QUEZON CITY, Philippines — The Philippines, through the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), led the first regional consultation-workshop for the proposed ASEAN Declaration on Strengthening Labour Market and Social Resilience on 20 May 2026.
Held virtually under the Philippines’ 2026 ASEAN Chairship, the workshop gathered representatives from ASEAN Member States (AMS), the ASEAN Secretariat, labor organizations, employers, and development partners to review the draft Declaration. The proposed declaration seeks to strengthen labor market institutions, expand social protection, support workers and enterprises through green and digital transitions, and deepen regional cooperation toward inclusive and sustainable development.
Opening the workshop, ASEAN Senior Labour Officials Meeting (SLOM) Chairperson and Philippines’ DOLE Officer-in-Charge, Undersecretary Benedicto Ernesto R. Bitonio Jr., emphasized that resilience must go beyond crisis recovery and focus on preparing ASEAN labor markets for long-term transformation.
“Resilience is not only our ability and preparedness to respond and recover from the effects of natural disasters, calamities, pandemics, financial meltdowns, conflicts, and supply shock disruptions and other adversities,” OIC-Secretary Bitonio said. “It is also our ability to reinvent ourselves and to make sure that the opportunities before us are optimized towards attaining the common ASEAN vision of shared prosperity and social justice.”
The consultation comes as ASEAN economies confront overlapping pressures from artificial intelligence, digitalization, climate change, geopolitical instability, and demographic shifts that are reshaping labor markets across the region.
During the workshop, International Labour Organization (ILO) Senior Employment Specialist Phu Huynh presented an overview of green and digital labor market transitions in ASEAN, noting that AI adoption is rapidly transforming occupations and skills requirements, while digital platforms are generating new forms of employment and labor market participation.
Huynh emphasized, however, that the green transition does not automatically generate decent work opportunities and requires deliberate policy intervention. He identified several priorities for the Declaration, including labor market risk-monitoring systems, stronger labor and social protections, active labor market policies, gender-responsive skills development, and improved governance and policy coordination.
DOLE's Institute for Labor Studies (ILS) Executive Director III Jeanette T. Damo, who presented the draft Declaration, said the proposed framework is anchored on four interconnected resilience capacities: anticipatory, absorptive, adaptive, and transformative.
According to Damo, anticipatory capacity refers to the ability to identify emerging risks and prepare in advance, while absorptive capacity focuses on cushioning workers and enterprises during shocks. Adaptive capacity involves adjusting policies and systems to changing realities, while transformative capacity seeks long-term structural reforms that reduce vulnerability.
“These four capacities are interlinked and mutually reinforcing,” Damo said. “We are building on what we have already achieved, while responding to the new and more complex realities our region is navigating.”
ASEAN Member States also shared national experiences in responding to labor market disruptions during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing Middle East crisis. Discussions highlighted common regional challenges, including informality, digital disruption, climate-related vulnerabilities, and unequal access to social protection systems.
The workshop also featured a consultation session where delegations and tripartite partners provided comments and recommendations to refine the draft Declaration. ASEAN Secretariat Assistant Director for the Labour and Civil Service Division Mega Irena later summarized the key recommendations and areas of convergence that emerged from the discussions.
Atty. Abigail R. Dela Rosa, Mediator-Arbiter and head of DOLE’s International Labor Affairs Task Force, outlined the next steps toward the Declaration’s adoption, including a second consultation to be held in July 2026 and vetting processes leading to the 29th ASEAN Labour Ministers’ Meeting in August 2026 and the 49th ASEAN Summit in November 2026.
Once adopted, the Declaration is expected to serve as ASEAN’s regional framework for advancing labor market and social resilience through more inclusive, shock-responsive, and sustainable systems that can better anticipate and adapt to the emerging challenges in the world of work.
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