Marcos vows support for law enforcers

April 6, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Amid heightened political noise, President Marcos reaffirmed his commitment to supporting law enforcers and the Filipino people in the pursuit of lasting peace in the country.

“There’s a right way to ensure peace. That is to fully support our countrymen, our law enforcement, our soldiers – all of us who serve the people,” the President said during a campaign rally for senatorial candidates under the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas in Antipolo City on Friday.

On the same day, Marcos led the launch of the “Trabaho at Serbisyong Pangkalusugan sa Bagong Pilipinas” program, aimed at providing employment and health services to vulnerable sectors, including beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

The job fair in Antipolo targeted to employ at least 2,000 individuals enrolled in the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations, many of whom are graduating from the government’s conditional cash transfer program.

“That’s why we continue to do that (job fair). And we don’t just do it here in Rizal, but in all the different places throughout the Philippines,” Marcos said.

A one-stop-shop of government agencies was also set up at the event to assist job seekers in securing essential employment documents.

Participating agencies included the Social Security System, Pag-IBIG Fund, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

From July 2022 to January 2025, more than 160,000 jobseekers secured employment on the spot through over 4,000 government-led job fairs nationwide.

Meanwhile, 351 individuals were hired on the spot through the “Trabaho sa Bagong Pilipinas” job fairs rolled out since January this year, including more than 250 beneficiaries of the 4Ps program.

Aside from job opportunities, the program also offers free medical services, including ECG, X-ray, laboratory tests, medical consultations, anti-dengue vaccinations and essential medicines.

The latest preliminary results from the PSA’s Labor Force Survey reported a 4.3-percent unemployment rate in January 2025. This marks an increase from 3.1 percent in December 2024, but a slight decrease from 4.5 percent in January 2024.

In terms of absolute figures, the number of unemployed Filipinos rose to 2.16 million in January 2025, up from 1.63 million the previous month, but consistent with the level recorded in January 2024, according to the PSA.

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