CEBU CITY, Cebu, Philippines — Cagayan Rep. Juan Ponce Enrile, Jr. is calling upon the Provincial Board Members League of the Philippines (PBMLP) in the Visayas to be the bridge guiding the youth in the region in achieving their aspirations for their future.

Enrile was guest of honor in a welcome dinner hosted by Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia at the Capitol here, during the 7th PBMLP Visayas Island Conference focused on education and employment.

“Let us lay the foundation of an educational system that will truly be a learning and nurturing environment for a responsible, competitive and productive citizenry,” Enrile said.

He said human resource has always been one of the major prerequisites for the economic development and economists and businessmen have come to use these very factors to gauge the effectiveness of governments in creating the kind of workforce responsive to changing needs in the labor market.

Enrile said it is the responsibility of government to ensure that the knowledge and skills being inculcated in the labor force are attuned to the demands of business and industry.

“In the same manner, it is also government’s duty to ensure that companies provide the requisite benefits and appropriate compensation to its workers.

Enrile said he believes that unemployment and underemployment are caused largely by the disparity between knowledge and skill acquired while studying, and the demands of the contemporary workplace.

“The task that we have at hand therefore, is to ensure that the appropriate reforms are instituted in our educational system that will allow us to produce the kind of graduates e needed in our economy at present and in the foreseeable future,” he said.

Enrile also pointed out that in this age of constantly changing paradigms, it is only through appropriate education that the local workforce can attain competitive advantage in both the local and foreign workplace.

Education should be the central strategy in leveling the playing field for workers and in building national competitiveness, the solon underlined.