DOLE says 1M jobs a year, attainable

Cebu, Philippines (30 July)—The Department of Labor and Employment here in Cebu said, PGMA’s promise to create one million jobs every year until 2010 is attainable.

Elias Cayanong, DOLE-7 regional director said, to do this, government must maintain the decreasing unemployment rate in the country through job generation.

According to Cayanong, the unemployment rate in Central Visayas has been decreasing since the last quarter of 2006 to the 1^st semester of 2007 by 7.3% from 7.8% in the late part of 2005 until early 2006.

He cited the lack of skills among graduates as the biggest factor why government could not erase unemployment in the country.

The decrease meant 40,000 jobs in region 7. “If the trend is replicated in other regions, there is a big possibility of achieving the 1M jobs every year,” Cayanong said optimistically.

Employment rate in Central Visayas on the other hand is between 2.4M to 2.6million and most of the job openings are related to tourism industries and call centers.

Cayanong added that at least there are 80,000 to 100,000 job openings for call centers every year in the region but these are not filled in because applicants do not have the needed command in the English language.

The government however has vowed to focus on modernizing the country’s education to become globally competitive. It has acknowledged the lack of English facility of the graduates and is now addressing the problem through extensive training programs on English, Math and Science education. (PIA-Cebu/MBCN)

Tech/Voc education needed in various industries

Cebu, Philippines (30 July)--In recent visit of DOT secretary Joseph Ace Durano to Cebu, he noted that the tourism industry needs vocational skills more than theoretical or academic aptitude.

“There will be no shortage of demand for your services,” he told the students of the Banilad Center for Professional Development (BCPD), a TESDA recognized vocational-technical school that offers 2-year hotel and restaurant management course to young women for employment and entrepreneurship in the industry. Secretary Durano was in Cebu to attend the inauguration of the center’s upgraded kitchen-classroom.

He added that in Cebu alone, 1,000 hotel rooms will open soon and based on industry standards of hotel classification, whether 4 or 5-star, each room will directly employ two to four people. Bohol and Boracay Island will also open 500 to 1000 rooms respectively in the next coming years.

“The demand of the time is really vocational skills. We have been working closely with the Commission on Higher Education to make university courses on hospitality management relevant to the demands of the time,” the DOT chief said.

According to the BCPD principal Mary Ann Ruiz, presently, the center has 102 students that come from poor families in the Visayas region whose parents could not afford to send them to higher education.

“We equip the students with the necessary skills when they go out on field because we are implementing TESDA’s ‘dualized’ training program—school and on-the-job training with our partner establishments in the industry,” Ruiz added.

Since the inception of the center in 1992, BCPD had already graduated 867 students with a hiring rate of 75%. “Our industry partners include Cebu City Marriotte Hotel and Shangri-la’s Mactan Island Resort and Spa,” she proudly said.

The government has really paid extra focus to the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in terms of expanding the coverage of technical and vocational education as more companies and work abroad are in need of skilled manpower.

According to the President, in 2006 alone, the government spent P2.4-Billion for its training programs, including P600-million for scholarships in all TESDA offices in the country.

This year, 1.5 million students will graduate in technical and vocational education, almost double in the 2004 figure. The Arroyo administration is set to spend P1.1Billion for ladder-ized education, a major program of TESDA in the next 3 years.

In Cebu recently, Emma Ramas, a local representative of a European consultancy-PUM encouraged the local government units in the province to tap European consultants to help them in improving vocational and technical courses that are commonly offered in schools in the municipalities.

Ramas said, out of 66 consultants who came to the country last year, 46 were sent to Cebu. “Dutch consultants are experts in improving vocational and technical courses and there are really many of these consultants that are experts in various fields such as education, port development and agriculture.

According to Ramas, earlier this year, the Harvest Christian School International (HCSI) was a recipient of PUM’s consultancy. The school received 4000 euros or P244,000 from the Hans Blankert Fund that the school used to build a computer laboratory and buy computer units to improve the IT education of its technical and vocational students.

Meanwhile, TESDA programs are gaining popularity in skills training abroad. Secretary Augusto Boboy Syjuco, TESDA director general said that TESDA’s training program is now part of the 2006-2008 Memorandum of understanding and cooperation in technical and vocational education and training between the Saudi Arabian government represented by GOTEGOT and the Philippines represented by TESDA.

