MANILA — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Monday, Labor Day, that certain decisions regarding wage hike petitions in the country will be available to the public soon.

DOLE chief Sec. Bienvenido Laguesma said this was in line with the government's commitment to address the Philippine workforce's concerns.

"'Yung mga may kinalaman sa usapin sa sahod, 'yung prosesong may kinalaman sa mga nakahaing petisyon, sa iba-ibang tripatite and wages activity boards — ay gumagalaw at makikita natin sa loob ng ilang panahon... ang kanilang desisyon," Laguesma said in ANC's Dateline.

"Even 'yung mga regional tripartite wages ng productivity boads na wala namang nakahain na petisyon, may mandato rin sila... 'yung continuing na pagrereview nang sa ganoon ay makatugon sa pangangailangan ng ating manggagawa," he added.

Laguesma said in the last six months, the labor department "have been preoccupied putting together the Philippine Development Plan and [the] labor and employment plan" which contains the administrations programs designed to address workers' pleas.

He said the plans include "inclusive growth, reduction of poverty incidence" and provisions on the quality of jobs offered to workers.

However, he stressed that these plans have stages and should not be subjected to rapid implementation.

"Ito'y mga stages na mayroong dadaanang proseso. It cannot be achieved overnight, thus, we continue to put forward mga programa ng DOLE kasama ang iba pang departments ng government."

He added that the Philippine Development Plan is aligned with the 8-point socio-economic agenda of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

When asked how he would describe the condition of the Philippine workforce, the labor secretary said he thinks there's a visible progression or work improvement.

"Siguro mas mahalagang madinig namin kung anong sasabihin ng lahat ng sektor. Hindi lang 'yung mga kumakatawan sa organized sector... dapat 'yung mga namumuhunan at 'yung mga kapartner namin sa local government units kasi 'yan 'yung kabuuan ng stakeholders ng DOLE at iba pang department," said Laguesma.

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120,000 VACANCIES

The labor secretary said that more or less 1,000 employers took part in the department's job fairs and that there are 120,000 vacancies up for grabs in the country.

When asked if the skillset of workers are in line with the vacancies, Laguesma said that it was one of the things that they're continuing to monitor.

"Bawat job fair tinitingnan natin kung ilang ang napupunan at bakit hindi nakukumpleto o hindi nalalagyan agad ng manggagawa 'yung mga natitira o naiwang vacancies."