| ECOP ENDORSES PASSAGE OF BILL CREATING HUMAN RESOURCE COMMISSION |
 The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) has endorsed the passage of House Bill No. 3758 which proposes the creation of a Human Resource Commission.
ECOP President Sergio Ortiz-Luis, Jr. lauded such bill introduced by Rep. Hermilando Mandanas, noting that the creation of a Human Resource Commission with multisectoral representation will pave the way for the development and overseeing of an integrated human resource plan as intended by the measure.
“As we see it, human resource development in the Philippines involves a three-layered infrastructure, each layer represented by an institution with separate functions and objectives,” Ortiz-Luis pointed out. At the apex of the structure is the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), at the middle layer the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and at the base is the Department of Education (DepEd), he added.
According to Ortiz-Luis, the bill serves to underscore what ECOP perceives to be an underlying weakness of the government institutions involved in human resource development: lack of coordination in planning and policy as well as lack of effective linkages with business and industry particularly on the part of tertiary education.
Ortiz-Luis maintained that while it appears that the three-tiered infrastructure of human resource development is comprehensive in its coverage, as it includes both the formal and non-formal aspects of HRD, what is missing is a higher level of competent authority to coordinate and integrate policy and program implementation attuned to the needs of the labor market to enable it not only to create jobs but to compete in the globalizing economy. Thus, he said the envisioned Human Resource Commission seeks to fulfill this role.
On the composition of the Commission, Ortiz-Luis said it should be noted that the Commission is intended to oversee and coordinate the functions of a number of line departments headed by Cabinet secretaries. He therefore suggested that the Chairman of the Commission should have the rank of a Cabinet secretary directly under the Office of the President of the Philippines, and must possess the necessary experience and qualifications in human resource management and/or other related fields.
In addition, Ortiz-Luis suggested that the government members of the Commission be composed of the heads of the institutions directly or indirectly involved in human resource development. In case the institution is headed by a secretary, when he/she cannot attend a Commission meeting, he/she should be represented by a designated official with a lower rank not lower than undersecretary. Other institutions should be represented by an officer next in rank, he said.
At the same time, Ortiz-Luis observed that the powers of the Commission have been well defined under the bill and does not encroach upon the powers and functions already vested with the TESDA, CHED and the DepEd.
In regard to the proposed creation of an Oversight Committee, Ortiz-Luis believes that the creation of such a Committee under section 5 of the measure would be redundant and merely duplicate the functions of the Human Resource Commission.
Ortiz-Luis proposed the inclusion of a new section on “The Secretariat.” Under this new section, the Secretariat of the Commission shall be composed of a sufficient number of staff as may be determined by the Chairman in consultation with the members of the Commission. The Secretariat shall be selected from the staff of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Agriculture (DA), DepEd, CHED, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), from employers organization, organized labor, personnel and school organizations, and from relevant other government agencies and private sector organizations which shall be detailed to the Commission.
Date Posted :
2008-08-22 |
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