BORACAY ISLAND, Aklan — At least 4,000 jobs for workers who will be displaced during the six-month closure of Boracay Island were offered in a job fair organized by the private sector on Monday.
The one-day event was initiated by the umbrella group One Boracay, Save Boracay, with members from the Hotel Sales and Marketing Association International, Philippine Tourism and Hospitality Officers and Marketers Association, Tourism Congress of the Philippines (TCP), and Philippine Travel Agencies Association.
“This is our way of helping those people who may lose their jobs during the closure,” TCP president Jose Clemente III said on Monday.
Different jobs, mostly in the tourism sector, were offered by at least eight companies, including JobStreet, an online site for job listings during the activity.
These jobs are based in Iloilo, Palawan, Bohol and other parts of the country, said Clemente.
At least 36,000 workers are expected to lose their jobs during the six months the island will be closed starting April 26.
Bernie Suyod, who has been working as a tour coordinator, was one of those who joined the job fair.
Suyod, who is from Ibajay, Aklan, said he is willing to relocate to get a job to sustain the needs of his family in the next six months.
A fund-raising activity to help a Malay tourism cooperative and association was also initiated by the One Boracay, Save Boracay group.
Prior to the job fair, the group also conducted a beach cleanup activity in Bulabog Beach, with more than 100 people joining the activity.
Clemente said the cleanup and the job fair are the group’s way of showing solidarity with the government and all the communities and stakeholders in Boracay.
Meanwhile, the Department of Labor and Employment will soon conduct a job fair to help more of those who will be affected by the closure.
The department will also conduct a meeting in Boracay on Tuesday to discuss programs for the affected workers on the island. (Karen Bermejo/PNA)
