Kalayaan 2009 Mega Job and Livelihood Fair by DOLE on Independence Day Stretches to Three (3) Days from June 12

2 June 2009

Here straight from the DOLE website is the latest news on the three-day Independence Day job fair from June 12 to June 14. I have highlighted the pertinent dates and jobseeker categories:

DOLE to lead three-day Independence Day job fair

Friday, May 29, 2009

Following the successful Labor Day job fair that hired 10,000 workers on the spot last May 1, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will conduct a bigger three-day nationwide job and livelihood fair as part of the observance of Independence Day on June 12, 2009.

Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque said the Kalayaan 2009 Mega Job and Livelihood Fair would be held simultaneously in 19 cities nationwide on June 12, 13, and 14 to mark the country's celebration of Independence Day this year. About 1,000 employers from the private and government sectors including those from the overseas recruitment industry would participate in the mega event.

Roque, thus, urged jobseekers to register this early for the Kalayaan job fair via the PhilJobnet system as this will give them the opportunity to be prioritized by firms and agencies that would participate in the three-day job fair.

He said that registering with the system at http://phil-job.net would enable the job fair participating private firms and government agencies to pre-screen applicants and subsequently hasten the selection and on the spot hiring of those who are qualified during the three-day mega event.

He stressed that it would be advantageous for jobseekers to register with PhilJobNet as early as possible as some participating firms may start to hire applicants prior to the actual job fair.

For more information, interested applicants may use SMS. Text DOLE ON using Globe or TM cell phones and send to 2910.

The DOLE Chief said that participating private firms and government agencies as well would offer over 170,000 vacancies that include opportunities for overseas employment, thereby, making the three-day job fair the biggest, so far.

He said the first day of the job fair on June 12 would feature government agencies offering 50,000 vacancies especially for professionals and other jobseekers with civil service eligibility.

The second day of the job fair on June 13 would feature private local companies offering some 70,000. The following day, June 14, would feature recruitment agencies offering some 50,000 sea-based and land-based overseas employment.

Roque also said that government agencies nationwide would at the same time award about 30,000 emergency jobs to displaced and other unemployed workers under the emergency employment program of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Under the program, local government units and other government offices including government-owned corporations and state schools at the provincial and regional levels with employ temporary workers in accordance with the President's Executive Order No. 782. The order provides for the temporary filling up of vacancies in the government using 1.5% of a government agency's maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE).

Meanwhile, the bicameral Commission on Appointments (CA) confirmed Roque's appointment as Labor and Employment Secretary during Wednesday's hearing, which was considered one of the fastest and unopposed confirmation hearings that the CA has conducted.

Endorsed by chairman of the CA labor committee Lanao del Norte Rep. Abdullah D. Dimaporo, Roque is an advocate of Filipino workers welfare. He had helped developed the OFW employment standards and initiated the provision of welfare services for OFWs onsite. He is also adept in crisis management and dispute resolution having successfully managed mass evacuation, repatriation and negotiation for detained OFWs. He is also an expert in the development of employment programs including the generation of niche deployment opportunities.

source: Information and Publication Service

I hope the DOLE will do all they can to make this an orderly 3-day job fair — such as institute a numbering system that can be provided to the jobseekers — so that they won't be terribly inconvenienced by very long lines and long hours of waiting such as what happened during Labor Day's Jobapalooza.  

Advice ko po sa mga jobseekers na magpupunta sa 3-day job fair from June 12 to June 14 — base po sa aking nakita nung i-cover ko po yung Jobapalooza '09 noong May 1 — magbaon po kayo ng drinking water, biscuits, sandwiches o anumang makakain para hindi po kayo magutom sakaling maulit muli ang mga mahahabang linya ng pila.  Mainam na po yung nakahanda kayo.  

Alamin n'yo na rin po kung anu-ano ang mga kailangang dalhin — tulad ng resume, ballpen, pencil with eraser, extra photographs, etc. — at ihanda n'yo na nang maaga para hindi po kayo mahuli sa pag-aaply. 

