Centena celebrates birthday with jobs fair/bloodletting
Centena
As his way of giving back to his beloved Calinognons all the support he has been getting from them through the years, Mayor Alex Centena, as part of his birthday celebration this year, sponsored a jobs fair-cum-bloodletting-cum-medical mission activity at the Calinog Covered Gym last Tuesday.
The whole-day affair, which aims to generate jobs not only for the residents of Calinog and the third district of Iloilo but also for those coming from neighboring provinces, was conducted in coordination with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA), the National Statistics Office (NSO), and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). In attendance were DFA regional director Liza Jane Estalilla, OWWA regional director Saul DeVries, NSO Statistician Res Villavicencio, DOLE representative Nelia Mabilog, and Reynold Pigar of OWWA, respectively.
Also, representatives of more than 25 employment and recruitment agencies in the country came to Calinog and conducted interviews for jobseekers as part of the said jobs fair. Among those which participated in the jobs fair were Yangwha Human Resource Corp., Hongkong Fil International Corp., Mirben International Manpower Services, Greenfields International Manpower Services, Inc., Al-Alamia International Manpower Services, Aim High International Placement Corp., Jeremiah Queen International Services, and Active Works, Inc. The said agencies are offering job opportunities to applicants for domestic helpers, caregivers, factory workers, and family drivers, among others, for Hongkong, Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan, Dubai, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Taiwan.
SM Supermarket, meanwhile, are looking for applicants for positions of management trainees, general office, and store operations.
In addition, the DFA conducted a mobile passport processing to make it easier for those seeking jobs abroad to secure passports. The DOLE, meanwhile, held a lecture on job-hunting techniques through the use of the Internet for jobseekers. On the other hand, OWWA advocated on the programs and benefits for overseas workers.
Meanwhile, the municipal government conducted a bloodletting/medical mission activity with the Rural Health Unit of Calinog as the implementing agency. Serving as blood donors were the officials and employees of the municipal government, the members of the Philippine Army's 47th Infantry Battalion led by Commanding Officer Lt. Col. Mariano Antonio Perez based in the said town, and officials of Calinog's 59 barangays.
In an interview, Centena said this is the second year that he is celebrating his birthday with the holding of a jobs fair, "only that I expected this year's activity to be much bigger than last year's."
"This, for me, is one way of thanking my fellow Calinognons for the trust and confidence and the support that they've been giving my administration since 1998. I'm so happy now seeing thousands of Calinognons and at the same time Ilonggos and other people of neighboring provinces being able to secure jobs and employment through this jobs fair," Centena said, even as he took the opportunity to thank all the participating national government agencies as well as everyone who made Tuesday's activities possible.