The senator issued the call in light of the recent tragedy at the Philsports arena which claimed over 70 lives.

"While we have several agencies looking after the government’s overseas employment program, we have only a small bureau under the labor department on local employment. This mismatch must be immediately corrected and access to information about available job vacancies should be made available in all barangays," Roxas said.

The country’s unemployment rate was at 7.4 percent in the third quarter of last year and the government has estimated that it would hit 7.7 percent for the entire 2005.

DOLE’s Bureau of Local Employment has an Internet job database service that can be accessed by active jobseekers. However, only a small percentage of the population knows how to use and has access to the Internet.

"A special agency can also be set up under the DOLE to institutionalize job matching in a bigger scale in partnership with the private sector," Roxas said.

He stressed that unless new investments come in, unemployment figures would remain high.

Meanwhile, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said Saturday’s tragic stampede at the Philsports Arena has underscored the need for a national employment plan to ease widespread joblessness and poverty.

"Even as we grieve with the families of those who perished in the dreadful stampede, we must not lose sight of the harsh joblessness that is driving millions of our people to hold fast their hopes on games of chance," former senator and TUCP secretary general Ernesto Herrera said.

Herrera stressed that greater opportunities for productive employment are the surest and quickest way to alleviate poverty.

As this developed, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) yesterday said it would use the report of the fact-finding task force investigating last Saturday’s tragic stampede to determine whether ABS-CBN can be held administratively liable for the incident.

NTC commissioner Ronald Solis said his agency will also investigate if ABS-CBN violated any rules and regulations of the NTC in connection with the incident.

Earlier the head of the Task Force Ultra, DILG Undersecretary for Public Safety Marius Corpus, said it will also furnish the NTC with a copy of its findings.

Corpus said that while the DoJ will determine the criminal and civil liabilities of Wowowee’s organizers if there is any, the NTC will take care of investigating the administrative liability.

The NTC was earlier tasked by Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) Secretary Leandro Mendoza to find out if there was an administrative culpability on the part of ABS-CBN in the stampede that happened during the planned anniversary presentation of the noontime game show "Wowowee."

Also yesterday, it was learned that families of the victims of the stampede at the PhilSports Arena last Saturday are contemplating on filing a class suit against ABS-CBN, the Volunteer Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) said yesterday.

VACC Chairman Dante Jimenez told the Bulletin that most of the injured and relatives of those who perished during the stampede have been calling their office asking for legal help.

"They have been calling the office since Monday morning asking us what are their rights and asking if there are any legal options that could come up so they could achieve justice ," Jimenez said.

Jimenez claimed that it was clear that the tragedy was a result of negligence on the part of the organizers of the noontime show.

Also, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) yesterday said the recent tragedy that occurred at the Philsports Arena which left 79 people dead and hundreds injured in a stampede is a wake up call for all Filipinos.

"Though no amount of explanation or blame can ever suffice in appeasing such a heartrending loss of life, this experience is definitely a wake-up call to us all," PPCRV said.

"We need to put our acts together in addressing this concern lest we see this event occur once again. The poverty seen in this stampede isn’t just purely material paucity but spiritual poverty as well," the group said. (with reports by J. C. Bello Ruiz, Hannah Torregoza and Leslie Ann Aquino)