With Labor Day visit, what high notes does President hope to hit?
President Rodrigo Duterte met on Monday with Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, ahead of today’s visit to Cebu. Whether or not he decided to sign an executive order to ban all forms of contractual labor, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque wouldn’t say.
Nearly 18,000 jobs will be offered in job fairs in Cebu City and Negros Oriental, and the fair in Cebu is what the President is here for, along with other functions. Some 400 uniformed personnel will be fielded to secure the President’s visit, as well as deal with rallies by organized labor.
Participating companies will offer 17,966 jobs in simultaneous fairs today, Labor Day, in Cebu City and Negros Oriental.
President Rodrigo Duterte will be the guest of honor of the celebration in Cebu.
For his visit, the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 is on full alert status in Central Visayas. More than 400 uniformed personnel will be deployed to secure venues where the President is expected, as well as deal with rallies by organized labor and other cause-oriented groups.
“Protesters are not allowed to get inside or even close to the area (where the President will visit) and we will maintain maximum tolerance,” said Chief Supt. Robert Quenery, PRO 7 director.
“We are in full force and on full alert status until the President will leave the city safely,” Quenery said.
Police are expecting about 4,000 jobseekers who will attend the event today in the International Eucharistic Congress Pavilion in Barangay Mabolo, Cebu City.
“In Cebu, all activities lined up for the celebration, especially the job fair, will take place in one venue. In Dumaguete City, the job fair will be in the Negros Oriental Convention Center, Capitol Area,” said Director Alvin Villamor of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) 7.
Malacañang didn’t reveal what the President discussed in a meeting on Monday afternoon with Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III. In the 2016 campaign, Duterte had promised to end the practice of “endo” or the cancellation of workers’ contracts before they attain regular status. Instead of issuing an executive order, however, he has left it up to Congress to settle the matter.
Villamor described the job fair as one of the highlights of the Labor Day celebration.
A local job fair spearheaded by the Cebu Provincial Public Employment Services Office (PESO) will offer 2,464 job openings with 20 participating employers.
PESO-Cebu City will also facilitate an overseas job fair with a total of 8,242 jobs with 15 participating recruitment agencies, Villamor said.
Among the available positions are those of customer service representatives, cashiers, sales clerks, drivers, kitchen staff, waiters, engineers, service crew, carpenters, masons, and technical support representatives.
About 41.551 million Filipinos held jobs as of October 2017, but that number was 134,000 less than in the same month in 2016, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported. From October 2016 to October 2017, seven regions reported decreases in the num- ber of employed Filipinos. Central Visayas reported the second highest decline, at 158,000 jobs lost. Some 6.617 million workers declared themselves as underemployed as of October 2017.
For his part, Dennis Derige said that the Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (SENTRO) will mark this year’s Labor Day with an indignation rally led by Nagkaisa ang Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) in several cities.
Derige quoted SENTRO Cebu Chairperson Greg Janginon as saying that for a second year, President Duterte continues to demonstrate his inability to deliver the promises of change and progress he sold to the Filipino people.
Worse, Derige added, the President has reneged on his promise to end contractualization. After three dialogues and five revisions of a draft executive order that he himself requested, Malacañang recently announced that Duterte will no longer issue an EO.
In this light, Derige said SENTRO will mobilize in Manila, Cebu, Davao, and General Santos today.