Bagong Henerasyon (BH) Party-list Rep. Robert Nazal has vowed to fight for a bigger discount on pre-employment documents for indigent jobseekers, even as a relevant House bill is being endorsed to plenary.

Following the approval by the House Committee on Ways and Means of House Bill (HB) No. 8413, which seeks to grant a 20 percent discount on pre-employment documents issued by government agencies, Nazal said that he will continue to fight for his original proposal of a 50 percent discount once plenary debates start on the measure.

HB No. 8413 is the substitute measure that consolidates 14 bills filed for the same purpose, including HB No. 2068 filed by Nazal on July 17, 2025.

“While we support HB 8413 in principle, we believe that a discount of more than 20 percent on pre-employment documents would be more meaningful and appreciated by jobseekers who are among the poorest of the poor,” Nazal said.

Nazal says he understands there will be an impact on the revenue collections of the concerned government agencies but “is this so much that it would affect their bottom line?”

“Gaano ba karami ang mga indigent jobseekers na makikinabang dito sa panukalang ito para maging isyu ito sa ating pamahalaan sa usaping koleksyon o kita?” asked the assistant minority leader.

(How many indigent jobseekers would benefit from this proposal for it to become an issue for our government in terms of collection or revenue?)

“Our purpose for pushing for this measure is to remove as many obstacles as possible that stand in the way of Filipinos who are looking to make a decent living in order to provide for their families,” he added.

According to Nazal, the 50 percent discount that he is advocating will only benefit Filipinos whose income is below the official poverty threshold.

These would include members of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) households who rely on government aid to keep them afloat.

“How much exactly are we talking about as cost for the agencies concerned with the grant of a 50 percent discount? Conversely, how much will be saved if this is reduced to 20 percent?” Nazal said.

Nazal is also questioning the substitute bill’s proposal to use Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) data as basis for the certification of indigency rather than relying on local social welfare officers, which he said places certification close to the applicant.

He explained that reliance on PSA and CBMS data could create practical access issues if the certification process is not available locally or digitally.

As an amendment to the bill, Nazal said he will push for the use of local social welfare offices or Public Employment Service Offices to facilitate, verify or issue provisional indigency certification where PSA/CBMS records are unavailable or outdated.

Nazal said the discount benefit should also be easily accessible for the applicants through the establishment of one-stop or digital process.

“To require jobseekers to visit different government offices to apply for their pre-employment documents would entail yet another expense for them and for our target beneficiaries, this could end up discouraging them from pushing through with their efforts to find employment,” he noted.