extend such service free of charge.
Enterprises may set appropriate educational requirements for a trainee to qualify for a certain EBET program. They may also prescribe qualifications for their workers who apply for up-skilling for job promotion.
The EBET law mandates that program graduates shall be given preference in the hiring of workers by the enterprise that implemented the EBET program and shall be exempt from probationary employment.
For financial assistance, EBET trainees may avail themselves of the “Tulong Trabaho Fund” under Republic Act No. 11230 or the “Tulong Trabaho Law.”
