The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said it is ready to defend its proposed P47.057-billion budget for 2027 before the Senate.

“The proposed budget will support the Department’s efforts to bring employment opportunities closer to jobseekers, prepare workers for changing workplace demands, protect their rights and welfare, expand social protection, improve access to labor justice, and promote industrial peace,” the department said Thursday, 17 September.

The statement came after the DOLE’s proposed budget secured approval without amendments during the House of Representatives’ plenary deliberations on 16 September.

Despite the amount sought, the proposed 2027 budget is P14.1 billion lower than the department’s P61.2-billion allocation for 2026.

The proposed budget includes P20.895 billion for the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), P2.694 billion for the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), P1.733 billion for the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), P369.242 million for the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), P332.463 million for the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB), and P78.794 million for the Institute for Labor Studies (ILS).

During the House deliberations, Aurora Rep. Rommel Rico Angara, the DOLE budget sponsor, stressed the need to retain the proposed allocation.

Angara said keeping the amount intact would allow the department and its attached agencies to strengthen programs addressing the needs of workers, jobseekers, employers and other stakeholders.

Labor Secretary Francis Tolentino led DOLE’s budget defense before the House, accompanied by officials from the department and its attached agencies.