Government urged to prioritize Pinoy workers in flagship projects

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Risa Hontiveros asked the government to address rising unemployment by prioritizing the hiring of Filipinos, amid Malacañang’s pronouncement that it is looking into proposals to allow foreigners to come to the country and work in state flagship projects.

“Hire Filipinos first,” Hontiveros said. “Millions of Filipinos lost their source of income and are now getting hungry. Hundreds of OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) are set to be repatriated after being laid off from work abroad. Let us prioritize them.”

Hontiveros said 7.3 million jobless Filipinos and around 300,000 to 400,000 displaced OFWs would have to be repatriated due to loss of livelihood.

She said that jobless Filipinos should be surveyed for their skills and matched with existing and future flagship projects.

“We need to address the problem of unemployment. We need to match skills to available and future jobs. The government has to step in as one of our major employers through its flagship projects while we are in crisis,” Hontiveros explained.

She also said that many of those who are unemployed are skilled.

“Among OFWs, many are health workers, engineers, architects… The government needs to survey the population for it to properly address the looming unemployment crisis,” she said.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) would decide next week on whether foreign workers with permanent visas and working on state flagship projects should be allowed to re-enter the country.

Guevarra, an IATF member, said they discussed the matter after a foreign embassy requested the government to allow the entry of their nationals who are holders of Bureau of Immigration (BI)-issued permanent visas.

He said the government should also consider the effect of allowing foreign workers to return following the mass repatriation of displaced OFWs.

These are foreign consultants and technical workers whose expertise may be needed in the construction of state flagship projects.

The request is now being studied by a technical working group (TWG) that would not only consider the nationals of the requesting embassy, but other foreigners belonging to other countries who are also permanent or long-term visa holders. Evelyn Macairan