In the MOU, TESDA spearheaded the 3-week training program for trainers of 77 Arab techVoc instructors in various trade areas that included digital video production; digital photography; computer networking; electro-mechanical maintenance; air-conditioning and refrigeration, and vocational inspection.

Aside from completing the TechVoc courses, secretary Syjuco sees the TESDA-GOTEVOT training partnership as a venue for a continuing exchange of ideas and experiences among techVoc instructors of Saudi Arabia and the Philippines. (PIA-Cebu/MBCN)

Improved education to attract investors in the country

Cebu, Philippines (30 July)—Good standard in education is very important for Cebu especially because it is aiming to be globally competitive in attracting foreign investors, said the former secretary of the Department of Finance Jesus Estanislao during a business forum here hosted by the Cebu Business Club recently.

Estanislao noted the “uncompetitive” standard of universities and colleges in Cebu compared with that in Manila and even abroad adding that Cebu is still very far in terms of quality and standard.

“Investors are equally concerned in the quality of graduates that are being produced in the preferred sites; availability of infrastructure and other basic requirements for investments,” Estanislao said.

He actually challenged the Cebu businessmen to take stock and assist the academe and the government in improving the quality of education in Cebu.

Francis Monera, president of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry answered that CCCI has focused on projects that would accelerate in making Cebu province as an economic zone.

“We have also crafted several programs that are geared towards improving the standard of educational system especially for college,” Monera said.

He specifically mentioned the collaboration of the academe, government and the Cebu Educational Foundation for Information Technology (CEDFIT), an NGO here that encouraged all stakeholders to improve the quality and standard of the IT-related educational system in Cebu.

CEDF-IT executive director Bonifacio Belen reported earlier that the IT sector has very slow improvement of manpower skill-ability. “It needs at least P25-Million to raise and develop the quality of manpower skills in the IT-sector in Cebu.

In one of the roundtable discussions with the President earlier this month, PGMA vowed to improve and modernize the country’s educational system before the end of her term in 2010 because she believes that knowledge is the greatest creator of wealth in the present global economy.

The President then revealed that the government has increased the budget allocation in education from P129-Billion in 2006 to P150-Billion this year in “our efforts to modernize the educational system of the country.”

In a gathering of officers and members of the League of Corporate Foundations (LCF) that held its 2007 Corporate Social Responsibility Expo in Manila early this month, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo launched a special P4-Billion education fund for student loans, business-funded training and to finance the expansion of state colleges and universities all over the country.

The President said, the fund is expected to increase the beneficiaries of student loans from 40,000 in 2006 to 200,000 this year. She also lauded the LCF for its support and recognizing the importance of education as a sustainable solution to poverty.

Arroyo further said that in the next three years, her administration will also invest some P3-Billion in engineering research and development technology to achieve a critical mass of R&D-capable manpower.

“The next three years will see an unprecedented, well-thought out and firm commitment of unstinting effort and generous funding for better schools, higher teacher pay, and more scholarships for gifted students, and better English language training,” the President announced.

She also thanked the private sector for its contribution to link 1500 out of 5000 public schools in the country through computer linkage. She hoped though that all public schools could be linked by the end of her term in 2010. (PIA-Cebu/MBCN)

NNC MIPASIDUNGOG SA MGA R7 LGU’s

Cebu City – Sa pagpupos sa National Nutrition Month niadtong Biyernes, nangharos og mga pasidungog ang mga probinsya og pipila ka mga lungsod sa Bohol.

Nidawat isip outstanding province nga nag-implementar og maayong programa sa nutrisyon ang probinsya sa Bohol.

Samtang ang mga lungsod sa Bohol nga niani sab og pasidungog mao ang Garcia Hernandez isip outstanding municipality sa nutrition program samtang ang lungsod sa Inabanga og Calape maoy nidawat sa national nutrition maintenance award.

Dinhi sa Sugbo ang nidaug mao ang Danao City nga usa sa syudad nga nidawat sa pinakataas nga award nga madawat sa usa ka local government unit, nga mao ang National Honor Maintenance Award.

