QC solon lauds approval of revised national apprenticeship program
HOUSE Assistant Majority Leader and Quezon City 5th District Representative PM Vargas has lauded the approval by the House of Representatives of the revised National Apprenticeship Program bill on the third and final reading.
House Bill (HB) No. 6523, which seeks to promote and enhance the training and development of young workers in the labor force by establishing a revised apprenticeship program, is among the priority legislation of the Marcos administration.
Vargas, who is one of the sponsors of the bill on the plenary, highlighted the importance of an enhanced apprenticeship program by ensuring the availability of qualified human resources in the field of “critical and in-demand technical skills”.
“As our country continues to recover from the economic challenges of the pandemic, more employment and livelihood opportunities await our growing labor force. We must welcome these opportunities with competence and better protection for our workers, particularly our youth,” Vargas said.
Salient points of the national apprenticeship program include streamlining an apprenticeship contract that protects “apprentices” or trainees from unjust labor practices and providing a “training allowance” worth at least 75% of the minimum wage.
“The revised apprenticeship program is our response to the growing clamor of young people to strengthen career guidance and skills development training, while providing them with allowances and benefits that protect their labor rights,” the lawmaker added.
The Apprenticeship Bill has been consistently filed by Vargas’ brother and predecessor, former Rep. Alfred Vargas, since the 17th Congress.
“With President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. at the helm, Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez’s leadership, and the support of the Committee on Labor Chairperson Fidel Nograles in the House of Representatives, we remain hopeful that the Apprenticeship Bill will see the light of day and will soon be enacted into law, for the benefit of the Filipino people,” Vargas said.
