By Alma L. Tingcang
PAGADIAN CITY, May 2 (PIA)
- - - National government agencies, non-government organizations, local
government units, business sector and other concerned agencies converged yesterday
at the City Commercial Center (C3) after a motorcade around the city to join the
110th Labor Day Job and Livelihood Fair spearheaded by the Department of Labor and
Employment (DOLE).
Hundreds of job seekers
flocked to the C3 to hunt for jobs, for both local and overseas hiring. Participating
business establishments were Non-Stop Overseas Employment Services, Verde International
Manpower Services, Hotel Alindahaw, M. Lhuillier, among others.
DOLE Assistant Regional
Director Virginia L. Bonbon said the theme, “Pagtutulungan, Pagbabago, Disenteng
Trabaho” aptly describes the present situation wherein collective efforts of all sectors contribute much to employment generation
as well as employment facilitation.
Pagtutulungan
of
valued partners like the Public Employment Service Office (PESO), Guidance
Counselors’ Network (GCNet), Occupational Health and Safety Network, Tripartite
Industrial Peace Council (TIPC), with national government agencies,
non-government organizations, local government units through the Public Employment
Service Office (PESO), law enforcers, establishment owners and the private sector
is very vital to provide decent jobs for our people.
“Pagbabago
in
the sense that we have continuously focused in creating a climate of industrial
peace in the region. If you listen to the news, there are incidents of strikes in
other areas but we are thankful that it has not happened here. We are not into
adversarial practice but we go for developmental practice,” Bonbon explained.
Disenteng
Trabaho could then be achieved because demands of the labor
market match the skills and capabilities of job seekers.
ARD Bonbon lauded the sterling
leadership of Mayor Samuel S. Co and the
Sangguniang Panlunsod for institutionalizing the PESO as a department under the
office of the City Mayor, the first to be institutionalized in the Zamboanga Peninsula region.
Mayor Co, who was ably represented
by Dr. Priscilla M. Fernandez, Chairperson of the City Tourism Council in his
message lauded workers who have contributed much to our prosperity, strength
and well-being not only in the city but in the country as well.
“Our goal is to be one of the
leading cities in Mindanao, assuring the employability and productivity of every
Pagadianon,” Mayor Co in his message said.
It is interesting to know that
the TIPC with the mayor as chairman has
conducted peaceful resolution of labor and management disputes to ensure that the
rights of both employers and employees are well protected.
Meanwhile, DOLE also turned-over
Starter kits to 84 beneficiaries amounting to P840-T, with 41 grantees from
Pagadian City and 43 from Vincenzo Sagun, Zamboanga del Sur. SPES checks worth
P195,000 representing the 40% counterpart from DOLE was likewise awarded to Mayor
Caridad Balaod of Tambulig, Zamboanga del Sur; and P44,880 to Pagadian Capitol
College.
Most welcome development was
the turn-over of livelihood check for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in the
amount of P194,550 which was received by its president, Mr. Rommel Mantele for their
poultry project in Kumalarang, Zamboanga del Sur.
Bonbon exhorted
beneficiaries to prove to everyone - his neighbor, his town, to DOLE and even to
President Benigno C. Aquino III that DOLE was not wrong in choosing them to be
recipients of the livelihood package and
other benefits from the government by being good stewards of the starter kits thereby
alleviating their living condition.
National government
agencies who joined the successful celebration of the 110th Labor Day include the Technical Education and
Skills Development Authority, Professional Regulation Commission and Philippine
Information Agency. (ALT/PIA9-Zambo
Sur)