100,000 Construction Workers will be trained by TESDA for Build, Build, Build Program

MANILA, Philippines - Mangangalap at magsasanay ng may 100,000 construction workers ang Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) sa buong bansa kaugnay sa "Build, Build, Build" program ni President Duterte.

Ang proyektong ito ay inilunsad ni TESDA Director General Guiling "Gene" Mamondiong sa idinaos na National Integration Scholarship Program (NISP) Forum sa Butuan City.

Ang mga sasanaying mga construction workers ay magmumula sa grupo ng mga indigenous peoples (IPs), mahihirap  at rebel returnees sa buong bansa.

Ayon sa TESDA chief, ang magsisipagtapos ay kukunin para tumulong sa pagpapatayo at pagpapagawa ng mga tulay, kalsada, gusali at iba pang mga infrastructure projets ng gobyerno.

Aniya, ang "ambitious bridge projects" ng Duterte administrasyon na mag-uugnay sa mga lalawigan ng Negros Oriental, Cebu, Bohol at Leyte ay kabilang sa Build, Build, Build program para gawin ang mga island provinces na madaling marating sa pamamagitan ng land travel.

Ayon sa TESDA chief, ang mga infrastructure projects ng gobyerno ay makakatulong sa pagbibigay ng mga bagong trabaho para sa mga mamayan.  Aniya, tatanggap sila ng mga aplikante para sanayin mula sa mga mahihirap na sector.

OFW Deployment Ban in Saudi Arabia

The Philippines Department of Labor and Employment may expand the deployment ban to Saudi Arabia due to the common practice of Saudi Employers to Illegal Transfer or "Trade" of Filipino Domestic Workers to other employers that resulted to unreported cases of maltreatments and abuses.

The Philippine Labor Secretary said that trading and switching of foreign household workers known as "Kafala" is a common practice in Saudi Arabia where in the Kingdom about more than 1.2 Million Filipinos are working. He said that the Philippine would impose the same deployment restrictions it applied to Kuwait if Saudi Arabia does not strengthen its protection of Filipino workers.

Under the "Kafala" or Sponsorship system, the Saudi Citizen employer or sponsor has the complete control over the mobility of the migrant worker. A foreign worker for instance, cannot quit work or transfer jobs without first obtaining the consent of his employer, which practically places the worker at the mercy of his employer.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the biggest employer of Filipino workers, who make up the fourth largest group of foreigners and who are the second largest source of remittances to the Philippines.

As part of the Philippine Government move to improve protection for Filipino Workers, the Department of Labor of the Philippines sent a team to the Middle East to assess conditions and provide immediate assistance and recommend actions to deal with the situation.

As per the Department of Labor Secretary of the Philippines, the report from the assistance team sent in Middle East will be a reliable basis for the amendment or enhancement of existing bilateral labor agreements with Arab countries to provide better protection for Filipino Workers. He said, if there is an existing bilateral labor agreement but there are still rampant cases of maltreatment, then maybe we need to amend the agreement.

The Philippine President's minimum demand is only to deploy  countries where Filipino Workers are properly and effectively protected.

Source: Vito Barcelo, Manila Standard