Hire more Filipino workers, DPWH urged

SEN. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan on Sunday urged the government to renegotiate public works contracts with foreign investors to allow the hiring of more Filipino workers.

The senator reiterated the need to prioritize skilled Filipino workers and professionals in the construction industry for projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) with other countries.

In a radio interview, Pangilinan called for the renegotiation of these contracts as the Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic rendered major job cuts in the construction and manufacturing sectors.

A recent Social Weather Station Survey showed that adult unemployment rate in September was 39.5 percent, comprising 23.7 million Filipinos.

“This is a proposal: there is a need to scrutinize these [contracts]. These can be renegotiated, given that we entered into those contracts prior to Covid,” Pangilinan said.

“We should be able to raise this as an issue now that we have 23 million Filipinos jobless,” he added.

He pointed out that repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) whose construction skills are preferred worldwide should be prioritized for employment in these government projects.

“We will re-train our Filipino workers on technical aspects, perhaps we can give these jobs to our fellowmen,” Pangilinan said.

At the October 14 budget hearing of the DPWH, when Pangilinan asked about reports of influx of Chinese construction workers, the DPWH revealed that around 45 percent of the workforce of the Binondo Bridge project in Manila and 30 percent in the EstrellaPantaleon Bridge are Chinese.

He proposed that from 45 percent, the number of foreign workers must be reduced to 20 percent to allow more Filipino workers.

“They [concerned government entities] must renegotiate. Can we bring it down and give some of these [ jobs] to our workers who are now jobless?” he added.

Pangilinan said that he would ask for more data on the breakdown of foreign workers in government public works projects before the budget debates reach the plenary.

“Maybe our fellowmen can do it. They just need some re-training to acquire the skills [of the foreign workers],” he said.

The DPWH’s proposed 2021 budget is P667.32 billion, the second highest budget among the departments.