No jobs for OFWs in Guam this year

MANILA, Philippines - The deployment of at least 35,000 Filipinos for construction and other skilled jobs in Guam may not happen this year.

Recruitment leaders said the decision of Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to freeze a 1996 agreement with the United States to relocate Futenma Marine Corps Air Station to another part of Okinawa will certainly scuttle plans of sending Filipino construction workers to Guam.

“Our OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) are raring to work in Guam because of the higher wages and benefits with US and Japanese constructors, however, they may have to wait till until the rift between Tokyo and Washington is patched up,” recruitment officials said.

For the past three years, the Philippine government and private recruitment agencies have been negotiating for the hiring of Filipino workers to build a giant US military base in Guam.

However, in September 2009, Hatoyama called for a review of the 2006 pact and assembled a committee to look at all possible alternative locations for Futenma’s operations.

Recruitment agencies said there is no huge demand for Filipino workers at this time in Guam.

Earlier, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said the disagreement between the Japanese and US government might derail the planned construction of a US military facility in Guam.

However, POEA officials said Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East are expected to hire more Filipino construction and other skilled workers.