Budget cut won’t stop City Hall from holding 5 job fairs this year

THE Department of Management Development and Placement (DMDP) will hold four mega job fairs and one overseas job fair this year.

DMDP Chief Fidel Magno said he will fight to get the budget that the department needs, which is close to P3.5 million.

In slashing Cebu City’s proposed P11.8-billion annual budget to just P5.2 billion, the City Council also slashed the DMDP budget for maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) to just P80,000.

Magno said his office will need P488,060 to fund this year’s job fairs.

The mega job fairs will be held on March 24, June 16, Sept. 1 and Nov. 10.

The first mega job fair will be a 40-day event that will end with an overseas job fair on Labor Day, or May 1.

He said it is important to start the job fairs immediately because employers are already asking for the schedules.

“Hiring is fast for the first quarter of the year,” he said.

Successful

Councilor Sisinio Andales, the chairperson of the committee on labor and employment, and Councilor Eduardo Rama Jr. have sponsored a resolution to charge the P488,060 needed for the job fairs under City-sponsored activities.

Some 1,789 people out of 6,468 applicants were hired on the spot during last year’s four mega job fairs, while 22 were hired on the spot during the lone overseas job fair.

The actual number of people who got hired was even higher because many were called back after the fairs, Magno said.

The job fair allows participating companies to accept the resume of applicants and conduct interviews that will be the basis for on-the-spot hiring and referral for further interviews.

DMDP also conducted almost 40 barangay job fairs last year.

Magno said he doesn’t care about politics, if indeed it was the reason for the budget cut.

“Wala mi nag-apil-apil sa politika (We have not intervened in political matters),” he said.

He has since talked with Mayor Michael Rama and Councilor Margarita Osmeña and Andales about the possibility of passing a supplemental budget to grant the DMDP a sufficient MOOE appropriation.