DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/01 February) – “The Arroyo administration has come up with measures to assist workers who have lost their jobs here and abroad due to the global economic crisis, one of which is to come up with a website on available job vacancies,” the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) now under Cerge Remonde, said.

The OPS report said Labor Secretary Marianito Roque has advised the jobless to “log on the labor department's Phil-Jobnet website” which provides a “convenient, readily available job service 24/7.”

''The strategy seeks to reinforce the department's efforts to preserve and sustain job opportunities amidst the global crisis cooperation with social partners,'' Roque was quoted as saying.

Roque also said displaced workers can readily access the DOlE website.

The Phil-Jobnet website, accessible at http://phil-job.net/, however, has few jobs to offer.As of 3:30 p..m. Sunday, the search button yielded only six vacancies for carpenter, only one of which is Philippines-based, in Calamba; only one for janitor, in Pasig City; only 14 for cooks, half of which is Philippines-based, six of them in Luzon (five in Baguio, one in Pasig) and only one in Mindanao (in Iligan City).

For teachers, there are 17 vacancies, 12 of them actually “teacher aide” positions; for waitress, only eight, only two of that Philippines-based – in Manila and Pasig; for waiter, only 15, only of that Mindanao-based, in Iigan.

For domestic helper, there are 14 vacancies, all abroad.

For engineers of various specialties, there are 170 vacancies for placement mostly abroad – in Qatar, Korea and Malaysia. None of the 170 is Mindanao-based.

In Northern Mindanao alone, the Department of Labor and Employment regional office there has warned some 30,000 workers may lose their jobs this year as companies feel the crunch of the global economic crisis.  

The OPS report said displaced overseas workers are urged “to avail of the free services and programs that are geared at assisting them. These include livelihood support, counseling and guidance.” (MindaNews)

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