MANILA โ President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has appointed former senator Francis Tolentino as acting labor chief. Tolentino’s appointment to the Department of Labor and Employment signals a politically significant Cabinet reshuffle amid the growing economic strain for Filipino workers across the country.
Tolentino is a lawyer and longtime public official known for his years as chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and mayor of Tagaytay City. He replaces outgoing Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma, who stepped down for health reasons after serving since the beginning of the Marcos administration in 2022.
The appointment was confirmed on Sunday during a Palace briefing by Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary and Press Officer Claire Castro. She described Tolentino as a seasoned administrator with extensive experience in both local governance and national policymaking.
The move returns Tolentino to the executive branch after years in the Senate, where he served as majority leader and chaired influential committees, including the Blue Ribbon Committee. But his new assignment places him at the center of one of the administrationโs most politically delicate challenges: balancing economic growth with mounting public frustration over wages, inflation and employment insecurity.
Across provincial regions, labor groups and local officials are closely watching the transition, wary of how new leadership at the labor department could shape enforcement of wage policies, job-generation programs and protections for workers outside the capital.
For many local governments, the Department of Labor and Employment is more than a regulatory agency. It serves as a critical link between national economic policy and the realities of rural employment, where underemployment and informal labor remain deeply entrenched.
Tolentino is expected to oversee labor initiatives ranging from regional job fairs to wage board implementation, while navigating increasing calls for minimum wage hikes amid rising living costs. Worker organizations in several provinces have also pressed the government to expand long-term livelihood programs and strengthen protections for vulnerable labor sectors.
The appointment comes as the administration faces renewed pressure to improve coordination between the labor department and the Department of Migrant Workers, particularly in safeguarding overseas Filipino workers and their families. Millions of Filipinos depend on overseas employment, and remittances remain a pillar of the national economy, especially in provincial communities where migration often fills gaps left by limited local opportunities.
Malacaรฑang expressed confidence that Tolentinoโs background in municipal governance would help bridge national labor policy with regional economic realities. That experience, if it translates into meaningful relief for workers confronting stagnant wages and persistent economic uncertainty, may determine not only the direction of the labor department. It may also matter to the political durability of the Marcos administrationโs economic agenda. (with reports from Ely Dumaboc)
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