GMA orders for creation of 1M jobs in 6 months

CEBU - At least over 150,000 new jobs are expected to open every month for the next six months in year 2009 as President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo directed to all government agencies to create emergency and livelihood programs.

Arroyo made the order during the recent first full Cabinet meeting this year at the President’s ancestral home in Iligan City.

The move is seen to stem the impact of the global economic crisis as analysts forecast a bleak economic outlook particularly in the United States for this year.

Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who are affected with the global economic meltdown and facing an uncertain future due to loss of jobs can avail themselves of the special program that will be mapped out by the national government solely for their benefit.

In Cebu however, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration-7 still has to give an exact figure as to the number of affected OFWs who have come back as companies abroad close shop due to the global economic crisis.

Local companies in Cebu are now feeling the brunt of the global economic meltdown as workers of a furniture manufacturer at the Mactan Export Economic Zone (MEZ) have retrenched over 600 of their workers and retained only 70 employees.

The affected workers have lodged a complaint with the National Labor Relations Commission against the management of Giardini de Sole Inc. while another 15 employees of another MEZ company have filed a similar complaint. In a recent interview, DOLE-7 Director Elias Cayanong bared their office will try to assist the affected workers by providing livelihood assistance and facilitating skills training depending on the needs of the market.

An emergency employment program for the out-of-work, out-of-school youths dubbed Out-of-School Youth Serving Towards Economic Recovery (OYSTER) is expected to generate 700Tnew jobs, according to National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) chair Domingo Panganiban.

The OYSTER project include hollow blocks making and road maintenance jobs, this is said.

Focal persons on the President’s super regions have already been instructed to step up the implementation of the various livelihood projects while funding will come from the savings of the respective different agencies.

The various government agencies have been told to exhaust their savings before utilizing the P300-billion resiliency fund, Panganiban said. — PR/LPM   (THE FREEMAN)