Sa kabila po ng hirap na inyong susuungin, hangad ko po ang tagumpay n'yo sa paghanap ng mabuti at mapagpalang trabaho.  God bless po! 

UPDATE

11 June 2009 11:52am

The Kalayaan 2009 Mega Job and Livelihood Fair will be held from June 12, to 14, 2009, 8am to 5pm at the San Lorenzo Ruiz Field, the open field betweeen the carabaos and the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park.  Please see my newer post, Kalayaan 2009 Mega Job and Livelihood Fair, June 12 to 14 Will be Held at the Rizal Park.

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Images and Impressions of Jobapalooza '09 — A Call Towards Greater Respect for Filipino Workers

2 May 2009

I spent the better part of yesterday, May 1, Labor Day, at the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City to monitor Jobapalooza '09.  I did not expect it to be a long process.  

I arrived at the EDSA station of LRT at 10:30a.m. and from there proceeded by bus and on foot to the SMX Center, venue of Jobapalooza '09.  What happened later is now history. 

A crowd estimated anywhere between 20,000 to 30,000 jobseekers trooped to the event, many of them desperate to find jobs that would sustain themselves and their families. 

The initial bottomline -- it was a BIG SUCCESS in terms of attracting jobseekers and a QUALIFIED SUCCESS in giving jobs on site, reportedly, to several thousand people.  But, it was a DISAPPOINTING FAILURE in terms of treating properly the tens of thousands of people, many of them fresh, young graduates, who lined up literally for hours, their bodies pressed against each other, in front, at the side and at the back of the SMX Center.  

Apologies for this monumental crowd management fiasco should be publicly delivered by people responsible for Jobapalooza '09 and that includes President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Vice President Noli De Castro (who, I understand, was there in place of the President), Labor Secretary Marianito Roque and whoever else was responsible in planning this aspect of the event. Hindi naman siguro napakalalaki ninyong mga tao para hindi humingi kahit kapirasong paumanhin.

I'll start by apologizing to you who may have read about or learned about Jobapalooza here and who may have suffered as a result of confronting those long lines of people. I'm a total outsider to the planning of Jobapalooza '09 but if reading this blog caused you any consternation as a result, I apologize. I hope the next time our government starts planning something of this magnitude again that it will have the sense to invite inputs from people whom they will involve in the event. 

Things like this should never be taken lightly. Hindi lang po matinding gutom, uhaw, pagod, discomfort, hilo, etc. ang naranasan po ng mga kababayan natin.  Pati rin po matinding sama ng loob.  Inis talo po ang tawag doon. Sobrang inis talo!

This report by ABS-CBN lady reporter Niña Corpuz tells a lot about what happened yesterday. The images will remain with us and with the Filipino psyche for a long time and hopefully, will help start transforming our country in a way that has not happened before. Huwag na po tayong pumayag na maulit pa ang mga ganitong eksena:

If you encounter any problem with the above video clip, please click here.

This is the video clip available from gmanews.tv:

For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV

The apologies from the people mentioned, if they have any regard for the feelings and sensibilities of the thousands of people who suffered yesterday, would be a signal that this government somehow is still capable of listening. 

But apologies are only a start.  A lot more needs to be done. 

What we need in the Philippines is a new deal for our workers both for those who are employed locally as well as those who are forced to try their fortunes abroad and who send back dollars and other foreign currencies here that keep much of our troubled economy afloat. 

What we need is a program that will create real jobs here so that people do not have to go abroad. Cut down on corruption so that money lost can be funneled into programs that improve the quality of the lives of our people. 

What we need, for a start, is a workers' summit wherein the small workers and not just the big labor leaders can freely express their views that would ultimately be woven into better policies that give greater protection to our longsuffering labor sector. Workerspalooza anyone?!

