Hundreds of applicants try their luck landing a job in the Trabaho, Negosyo, Kabuhayan and Business Fair at the IC3 Pavilion. At least 17,000 local and overseas jobs were available for Cebu job applicants during the May 1 job fair. CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA
There will be at least 300 fewer jobless Filipinos in the country, especially in Cebu.
They are the job applicants,who got hired on the spot during Tuesday’s government-organized Trabaho, Negosyo at Kabuhayan and Business Fair at the IC3 Convention Center in Barangay Mabolo, Cebu City.
There were 304 job applicants, who were hired on the spot at the job fair, as of 4 p.m. on Tuesday, said an ABS-CBN TV Patrol report.
The firms that hired these applicants on the spot were from the construction and mall sectors, said the report, which also stated that these were initial figures as of 4 p.m. as the participating firms and organizers of the job fair were still collating their data.
The Department of Labor and Employment (Dole), however, is optimistic of the outcome of the nationwide job fairs.
“Employment rate this year is expected to grow with the implementation of the ‘Build, Build, Build’ program of the Duterte administration. This is aimed at modernizing the country’s infrastructure foundation by introducing flagship projects worth billions of dollars in investments,” the Dole said in a statement.
As early as 7 a.m., hundreds of applicants were already at the IC3 Pavilion for the job fair.
Applicants
Some of them came from as far as Tuburan in the northwestern Cebu.
Loel Pajes, 33, a father of two, who currently works in a shipbuilding company in Balamban in western Cebu, said he traveled from his hometown in Tuburan town in northwest Cebu.
Pajes said he was applying for an overseas job as a waiter and room attendant in Bahrain.
Pajes said he preferred to apply for an overseas job because his eldest child would be entering Grade 7 next school year and his income would not be enough to support the family.
“Basin maswertihan, makasud og trabaho sa abroad kay kuwang ra jud ang sweldo, gamay ra jud (Maybe, I will get lucky and get the job abroad because my salary isn’t enough),” he said.
Fresh graduates also tried their luck at the job fair.
Nelrose Villamor, 27, a Hotel Restaurant Management graduate, said she was applying for local employment as a waitress.
“Mang-apply ko for experience purposes (I applied so that I’ll have work experience),” said Villamor, who had been unemployed for four months.
She also said that if given the chance she would also like to work abroad.
According to Dole, there are 715 vacancies for waiters at the job fairs nationwide. This is one of the top ten job vacancies for overseas Filipino employment.
Recruiting soldiers
Meanwhile, at least 50 people were registered at the job fair to become combat soldiers.
Col. Medel Aguilar, AFP Central Command spokesperson, said that this would be the first step in becoming a soldier.
After this, Aguilar said that they would undergo exams and then if they could pass, then they would undergo training.
He said that once they would pass this, they would then become a soldier with a rank of private, which has an entry salary of P29,000 a month.
He said that joining the job fair was just part of ther yearly recruitment of personnel.
According to data from Dole, the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and the PNP (Philippine National Police) has 5,052 vacancies for combat soldiers. / with Reporter Nestle L. Semilla and CNU Intern Maejane Dungog