INTRODUCTION
Mga kapwa kong manggagawa sa pamahalaan:

Ako’y lubos na nagagalak at nasisiyahan na makiisa sa pagdiriwang ng ika-animnapu’t-isang anibersaryo ng Kagawaran ng Paggawa at Panghanapbuhay.

Nais kong pasalamatan kayong lahat sa inyong suporta na nagbibigay kulay at sigla sa ating layuning “Philippines 2000!!!”.

As you celebrate your 61st anniversary, your services could not be more vital at this point of our economic turnaround. For the past two years, we have succeeded in engineering a dramatic and crucial turn toward economic recovery and long-term growth.

To do this, we have had to initiate radical reforms in the economy, opening it up to factors and forces that would enliven new growth and healthy competition.

We have had to seek peace and reconciliation with our disaffected countrymen, and to establish political stability in government, to unify the nation for its many tasks and challenges ahead.

And our efforts have clearly begun to pay off. Our economic outlook has never been better in recent history. Contrary to the earlier predictions of doomsayers, we now have every opportunity to make good on our promises of achieving unprecedented progress and prosperity for the Philippines in the long-term.
THE NEED FOR NATIONAL UNITY
But much of our success will depend on how well we hold together as a nation. And it will not be easy. The challenges we have chosen to face — such as our accession to the Uruguay Round of the GATT — will test our resiliency and purpose as a people.

For both workers and employers, these may be trying times, as any period of fundamental reform and adjustment must be. We can expect debate and dissent to arise, but they can be a positive force in promoting, among our people, a high level of awareness of the stakes involved in our national growth strategy.

At the same time, however, government — and such agencies as yours — must ensure that debate does not disrupt the daily business of the nation, in which we all have a basic stake.
KEEPING THE PEACE IN INDUSTRY
For the nation to grow, industry must grow; and for industry to grow, it must be at peace with itself, directing its energies to the improvement of production and productivity.

That peace, however, cannot be had unless we can guarantee our workers fair wages and decent working conditions. We cannot allow economic growth to become an excuse for inhuman exploitation.

This is the delicate and vital task the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has been entrusted with. You have done this by fostering the idea of collective responsibility among workers and employers, and by promoting non-adversarial modes of dispute settlement, like conciliation, preventive mediation and voluntary arbitration.

Those ideas have proven to be highly effective.

With actual work stoppages going down by as much as 29 percent — the lowest level registered since 1981 — the industrial horizon has been relatively calm, and looks even brighter for the years ahead.
GENERATING NEW JOBS
This year, you have assisted a total of 3.5 million fellow Filipinos through your various programs and services.

And together with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), “Kabuhayan 2000!!!” generated at least 600,000 jobs — solid proof that you have evolved into a principal actor in providing jobs for our people.
You also gained valuable headway in labor standards enforcement. As of October this year, you already met your target of 77,000 business establishments inspected. This substantially increased the restitutions to affected workers.

I would like to be assured, however, that this program will be sustained in the coming years so that our workers will continue to receive the right wages and other benefits due them.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
One key component will be education and training, increasingly seen as crucial to creating an adaptable labor force.

Last August, I signed into law Republic Act No. 7795, creating the Technical Skills Development Authority, or the TESDA.

The TESDA now integrates the functions of the National Manpower and Youth Council (NMYC), the Bureau of Technical and Vocational Education of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS) and your apprenticeship program. Essentially, this is our response to the new rules of the game in the workplace.

Likewise, I signed into law this year the dual-tech program which will combine in-plant with in-school training for all our young people who take up vocational and technical education.
THE DOLE ON THE JOB
We are relying heavily on the DOLE for the success of these initiatives. And we have always been prepared to give the DOLE all the help it needs to do its job well.

I am therefore happy to note that for 1995, you can look forward to a budget of p2 billion. On the average, your budget has increased by 33 percent since 1992 — growing by 61 percent between 1993 and 1994 alone.

This is clear proof of our recognition of the value of your job, and of our commitment to your success.

In that same spirit, I have also actively involved your department in the formulation of the Social Reform Agenda (SRA) and in the conduct of the Social Reform Summit. This highlights, through your involvement in these endeavors, our commitment to the humanization of development in all its phases.
THE PROSPECTS FOR 1995
What lies ahead for 1995? Definitely, we are moving toward greater economic integration and liberalization and job generation. In setting our sights on yet another year, let us take some time to seriously reflect upon our tasks.

Generally, there is a trend reflected in the labor market which is experiencing an overall increase in the number of employed persons.

The July round of the National Statistics Office’s (NSO) survey shows that there are currently about 27.4 million employed, compared to the 26.8 million during the same period last year.

The new concept of unionism, whereby unions take a cooperative stance in dealing with issues together with its other social partners, is a welcome development that must be sustained.
OUR OVERSEAS WORKERS
I now shift to an area which is very close to my heart — “our human resource contribution to the world” — our internationally shared human resources, or overseas workers.

The globalization process has resulted in the increased movement of Filipino workers across continents. This is a testimony to the skills, productivity and adaptability of our people.

But even as this phenomenon must be appreciated positively, I would still like to see the day when our workers would not have to go beyond our shores to find decent and sufficiently remunerative jobs.

Our country should directly benefit more from the labor of these modern-day heroes than their temporary hosts.

With improvements in the economy and the availability of productive jobs, we should be able to persuade our overseas workers to come home and to remain home.
LOOKING AFTER THEIR WELFARE
Meanwhile, we have to remain conscious and vigilant in looking after the welfare of our workers still working abroad. The recent misfortunes suffered by some of our workers should not diminish our resolve in fighting for our workers’ rights in foreign lands. We should assert the fact that our people make significant contributions to their host countries and are, therefore, entitled to justice, fairness and respect.

The DOLE should maintain the lead in providing meaningful assistance to our overseas workers.

There will be many more challenges like these as our economy develops. You and I must help our people turn those challenges into concrete opportunities.

Aware of the necessary sacrifices, ordinary Filipinos are taking necessary steps to be more productive. This largely explains our remarkable achievements in agriculture and the boom in industry on which i recently reported.

Isantabi natin ang makasariling interes, at higit na pahalagahan ang kabutihan ng lahat. Ang ating mga mamamayan ay tatanaw ng malaking utang na loob kung inyong magagawa ito.

Kung magsama-sama na tayong lahat at magtulong-tulong, nasa ating mga kamay ang masaganang hinaharap.

Maagang maligayang Pasko at maunlad na Bagong Taon sa inyong lahat. Mabuhay tayo at ang sambayanang Pilipino!