Short answer. The President of the Philippines. Under Article 46 of the Labor Code, the Council formulates the national manpower plan, adopts it, and then submits it to the President for his approval. Once approved, it becomes the controlling plan for manpower development across the entire country.
What the law says
submitted to the President for his approval. Thereafter, it shall be the controlling plan for the development of manpower resources for the entire country
Labor Code, Article 46 — National Manpower Plan. Read the full provision →
The Council's role in drafting the plan
Article 46 assigns the formulation of the national manpower plan to the Council — the body tasked with manpower development policy. The plan is intended to be long-term, covering the optimum allocation, development and utilization of manpower across employment, entrepreneurship, and economic and social growth. It is not a document produced within any single agency; the Council may call on any government agency or the private sector to assist in preparing it.
Annual updates and presidential approval
After the Council adopts the plan, two things follow. First, the plan is updated annually — it is not a static document filed away for years. Second, after adoption it is submitted to the President. The President's approval elevates the plan from an internal policy document to a directive that binds the whole-of-government approach to manpower development. Only after that approval does it take on its controlling character.
What "controlling plan" means
The statute says the approved plan shall be the controlling plan for the development of manpower resources for the entire country in accordance with the national development plan. This means the manpower plan is not merely advisory — government agencies, training institutions, and programs dealing with workforce development are expected to align with it. It integrates manpower policy into the broader national development agenda, so that training priorities, deployment policies, and resource allocation follow a unified direction set at the highest level of the executive branch.
Why this matters for workers and training programs
For individual workers, trainees, and institutions that participate in government-funded training or skills certification programs, the national manpower plan is the upstream document that shapes what skills are prioritized, which industries receive training resources, and what the government's medium and long-term projections are for domestic and overseas employment. While workers do not interact with the plan directly, the programs and agencies that serve them operate within the framework it establishes. Understanding this structure helps explain why priorities in government programs shift from year to year as the plan is updated and resubmitted for presidential approval. Employers and training institutions whose programs are tied to government accreditation or funding are most directly affected by where the approved plan directs resources each year.