Cebu business leaders laud job summit move

Cebuano industry leaders welcome the proposed executive-legislative job summit saying it would be a helpful move from the government side, and hoped for its immediate and effective implementation.

"I hope we have enough funding for this, and the government will be more systematic if this will be implemented and bureaucratic red tape will be lessen," said Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) vice president for external affairs Clarito Fruelda.

Earlier, Senator Francis Pangilinan and Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada called on Malacañang and their colleagues in Congress to hold a summit with the business sector.

Pangilinan said that both the executive and legislative branches of government should work together to fast track measures that would generate jobs amid massive layoffs of Filipino workers abroad.

PhilExport-Cebu president Jay Y. Yuvallos for his part said that this initiative is noble, but the export sector may not be of much help in committing more available jobs as it has been battered adversely by series of crises, and the recent global meltdown has hit them hard.

"We welcome this move, but will this help our sector? Depends on the agreement we will make," Yuvallos said.

Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation Inc. (CFIF) former president Michael Basubas said the proposed job summit will also serve as venue for the business sector to air their concerns, on how the government will be able to help them, in order to sustain job generation, amid the depressed economic climate.

"It's good that they have thought about this. There are some avenues that the government can help the private sector in boosting the local economy," Basubas said.

In Cebu however, Fruelda said job vacancies is not a problem with the rising demand from the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry. But the government and business sector should discuss soundly on how they can sustain the economy, and provide job and entrepreneurial opportunities for the displaced OFW workers.

Under the proposal, Pangilinan said he is also pushing for the promotion and increased government support for the small and medium enterprises, particularly in rural areas.

The Senator said that the government should expand credit access to the laid-off OFWs to encourage them to put up their small businesses rather than wait for job opportunities outside the country.

In a separate interview with Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE-7) regional director Elias A. Cayanong he said that a P22.5 million funds is available this year for the displaced workers in Central Visayas region alone.

This budget will help retrenched workers to start up small businesses and become entrepreneurs.

On the other hand, Cayanong added that DOLE-7 is also working closely with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to aggressively implement the National Re-Integration Center for OFWs.

According to Cayanong this partnership is being intensified anticipating the projected retrenchment from the overseas employers.

Although he said based on the record from the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA), the global recession has not yet affected the OFWs from the region, aside from the minimal lay off from Taiwan and Korea.

DOLE and OWWA have prepared entrepreneur skills training for retrenched OFWs. He mentioned that for a displaced cook for instance, will be trained on how to start with his own "carenderia".

Other industry displaced workers will be given their own training, depending on their previous work abroad.