SOUTH Korea has offered employment opportunities to Dumaguete residents under the Seasonal Foreign Worker Employment Program in a bid to relieve labor shortage in its country.
In a virtual conference with Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo and Yeongdong-Gun Mayor Park Se Bok, under the program, the two-sister cities signed the Common Interest Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
If a Dumaguete resident applicant is qualified, the worker may earn P63,000 or $1,255 a month.
To meet seasonal demand, some new foreign workers will be allocated to the different fruit farming industry, such as for grapes, apples, strawberries, walnut, blueberry and peaches, for jobs that include spraying fertilizer and pesticide, flower removal, fruit thinning, pruning, bagging, harvesting, drying, and peeling.
Remollo lauded the citizens and officials of Yeongdong-Gun led by Mayor Park Se Bok for offering additional job opportunities for Dumaguete residents in the spirit of camaraderie and in line with the sisterhood agreement between the two cities forged 12 years ago.
Under the proposed Seasonal Foreign Worker Employment Program, a job applicant must be a resident and endorsed by the City Government of Dumaguete, who can work in crop harvesting and cultivation management in Yeondong-Gun for three to six months provided he/she must be between the ages 30-55 years-old, must have no medical restrictions to leave the Philippines, without criminal history, and covered with travel insurance.
Yeongdong-gun will ensure that the Dumaguete workers will not be charged with any additional fees except for round trip airfare, travel insurance, and administrative expenses.
It was proposed that workers will be given free board and lodging.
Under the program, the two cities will adhere to the international labor regulations established in the ILO Occupational Safety and Health Convention of 1981 as amended by the Protocol of 2002 and shall comply with the domestic and international laws of the Republic of Korea and the Republic of the Philippines.
Officials of the County of Yeongdong-Gun participated via Zoom conference. (PIA)