Ang Danao City nasayrang nidaug sa ilang nutrition program, unom ka tuig na sa pagkakaron.

Samtang ang Mandaue City, gipasidunggan sab nga maoy syudad isip consistent regional winner in nutrition kon CROWN Award tungod sa pagsige og kadaug niini, tulo ka tuig na pagkakaron.

Ang syudad sa Lapu-Lapu nidawat sab sa ilang unang pasidungog isip maoy outstanding city sa nutrition programs ning tuiga.

Samtang sa Negros Oriental, ang lungsod sa Pamplona mao ang nidawat sa award isip outstanding municipality tungod sab sa ilang nutrition program.

Nasayran nga pipila sa gibasehan nga criteria sa award mao ang pagmenos sa malnutrition sa nahisgutang mga lugar. Lakip sa gibasehan mao ang epektibo og maayo nga pag-implementar sa pito ka kategoriya sa nag-unang programa sa nutrition nga gihingusgan karon sa kagamhanan.

Kini naglangkub sa food production, food security, home og community nutrition programs, micronutrient supplementation, food fortification o ang pagbutang og mga bitamina og mirales sa mga pagkaon nga naunang way gibutang nga bitamina og minerals, information-education-communication campaign, food and livelihood assistance, og ang maternal og child health care programs.

Ang mga mananaug nidawat og tropiyo ingon man plaque of recognition.

Matud ni Letlet Mission, Regional Coordinator sa National Nutrition Council sa Central Visayas, ang rehiyon nasayrang nimenos ngadto sa onse porsiyento karong tuiga gikan sa trese porsiyento sa niaging tuig.

Gilauman ni Mission nga ang syudad og probinsya sa Sugbo modaug na gyud sunod tuig. Matud niya, ang programa sa syudad niabot na sa kabarangayan apan kulang lang kini sa proper documentation o kaha sa lig-on og konkreto nga implementasyon sa nutrition programs sa barangay level.(Roberto M. Cabardo/PIA AMO 7 Cebu)

‘GO NEGOSYO’ catches fire in CV

Cebu, Philippines (27 July)—‘GO NEGOSYO’ catches fire in Central Visayas with the government launching recently the very first Small & Medium Enterprises (SME) Industrial Park at the special economic zone at barangay Cantao-an, Naga, Cebu province.

Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia in her speech said, the provincial government will focus for the next 3 years on projects that will improve the needed infrastructure such as first-class seaports to make Naga as the nautical crossroads of the province.

“We will make the countryside a viable investment alternative to the overburdened and congested City,” Garcia stressed.

The SME Industrial Park in Naga is envisioned to become the center for world-class SMEs that will showcase the country’s excellent export products in the global market, the governor proudly said.

Amb. Jesus Tambunting, the country’s ambassador to the Republic of Ireland and CEO of Planters Development Bank (that funds the SME Industrial Pak) said that Cebu’s fast growing economy is the main reason why the country’s pioneering industrial park for SMEs is located here.

“Cebuano’s creativity, talent and cosmopolitan taste have time and again caught the appreciative eye of the world’s most exacting buyers and consumers,” Tambunting added.

As a special economic zone, SME locators in the park are offered tax incentives and tax holidays to them enough time to establish their businesses, Tambunting said.

In the same event, PMS chief Cerge Remonde who is also the cabinet oversight official for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) development sees a vibrant MSME sector that would play a vital role towards the creation of 10-million jobs for 2010.

As can be recalled, the government recently released P150-Billion for the MSME program. Remonde reported that the government has generated over 1.1-million jobs from July 2006-March 2007 through the MSME micro-finance development program exceeding its target of 950,000 jobs for the period.

Remonde quoted government data that showed that the MSME sector accounts for 70% of the total workforce in the country that generated capitalization of roughly about P3Million.

From 2004-February 2007, government lending institutions had already released some 47,198 SME accounts that actually supported 1.5Million jobs where 462,143 of which are new employment.

“By the end of this year, the government MSME program is expected to release P32.2Billion in loans that will create 2.2M jobs,” the PMS Chief added.

