Show 16,000 job orders from Libya, Dole urged

MANILA, Philippines - An overseas Filipino workers' (OFWs) group in the Middle East on Monday challenged the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to show job orders for the 16,000 job vacancies in Libya.

John Leonard Monterona, Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator, made the challenge in a statement issued after Labor Secretary Marianito Roque's announcement about job openings in the north African country.

He said Roque’s job notice “is misinformation that would give false hopes to millions of unemployed Filipinos who are forced to look for jobs abroad as the Arroyo administration has failed to create decent jobs locally."

Monterona feared that the purported job openings in Qatar and Libya with 120,000 and 16,000 respectively, would be used by illegal recruiters to prey on unsuspecting job seekers.

He cited the case of the 137 OFWs duped to work as bus drivers in Dubai, but ended up begging for food there as the promised jobs were non-existent.

He said that there are job openings in the Middle East but they are not as many as DOLE and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration have reported.

He added that DOLE’s announcement of job openings in the Middle East is also misleading and would only invite illegal recruiters to victimize more jobseekers just the same.

Citing a report from Labor Attaché Nasser S. Mustafa, head of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Libya, Secretary Roque on Saturday announced that Africa's fourth largest country is in need of Filipino workers in the construction, hotel, medical, and other services sectors.

“Libya is impervious of the harsh effects of the global crisis due largely to its oil resources, noting that its government continuously focuses on this country’s development with vigor," Roque said in a statement.

He said that Korean firms like Daewoo, Hyundai, and Al Nahr have recently been recruiting thousands of OFWs for construction projects in Libya.

He said these firms are in need of Filipino engineers, other professionals, and skilled construction workers for the construction of Libya’s man-made river, hotels, power plants, housing units, and road and renovation projects.

Oil firms in Libya have also reportedly showed their intention to recruit professionals and skilled oil and gas workers from the Philippines.

Roque said Mustafa is constantly conducting meetings with these companies as well as with other firms in Libya who are in need of foreign workers – in the hopes of paving the way for the deployment of more Filipino workers to the African country.

Roque said he also expects that the construction of new hotels in Libya would mean more employment opportunities for OFWs in the hospitality and tourism sectors.

He said that more Filipino doctors and nurses and other medical workers may also be deployed soon to Libya.

The POLO in Tripoli, bya's capital, has already started talks with Health Ministry officials for the recruitment of around 4,000 Filipino medical workers for the Tripoli and Benghazi Medical Centers and other hospitals and clinics in Libya.

It is also reportedly looking for opportunities for OFWs in Algeria, Chad, Malta, and Morocco.

“The employment prospects in Libya and nearby nations are favorable for OFWs as they continue to be the preferred choice among foreign employers," Roque said in the press statement. - D'Jay Lazaro, GMANews.TV

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more