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| Gov't looking for new job opportunities here and abroad for Filipino workers |
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| By AFF | |
| Saturday, 31 January 2009 | |
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MANILA, (PNA) -- Malacañang said today the government is stepping up the search for new job opportunities here and abroad for Filipino workers to mitigate the impact of the global economic meltdown on the country’s workforce. Presidential Management Staff (PMS) Director-General Cerge Remonde said in an interview this afternoon over Radyo ng Bayan that tapping job markets abroad is a priority item of the agenda of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when she attends the 2009 World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland late this month. On Feb. 1, Remonde will replace Press Secretary Jesus G. Dureza who will assume the post of Chief Presidential Legal Counsel. “As always, the President is doing everything that she can for our countrymen and country, especially in view of the possible dislocation of workers here and abroad,” said Remonde. He explained that the President had long anticipated the world economic debacle, and had laid down policies and programs to address its possible adverse effects on the Philippines. Cabinet secretaries have been assigned to oversee the implementation of the employment program in specific regions of the country. “Bawat isang miyembro ng Cabinet, naka-assign sa isang probinsya… (Each member of the Cabinet is assigned to a province, or region…) to help and assist our countrymen in this time of crisis,” Remonde explained. The PMS chief said that aside from expanding local employment opportunities through such government projects as the construction and maintenance of roads, bridges, irrigation systems, school buildings and hospitals, the President is also looking for job openings for Filipinos workers in “new job markets abroad.” The President is doing this “with the end in view of improving the livelihood of poor Filipinos,” he added. Remonde pointed out that through the administration’s efforts, displaced Filipino workers here and abroad are expected to find new jobs. The 5,000 Filipino expatriate workers displaced in Taiwan, for instance, could easily find jobs in the Middle East where 50,000 jobs are waiting for them, said Remonde. Additionally, President Arroyo had instructed the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to set aside adequate funds to be loaned out to dislocated expatriate workers as emergency capital for livelihood projects pending their re-deployment to foreign countries, he said. “Karamihan diyan (Mostdislocated expatriate workers), ma-redeploy sa ibang bansa (Most of these dislocated workers have been re-deployed to other countries.). This is the reason why the President had also visited the Middle East, New Zealand and Australia within the past two years to create new overseas job markets,” Remonde added. The PMS chief explained that the government is now consolidating the funding requirement of the emergency employment projects being implemented by the Department of Agriculture (DA), the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and other executive departments. “Our President is doing everything that she can for the good of our country and our people while the opposition is doing their best to attack the President. She does not mind as it is part of democracy,” said Remonde. (PNA) |
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