Saturday, August 02, 2008 Councilor bats for 'inventory of skills'
MABALACAT -- A municipal councilor is pushing for an "inventory of skills" in a bid to help workers seeking job opportunities particularly inside the Clark Freeport.
Councilor Froilan Galang said: "in this age of information, we should have a list of our skilled workers readily provided to investors. In this way, they can pick from our very own."
Galang, chairman of the Municipal Council committee on employment, said employment is necessary to combat poverty.
"We should capitalize on the vast work opportunities at the Freeport. About 50,000 people are reportedly employed at former US Military base," he said.
According to Galang, the Public Employment Services Office (Peso) headed by Benjie Pangan started gathering information about the workers in this first-class municipality.
He said the assistance of Mayor Marino Morales for their "inventory of skills" project will be crucial for its success. He added that Peso would need at least three computers that will be used solely for the project.
But a resident of Barangay San Francisco in this town named Jimmy said: "Mabalacat officials should ask the Clark firms to prioritize the Mabalacat residents in their hiring."
"My son told me that more than 50 percent of the workers in some firms at Clark are from Bulacan and other areas outside Pampanga. He and his fellow applicants from the province think that they have dominated the long lines for applications," he said.
Jimmy also criticized the contractual status of workers inside the Freeport. "How come that most firms in Clark employ the workers as casual and contractual," he lamented.
He urged incoming Clark Development Corporation (CDC) president Benny Ricafort to protect the interest of workers in Clark.
