Senators quiz Tesda on graduates’ low pay

MANILA, Philippines — Senators yesterday grilled Technical Education and Skills Development Authority officials on the low pay received by TESDA’s graduates.

During the Senate finance committee’s deliberations on TESDA’s proposed P15.2-billion budget in 2024, former TESDA chief and now Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva said there are still TESDA graduates who earn below minimum wage despite undergoing training at the agency.

He cited TESDA data showing that there are graduates who earn below the monthly minimum pay, averaging P9,000 to P11,000, in 2021.

“If this trend continues, we will be allowing them to land jobs below minimum wage and there’s no way we can help them to get out of poverty,” Villanueva said.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate basic education committee, added that even with the current data of eight of 10 TESDA graduates getting hired, they still “wasted their time” if they do not get quality pay despite getting technical skills training.

Sen. Raffy Tulfo added that TESDA seemed “complicit” if it failed to compel employers to give good pay to their graduates.

TESDA director general Suharto Mangudadatu lamented that employers consider TESDA graduates as “second-class citizens” compared to college graduates in terms of pay.

He said it should be the Department of Labor and Employment that should be monitoring the employers’ compliance in giving the minimum pay.

“They are workforce-ready and competitive. That is why we insist that they get the minimum and above pay,” Mangudadatu said.