• Honourable Undersecretaries Bitonio, Torres, and officials from the Department of Labor and Employment,
• Distinguished representatives from national and regional government agencies;
• Employers and business leaders;
• Brothers and sisters from workers organizations and trade unions;
• Sector representatives, including from the civil society, and academe;
• Ladies and gentlemen, good morning!

The ILO is honoured to join you today in this dialogue that brings together government, workers’ and employers’ organizations and other key stakeholders in Luzon to craft this historic Labor and Employment Plan (LEP) reflecting decent work priorities you will help identify.

Government, workers and employers and other stakeholders provided valuable inputs during the early consultations in Visayas and Mindanao. The ILO hopes we maintain progress towards the June LEP launch.

Your presence here today and your active engagement show your commitment to achieve social justice and decent work.

Decent Work includes productive employment and decent incomes, access to social protection for all, respect and promotion of international labour standards and fundamental principles and rights at work and social dialogue and strong tripartism to promote better wages and working conditions as well as peace and social justice,

These pillars are crucial for inclusive economic growth in the context of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as outlined in Goal 8 and highlighted in several SDGs and the country’s Ambisyon 2040.

The ILO looks forward to the LEP and how it will operationalize decent work as outlined in the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028, realizing our shared goals for decent work and social justice.

This year marks the Philippines’ 75th anniversary of ILO membership. I would like to commend the government, employers and workers – the real ILO – for the continuous engagement and partnership.

The United Nations Secretary-General launched the Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions in September 2021.

The Global Accelerator seeks to bring together member States, international financial institutions, social partners, civil society and the private sector to create 400 million decent jobs, including in the green, digital and care economies. It also aims to extend coverage to 4 billion people without social protection.

The Global Accelerator will be instrumental in the Global Coalition for Social Justice that our ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo proposed to forge.

The Global Coalition will help countries address challenges confronting the world of work. The Coalition will unite ILO tripartite constituents, multilateral organizations and other stakeholders to advance social justice and foster ground-level actions and partnerships.

With the LEP, the ILO envisions the Philippines meeting the goals of the Global Accelerator and the Global Coalition for Social Justice.

Now is the time to find synergies and seize the opportunity that will boost the initiatives of tripartite constituents to advance decent work. The ILO stands ready to support the implementation of the LEP.

I wish you all a fruitful and successful consultation, as well as continuous collaboration towards the formulation and implementation of a meaningful Labor and Employment Plan.

Thank you very much!