Senator Villanueva seeks faster rollout of jobs plan as PH unemployment rises

Senator Joel Villanueva on Friday called for the faster implementation of the government’s Trabaho Para sa Bayan (TPB) Plan following a significant increase in unemployment recorded in June.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the country’s unemployment rate climbed to 4.9% in June 2026, representing around 2.59 million jobless Filipinos, from 3.7% or 1.95 million in the same month last year.

“The latest PSA figures remind us that the Trabaho Para sa Bayan (TPB) plan must be implemented with greater urgency,” Villanueva, chair of the Senate Committee on Labor, said.

Villanueva, who principally authored and sponsored the TPB Act in the Senate, said the law provides for a long-term national strategy aimed at creating more jobs and ensuring that Filipinos can find stable and decent employment.

He said the goal is to prevent workers from having to settle for any available job simply to make ends meet instead of finding work that can adequately support their families.

The senator pointed to wholesale and retail trade as among the sectors that suffered the largest employment declines, losing 903,000 jobs year-on-year. Fisheries and aquaculture also recorded a loss of 467,000 jobs.

Although agriculture and forestry gained jobs during the period, Villanueva said the sector remains exposed to typhoons and other weather disturbances that could disrupt production and employment.

He also raised concern over the decline in youth employment. The employment rate among young Filipinos dropped from 90.6% to 86.5%, even as more young people joined the labor force.

“These numbers represent families struggling to make ends meet, graduates searching for their first opportunity, and workers uncertain about where their next paycheck will come from,” Villanueva said.

Villanueva also attributed part of the weakness in job creation to the rising cost of doing business, particularly for the wholesale and retail sector.

“Part of what is dragging down job generation is simply the cost of doing business, and wholesale and retail trade feels this most directly like high fuel prices, electricity system loss charges passed on to consumers, and red tape at every checkpoint along the supply chain,” he said.

He called on the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development to accelerate the rollout of the TPB Plan nationwide and strengthen coordination among agencies involved in employment and economic development.

Villanueva specifically urged closer coordination among the Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Agriculture, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and other concerned agencies.

“The sectors that are losing jobs today need immediate attention so that more Filipinos can find decent work, earn a living wage, and provide a better future for their families,” Villanueva said. -Paraluman News