Benise Balaoing

Workers conduct the the Final Testing and Sealing (FTS) of Ballots, Local Absentee Voting (LAV) Ballots, Overseas Voting (OV) Ballots, Official Ballots (OB) for Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and CARAGA, BARMM Parliamentary Election Ballots, and Mock Election Ballots at the National Printing Office, North Diliman, Quezon City on January 15, 2025. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

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Natioanl printing office- ballot

Katrina Domingo

ABS-CBN News

MANILA -- Political activities linked to the 2025 midterm elections are expected to generate more seasonal jobs in the Philippines, Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said on Monday, a day before the official start of the campaign period for the midterm polls. “Ang mga activities sa political exercises ay makakadagdag sa paghahanap buhay,” the head of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) told Palace reporters.“Kada taon ay mayroon kaming binabantayan sa mga emerging occupations to be able to respond and address changes and developments, kabilang na diyan ang mga geopolitical events,” he said.The DOLE chief did not directly answer questions regarding the number of jobs created during elections and campaign cycles in the country.“Puwedeng balik-tanawin ninyo noong nakaraang electoral exercises… pero alam natin na pansamantala (na mga trabaho) lang yun,” he said.The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said that it has yet to finalize mechanisms to study the supply and demand for jobs linked to elections, said Undersecretary Rose Marie Edillon.“We have not crunched the numbers yet,” the NEDA official said.“We will have to go back much further pa para makita natin kung mayroon ba talagang increase during mga ganitong political exercise,” she said.<div>AI troll farm jobs?</div>When asked if the DOLE is also looking at AI-related jobs during campaigns and elections, such as troll farm operations, Laguesma noted that the agency has been monitoring the rise of artificial intelligence throughout recent years, and not just during elections.“Nakakakita naman tayo ng mga trabaho na lumalabas. Kailangan masubaybayan nang mabuti dahil baka makapinsala sa ating mga manggagawa,” he said.“Yung mga repetitive, manual, administrative na trabaho, talagang mapapalitan yan. Puwede sabihin na maliit pa ngayon yan pero lalaki,” he said.“Always the bottomline is to look at how we can protect ang ating mga manggagawa.”Laguesma cited a World Economic Forum report that claimed that while 92 million jobs may be lost due to AI, another 170 million are expected to be lost “created over a period of time.”The national government “is not banking solely on political exercises” to improve the employment numbers in the Philippines, the DOLE chief said.“Ang gusto natin pangmatagalan, sustainable,” he said.“We also have to be realistic that there are factors that will have an impact. May seasonability sa labor market. May mga competitors tayo in the region vying for investments,” he said.Since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assumed office in 2022, the government has been working on “201 investment leads and projects” worth “more than P4 trillion” that were “generated from the foreign trips of the President,” Laguesma said.The administration is also working on a “Trabaho Para Sa Bayan” that will outline its plans to generate more jobs and improve the quality of work in the country in the next 3 to 10 years, he said.In December 2024, the Philippines&#x27; unemployment rate slipped to 3.1 percent from 3.2 percent in November.The underemployment rate meanwhile edged up to 10.9 percent in December 2024 from 1o.8 percent in November.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/2/6/unemployment-slightly-falls-in-december-0942" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Unemployment dips, underemployment edges up in December</a></div><div><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pfkX5KTygwE?&amp;ab_channel=ABS-CBNNewsautoplay=1&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe> </div>

Political activities linked to #Halalan2025 are expected to create more seasonal jobs in the Philippines, said Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma.

Political activities linked to #Halalan2025 are expected to create more seasonal jobs in the Philippines, said Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma.

Midterm elections to generate more jobs: DOLE

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Midterm elections to generate more jobs: DOLE

Katrina Domingo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Feb 10, 2025 02:56 PM PHT

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Updated Feb 10, 2025 02:59 PM PHT

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