MANILA, Philippines — Senator Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday called on the government to “hire Filipinos first” after Malacañang said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) is studying the possibility of allowing foreign workers into the country.
Malacañang earlier said the government would look into appeals of several foreign embassies to allow the entry of foreign employees working in state flagship projects.
Holders of work visas and permanent residents of the country such as retirees and special investors are also being considered to be allowed entry in the Philippines.
“Milyon-milyong mga Pilipino ang nawalan ng kabuhayan at nagugutom sa ngayon. Daan-daang libong mga overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) din ang babalik sa bansa nang walang trabaho. Unahin natin sila,” Hontiveros said in statement.
(Millions of Filipinos have lost their livelihood and are going hungry. Hundreds of overseas Filipino workers will also be forced to return home because they were displaced. We should prioritize them).
The senator cited the “record high” unemployment rate reported at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in April.
Meanwhile, up to 400,000 OFWs may be displaced due to the impact inflicted by the crisis, she added.
According to Hontiveros, the government should survey unemployed Filipinos for their skills and match them with existing and future flagship infrastructure projects.
“We need to match skills to available and future jobs. The government has to step in as one of our major employers through its flagship projects while we are in crisis,” she said.
She added that the majority of those rendered jobless by the pandemic are skilled workers, particularly OFWs.
“Sa hanay pa lang ng mga bumabalik na OFWs, marami dito ay health workers, engineers, architects, at iba pa,” the lawmaker said.
(Among returning OFWs, most of them are health workers, engineers, architects, and others).
“The government needs to survey the population for it to properly address the looming unemployment crisis,” she added.
Meanwhile, Hontiveros urged the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and the economic cluster of the Cabinet “to quickly put together a master plan that will generate new sources of employment and new investments that will be ready to replace those that have been lost.”
She also underscored the need for the government to prioritize investing in industries such as information and communication technology, agriculture, food manufacturing, the health sector, and urban-rural transport networks should be prioritized.
“We need to harness local skills and talent that are available to us. Siguraduhin muna nating may trabaho ang mga Pilipino, bago tayo magbukas ng trabaho sa iba,” she added.
(We need to harness local skills and talent that are available to us. We should ensure that Filipinos are provided with jobs before we open up employment to others nationals).