I'm saying this on hindsight but those who should listen should listen because a lot of people expected much from all the hype that preceded the event. Our countrymen, especially our poor workers, deserve better treatment!

The terribly long lines, several people deep at places, and sustained for hours with little movement could have been avoided if a NUMBERING SCHEME had been adopted. If the jobseekers were given numbers on a FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED basis, they did not have to stay rigidly in line and be subjected to its trauma and its indignity. They could have broken off from those long lines with enough confidence to know that when they came back, they have a place that is secured by the number that's been assigned to them. (I'll try discuss these in more detail later.)

This is definitely a work in progress.  More when I return.

Thank you for bearing with me.

Mabuhay ang manggagawang Pinoy!

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Jobapalooza '09, The Biggest Job Fair in the Philippines

28 March 2009

The following news item is taken from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) website.  The article is entitled "Labor unions to spearhead Labor Day Jobapalooza '09. "  Jobapalooza '09 is billed  as the biggest simultaneous job fairs event in the country. It brings the promise of local and overseas jobs across the country for those who will be fortunate enough to find favor with participating employers and recruitment agencies.   

To hasten assistance to workers affected by the global crisis, the country's largest labor unions will lead the conduct of the biggest simultaneous job fairs in all regions nationwide on May 1, 2009, Labor Day, in collaboration with the government and the private sector, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) today said.

Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque said the social partners have recognized the need for collective action and mutual collaboration in mitigating the effects of the global crisis on the workers and the economy, adding they agreed to lend a hand in helping workers particularly the displaced as well as new graduates find jobs locally and overseas through the conduct of job fairs all over the country.

Roque said the trade unions and labor groups unanimously approved to celebrate Labor Day with the conduct of what would be considered, so far, the biggest job fair dubbed "Labor Day Tayo Na! Trabaho Na! Jobapalooza 09," which will be held simultaneously in 16 regions on May 1 in collaboration with sponsoring firms, employers, recruitment agencies, local government units, Public Employment Service Offices (PESOs), and the DOLE and other government agencies.

He said that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo would launch the main celebration on May 1 at the SMX Convention Hall at SM Mall of Asia (MOA) in Pasay City. The DOLE with the social partners in other regions would also spearhead a similar event in their areas of jurisdiction.

The DOLE Chief also said that about 1,000 employers and recruitment agencies nationwide would participate in the Labor Day Jobapalooza to offer hundreds of thousands of local and overseas jobs to workers particularly the displaced and new graduates.

He said that even as the economy continues to exhibit resiliency, efforts are needed to facilitate the employment of workers through job fairs to diminish the crisis' impact on the people.

Roque hailed the organized sector and the sponsoring firms for cooperating with the DOLE in planning for the conduct of the Labor Day Jobalooza on May 1 as part of the national efforts to promote employment and, thus, mitigate the effects of the global crisis on the workers and the economy as a whole.

Apart from the job fair, there will also be skills demonstration, livelihood products display and sales, and distribution of training and scholarship certificates. To cap the night, an "Alay sa Manggagawang Pilipino" concert featuring the country's top bands will pay tribute to the country's working men and women at the MOA grounds near the SMX.

The participating trade unions are the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, Federation of Free Workers, Associated Labor Union, Philippine Transport General Workers Organization, All Workers Alliance Trade Union, Trade Union of the Philippines and Allied Services, Alliance of Filipino Workers, Philippine Organization of Labor Unions, and the National Association of Trade Union.

The sponsoring partners are Globe Telecom, Banco De Oro, SM, Jobstreet,com, STI, Philippine Online Chronicles, and the City Government of Manila.

I'm just a little curious as to how large or how small a percentage of those who attend these job fairs actually land jobs.  Those who have had experience with these job fairs are most welcome to send in their comments and share their experiences.

30 April 2009 Update:

Please see the latest Jobapalooza '09 post, I Hope It's True — They're Saying 200,000 Jobs in Jobapalooza '09.

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