The Institute for Labor Studies, represented by John Emmanuel B. Villanueva, Senior Labor and Employment Officer, delivered the Philippines’ report on the implementation of the country’s Green Jobs Law during the launch of the “Final Report of the Regional Study on Green Jobs Policy Readiness in ASEAN” held via Zoom on 09 July 2021.

The report addressed how the enactment of the Green Jobs Act supported the promotion of green jobs in the Philippines and how it helped in the acceleration of the greening of local vocational education and training systems.

Highlighted in the said report were the actions undertaken by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), which is mandated to develop a National Green Jobs Human Resource Development Plan.

The Plan is in line with the goal of maintaining a well-functioning institutional arrangement for green jobs in the Philippines and resulted from the eight multipartite consultations organized by the Institute in 2018. The plan was validated by an inter-agency committee (IAC) composed of 21 national government agencies mandated to implement the green jobs law.

For its part, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) has issued TESDA Circular No. 58 s. 2018 or the Implementing Guidelines for Greening the TVET System in the Philippines. TESDA has since “greened” 24 Training Regulations (TRs) and is set to review processes of existing qualifications and TRs.

The event was held as part of Asia Pacific Climate Week and provided an opportunity to discuss the key findings and implications of the report for ASEAN member states and for other partners throughout the Asia-Pacific region.