JobStart Philippines Summit 2022 - celebrating seven years of success in youth employability

The Department of Labor and Employment, through the Bureau of Local Employment, conducted the JobStart Philippines Summit 2022 last 18 March 2022. As a hybrid event, regional directors and partners from the business sector were invited onsite at the Conrad Manila Hotel in Pasay City, while DOLE Field/Provincial Offices and PESOs were encouraged to attend its coverage on Zoom. 

The Summit, which was also livestreamed on Facebook, showcased the program’s accomplishments in enhancing youth employability, professionalizing the Public Employment Service, and fostering gender and development mainstreaming throughout the past seven years. This was also a celebration of the partnership and collaboration between the DOLE and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Canada (GOC), whose technical assistance ends on 31 March 2022. 

The event was divided into three main sessions. The first, ‘7 Years of JobStart and the Next 5 Years’ was led by Assistant Secretary and Concurrent BLE Director Dominique Rubia-Tutay. Here, she talked about the program’s milestones and target action plans for the near future.

This was followed by the second session ‘JobStart Philippines Partnership with the Business Sector.’ The panel consisted of Ms. Rhoda P. Gacutan (NWOW International Trading Corporation), Ms. Elizabeth Tan (Tanvera Corporation), and Mr. Sergio Ortiz Luis (Employers Confederation of the Philippines), who engaged in a discussion of the mutual and codependent roles and benefits shared between JobStart Philippines and their respective organizations.

The sessions were concluded by ADB Country Director to the Philippines Kelly Bird, Tagum City Mayor Allan Rellon, and Assistant Secretary Rubia-Tutay. For the final panel discussion, the three leaders talked about ‘Sustaining JobStart Philippines’—the things they learned throughout the years and how to instrumentalize them to ensure the continuous success of the program.

The JobStart Philippines Summit 2022 is a reminder that when diligence, inclusivity, and willingness to help come together, competitive ambition, diverse opportunities, and meaningful livelihoods can be achieved. The past seven years of JobStart Philippines has achieved many milestones in this caliber, and there is nowhere else to go from here but up.