A party-list lawmaker said he has filed a bill seeking to grant poor job applicants a 20 percent discount on government-issued pre-employment documents to encourage and help them secure gainful employment while boosting the country’s employment at the same time.
House Bill No. 4828, or the Poor Job Applicants Discount Act, was filed by Tutok to Win Representative Sam Verzosa as an anti-poverty program that will enable the poor to fully participate in the country’s growth and development.
“By easing the financial obstacles in processing the employment requirements, the underprivileged will be more motivated and empowered to secure jobs and be an instrument to nation-building and development,” Versoza said.
Under the proposed measure, poor job applicants shall be granted a 20 percent discount in the payment of fees and charges for barangay clearance, police clearance, NBI clearance, medical certificate from any government hospital, birth certificate, marriage certificate, transcripts of record from state universities and colleges, and other documentary requirements issued by the government that may be required by employers.
“Malaking tulong sa mga nag-a-apply ng trabaho ang 20 percent discount sa bayarin para sa clearance at certificates.”
“Malaking tulong sa mga nag-a-apply ng trabaho ang 20 percent discount sa bayarin para sa clearance at certificates,” the legislator stressed.
“Yung iba nating mga kababayan, hindi pa sila natatanggap sa trabaho pero marami na agad gastos sa mga requirements at baon na agad sa utang. Kaya ito ang naisip natin bilang tulong din sa kanila,” the lawmaker added.
Under HB 4828, a poor job applicant refers to a person who has no viable means of income or whose income falls below the official poverty threshold, as identified and certified by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) based on the criteria set under the Community-Based Monitoring System.
Members of households of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program shall be automatically eligible to avail of the discount.
The PSA earlier reported that 2.99 million of Filipinos remain unemployed as of June 2022.
It also reported that poverty incidence in 2021 reached 18.1 percent, which means that around 19.99 million Filipinos live below the poverty threshold of P12,030 per month for a family of five.
“Edukasyon at trabaho ang solusyon sa pag-ahon mula sa kahirapan.”
“Edukasyon at trabaho ang solusyon sa pag-ahon mula sa kahirapan. Nakaka-alarma na patuloy ang pagtaas ng bilang ng mga Pilipinong walang trabaho na ngayon ay aabot na sa tatlong milyon. May mga kabataang graduate nga sa kolehiyo pero hirap naman makapagsimula sa paghahanap ng trabaho dahil sa mataas na bayarin sa pagkuha pa lamang ng mga requirements,” the vice chairperson of the House Committee on Poverty Alleviation said.
He said the goal of his bill is to give underprivileged Filipinos the equal opportunity to seek employment.
“Kaya naman ang Tutok to Win Party-list ay isinusulong na maisabatas ang 20 percent discount sa mga kinakailangang dokumento mula sa gobyerno ng mga mahihirap na aplikante,” Versoza concluded.
