MANILA, Philippines – About 10,000 “green collar” and other jobs have been generated in Cagayan Valley in the Northern Luzon highlands as part of the Arroyo administration’s emergency employment program to help jobless Filipinos and workers retrenched from their jobs due to the global financial and economic meltdown, a senior Cabinet official disclosed.
Secretary Arthur Yap of the Department of Agriculture (DA) explained that green collar jobs refer to the DA’s coconut replanting program to ensure the sustainability of the government’s biodiesel feedstock program.
Coconut, also popularly known as the “tree of life,” is a vital component in the feedstock program in line with the Renewable Energy Law, Yap said.
The other jobs generated, he added, consist of the DA’s farm to market road projects and repair of irrigation systems in Cagayan Valley, one of the country’s major rice, corn and vegetable producers.
Yap, the designated “Cabinet steward” for Cleep in Cagayan Valley and Bohol province in the Visayas, added that on top of the jobs generated by the DA, other government departments have also come up with their respective employment projects.
Cleep stands for the Comprehensive Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program launched by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as part of the $6 billion economic resiliency project to stimulate the domestic economy and help cushion the impact of the global crisis.
According to Yap, the Department of Social Welfare and Development already implemented its “cash for work” and “food for work” programs in Cagayan Valley and Bohol.
In addition, the DA secretary said the Department of Interior and Local Government and the Department of Public Works and Highways provided jobs under the “Out of School Youths Servicing Toward Economic Recovery” (Oyster) project.
Yap also revealed that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources would hire close to 10,000 out of school youths and forest guards under its “Bantay Gubat” (Guard the Forests) and Upland Development programs.
In a related development, President Arroyo announced that about 5,000 new jobs would be made available to Filipinos on the island resort of Sentosa in Singapore through the efforts of Secretary Marianito Roque of the Department of Labor and Employment.
Sentosa Island is one of the main tourist attractions of Singapore as it hosts and integrated resort and theme park.
The President said the resort operator is to hire about 20,000 people by the middle of the year and Roque succeeded in getting 5,000 of these jobs for the Filipinos retrenched from their jobs in the Philippines and abroad.
At the same time, she expressed optimism that the “mega job fairs” to be held nationwide on June 12, Independence Day, would provide plenty of opportunities for the 46,000 Filipinos who lost their jobs due to the worsening economic and financial crunch that is buffeting the world.
To achieve this, the President urged the Filipino-Chinese Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry and its 170 member organizations throughout the country to participate actively in the job fairs.
Earlier, President Arroyo noted that the federation has entered into a memorandum of agreement with the labor department for the reemployment of workers displaced by the global crisis.
Loading ...
[...] more here:Â 10000 'green collar' jobs generated in Northern Luzon | Bloggista … | Tags: Adsense, att, borders, e-book, env, fon, games, google, health, japan, Limited Time [...]
[...] View original post here:Â 10000 'green collar' jobs generated in Northern Luzon | Bloggista … [...]