Remonde also said that the MSME sector comprises 99% of total business establishments in the country with about 91% are into micro enterprises and 8.6% are in the range of small and medium business.

According to Remond, the P150Billion funding that was allotted for the MSME program included the P96Billion fund for the SME Unified lending Opportunities for National growth (SULONG) program and the DSWD’s Self-Employment Assistance-Kaunlaran (SEA-K) program.

In a meeting of MSME development stakeholders in Manila recently, Edgar Generoso, President, People’s Credit and Finance Corp. (PCFC) reported that for the 6-year period, about 55.6% of the 2Million microfinance jobs target had already been achieved in less than 3 years.

Meanwhile, the Small Business Guarantee Fund Corp (SBGF) also noted that the SME sector, through the government’s SULONG program has also generated over 122,000 jobs as of end of April 2007.

The microfinance lending institutions have already laid out plans to expand the reach of MSME through an intensified texting and internet campaign for public awareness to promote entrepreneurship in the country in cooperation with non-government organizations such as the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship and GO NEGOSYO.

To further support and promote the culture of entrepreneurship among the government employees, “GO NEGOSYO, GO GOBYERNO” was launched in Cebu in May this year at the Cebu International Convention Center as one of the activities of the Cebu Business Month celebration.

Secretary Cerge Remonde said that the government has allocated some P2Billion to fund the Livelihood Lending Facility for Government Workers program as part of PGMA’s commitment to promote the welfare of public sector employees.

According to Remonde, this will enable government employees and their families to set up and manage their own micro and small businesses from a loan that is collateral-free with a loanable amount ranging from 3,000-150,000 that will be paid in 2 years with a 12% interest per year.

Government employees’ cooperatives and associations become the conduit of the fund that will come from the various financing institutions such as the LBP, DBP, PCFC, QUEDANCOR, the national Livelihood Support Fund and the Small Business Guarantee Fund Corp. (PIA-Cebu/MBCN)

LAMPPOST WHISTLEBLOWER MISUGYOT UNSAON PAGBATOK SA KORAPSYON

Cebu City (July 24, 2007) - Sa iyang bahin, ang ASEAN Summit lamppost scam whistleblower, Cris Saavedra, nihulagway nga bisan tuod og gipasalig ni Presidente Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ang pagpahunong sa pangurakot sa mga buhatan sa kagamhanan, giisip kini niya nga imposible nga makab-ot kung way political will ang mga namunuan.

Niingon sab si Saavedra nga sa iyang personal nga panglantaw, nagkagrabe ang pangurakot karon sa mga buhatan sa kagamhanan tungod kay magpakabuta ra man ang mga namunuan kung ang giakusahan nga kurakot ilang kapartido.

Nanghinaut hinuon si Saavedra nga ang kagamhanan magmatinud-anon sa kampanya batok sa korapsyon pinaagi sa pagsilot sa mga kurakot, kapartido man o oposisyon og sa pagtudlo sa mga ligdong og kwalipikado nga mga tawo nga makigbisog batok sa mga kurakot og nagbinuang nga mga government officials og dili tungod sa politikanhong rason.

AGIO 7 MITOO SA MGA SONA NI PGMA

Cebu City (July 24, 2007) – Ang State of the Nation Address ni Presidente Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo , niani og pagdayeg gikan sa Association of Government Information Officers dinhi sa Kabisay-an.

Matud ni Dale Mark Antonio, presidente sa AGIO 7 niaprubar siya sa mga pamahayag ni Presidente Arroyo sa iyang SONA kagahapon tungod kay nakita man niya nga sakto lang og on schedule ang mga proyekto nga gi-implementar sa nasod sama sa superregions nga dako kaayo og nahimo dinhi sa Central Visayas.

Dugang niini, ang bise presidente sa AGIO 7 Josephine “Jojo” Layco, naka-obserbar usab nga sukwahi sa niaging tuig nga SONA, ang pamuno nasod wa na kaayo mohan-ay sa iyang mga plano sa mga mosunod nga tuig kon dili mga pamahayag na lang sa kung unsay nakab-ot sa iyang administrasyon sa niaging tuig.

Naglaum sab si Layco nga maimplementar pa gyud og maayo ang mga proyekto sa presidente labi na sa agrikultura.