MANILA, March 17, 2013-Aiming to address unemployment and underemployment in the country, Senator Loren Legarda will launch tomorrow LOREN sa Bawat Barangay in Baguio City.
LOREN, which means Livelihood Opportunities to Raise Employment Nationwide, will be the implementation of Legarda’s four laws on livelihood and employment—the Public Employment Service Office (PESO) Act, the Magna Carta for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), the Barangay Kabuhayan Act, and the Agri-Agra Reform Credit Act.
“LOREN sa Bawat Barangay will be a consultation with various sectors of society and concerned local government agencies on how to raise employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. This is a program I did during my first term in the Senate and we will have it in every region in the country,” Legarda said.
LOREN sa Bawat Barangay will be composed of the following elements: implementation of the PESO Law, MSME Law, Barangay Kabuhayan Act, and Agri-Agra Reform Credit Act; conduct of jobs fair; and, disaster risk reduction (DRR) education and information campaign.
“We want to ensure that the livelihood laws we have made are implemented to fully benefit our people. We also want to secure the gains of our people and so it is important to make our communities disaster-resilient, which is why our DRR education and information campaign will be part of the LOREN sa Bawat Barangay,” Legarda explained.
Through the PESO Law, job seekers, including new graduates, are given information on available employment opportunities and services in their city or municipality. PESO officers should also offer job seekers with employment opportunities that are matched with their skills.
The MSME Law provides more assistance to entrepreneurs by requiring lending institutions to allocate at least eight percent (8%) of their total loan portfolio to micro and small businesses. It also provides access to new technologies and regular entrepreneurship training programs for workers to ensure the viability and growth of MSMEs in the country.
The Barangay Kabuhayan Act requires the establishment of livelihood and skills training centers in 4th, 5th and 6th class municipalities for employment generation. It ensures that all livelihood and skills training centers offered by the national government are properly coordinated and implemented at the municipal level.
The Agri-Agra Reform Credit Act provides support to farmers and fisherfolk by requiring banks to allocate 25 percent of their loanable funds to the agriculture sector to finance the acquisition of equipment for farm production.
“This program will be a collaboration among government agencies to address unemployment and underemployment, and to provide not just jobs but also better earnings to the growing labor force,” Legarda said.
