Tulong-Trabaho Act for Workforce Training Aid

The State shall promote a just and dynamic social order.
Ensures prosperity and independence of the nation.
Aims to free people from poverty through policies ensuring social services, full employment, rising standards of living, and quality of life.
Encourages nonformal, informal, indigenous learning, self-learning, independent, and out-of-school study programs responsive to community needs.

Strengthen qualifications of the Filipino workforce to face evolving workplaces.
Implement innovative TVET approaches aligned with industry requirements addressing unemployment and job-skill mismatches.
Facilitate access to quality TVET.
Promote industry and community participation in competency formation and upgrades for a competitive workforce.

Competencies: Knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values required for specific occupations.
Competencies-based learning: Training based on demonstrated ability.
Direct training expenses: Costs directly linked to training (consumables, materials, trainers' fees, venue, etc.).
Enterprise-based programs: Training conducted in companies/firms.
Formal education: Structured, hierarchical learning that needs certification for progression.
Industry board/body: TESDA-recognized industry organizations authorized to receive funding.
Informal education: Lifelong learning from daily experiences.
Labor Market Intelligence Reports: Reports from TESDA and DOLE about in-demand skills.
Philippine TVET Competencies Assessment and Certification System: Quality-assured system certifying competency for middle-level occupations.
Program: The Philippine Labor Force Competencies Competitiveness Program.
Selected Training Programs (STPs): TESDA-approved TVET programs including school, community, enterprise, and web-based.
TESDA: Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
Technical-Vocational Education and Training (TVET): Education/training in technologies and skills related to occupations, formal or nonformal.

Established by the Act and funded through the Tulong-Trabaho Fund for competency development.

Provides qualified recipients access to TVET STPs through full fee payment plus additional assistance (e.g., transportation, laboratory fees).
Covers costs of certification, assessment, and administrative procedures free of charge.

Fund sourced immediately from TESDA’s budget within the General Appropriations Act (GAA) and included annually thereafter.

Persons 15 years or older who are NEET (Not Employed, in Education or Training).
Employed workers seeking skill and training development.
Excludes existing workers currently trained by their employers in enterprise-based companies.

TESDA responsible for managing the fund.
TESDA Board issues policies and guidelines for implementation.
TESDA Board authorized to receive donations from government and NGOs for beneficiaries.

TESDA Board approves STPs based on TESDA Secretariat recommendations.
STPs include school-based, center-based, community-based, enterprise-based, and web-based programs.
Selection based on Labor Market Intelligence Reports, DOLE employment data, job-skill matching, Human Resource Development Roadmaps, and other relevant studies.
TESDA Board may add other criteria to meet Act’s objectives.
Initial STP list issued within two months from effectivity and updated thereafter.

Industry boards submit trainee lists requesting Tulong-Trabaho Fund assistance to TESDA Regional Directors.
TESDA Regional Directors assess and submit qualified recipients list to TESDA Director General for approval.
Lists updated periodically based on fund availability and number of STPs.

TESDA Board evaluates recipients of fund assistance periodically.
Beneficiaries must achieve at least 80% pass rate in the Philippine TVET Competency Assessment and Certification System.
Failure to meet standards triggers performance review and audit.
TESDA Board may set additional criteria for continued financial assistance.

TESDA shall create an accessible online registry of schools, training centers, qualified recipients, and graduates related to STPs.

TESDA Board must publish an annual report detailing fund utilization, expenditures, beneficiary performance, and other relevant data.
Periodic impact evaluations conducted.

TESDA’s primary duty is designing and implementing support systems for TVET program development and improvement.

Ensure training of qualified recipients with regularly updated competencies.
Implement standards, planning, trainers’ training and certification, competency assessments, and quality assurance.
Develop new modalities for employed workers’ competence upgrading.
Engage industry, local government, and labor sector participation.

A Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Tulong-Trabaho created with members from relevant House and Senate committees.
Includes minority representation.
Monitors and reviews Act implementation and Tulong-Trabaho Fund disbursement.
Secretariat drawn from involved committee personnel.
Expenses funded from House and Senate appropriations.

TESDA shall issue implementing rules and regulations within 60 days of the Act’s effectivity in consultation with stakeholders.

Provisions held invalid shall not affect overall law validity.
Laws, decrees, or orders contrary to this Act are repealed/modifed accordingly.
Act takes effect 15 days post-publication in Official Gazette or newspaper of general circulation.