By Perla Lena/Philippine News Agency
ILOILO CITY — More than 1,000 jobseekers were recorded as of noon time in the ongoing one-day job fair held at the Robinsons Place–Jaro here in line with the celebration of Labor Day on Wednesday.
Niezel Anen Sabrido, Labor Relations Focal Person, said 20 applicants were hired-on-the-spot mostly for local employment but they are “still consolidating the data as of this time”.
Data from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Western Visayas showed that 4,771 vacancies from 63 local participating companies and 34,356 vacancies from 10 overseas recruitment agencies await successful jobseekers.
As of noontime, DOLE has registered more than 1,000 applicants, although more jobseekers are still coming in.
Mayor Jose Espinosa III, the guest of honor, said in his message during the opening program that the local government is “doing its best to entice more investors”.
“We are successful because there are a lot of investors coming in,” he said, citing the impending opening of three or more hotels and hospitals.
He added that the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry alone needs additional 5,000 employees.
“My dream is that our children will no longer have to get out of Iloilo City to look for employment. We would like Iloilo City to be the center of employment in Visayas and Mindanao,” he said.
He is confident of the cooperation of the private sector to provide ample number of jobs.
The mayor added that he fully understood the plight of workers as he grew up in a family that takes care of workers.
He shared that his uncle, former congressman Pascua Espinosa, through the Espinosa Consolidated Labor Union of the Philippines (CLUP), was the first to send a large number of workers to work in the military bases in Guam in the 1940s.
“It was the first biggest deployment of OFWs (overseas Filipino workers),” he said, as 35,000 workers were sent to Guam at that time.
Meanwhile, DOLE Regional Director Cyril Ticao said that this year’s Labor Day celebration is a special day to give tribute and honor the Filipino workers.
“We do this in grateful recognition of their sacrifices and hard work that brought our nation to where it is now,” he said.
He also shared the message of Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III that the government “remains committed in safeguarding the welfare of our workers even as we are equally steadfast in promoting gainful and descent employment for all”.
This year’s celebration anchors on the theme “Pagpupugay sa Manggagawang Pilipino”.
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