Militants use Velosos in labor protest rallies
Schedule
Mr. Aquino started his day on Friday by attending a forum on Filipino youth in the labor market followed by an inspection and tour of the new facilities of the University of Cebu Medical Center.
At his third and last engagement at the inauguration of the plant expansion project of Cemex Philippines in Naga City, Cebu province, the President said the cement company’s P3-billion investment for the facility employed 800 construction workers. The cement factory currently employs 950 people.
On Thursday, Mr. Aquino was in Negros Occidental, where he attended the inaugurations of the Negros First Rice Processing Center in Bago City and the Negros First Cyber Center building in Bacolod City.
Mr. Aquino said that with job creation comes the honing of the skills of the Filipino worker, which government does through the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).
He said that this was to ensure that the hardworking Filipino has the right skill set to be able to find “in-demand employment.”
Tesda training
According to the President, from June 2010 to December last year, 7.15 million students have completed a Tesda course and of this figure, 65.3 percent have found jobs.
He made special mention of a young single mother he met yesterday at the JobStart Philippines Forum in Mandaue City.
The President said the woman, a high school graduate, told him that she had found a good job thanks to the training she received from the labor department and Tesda.
“When it used to be that she faced problems every waking moment, she now has a bright future,” Mr. Aquino said.
In Naga City, Mr. Aquino said a potential strike of the workers of Kepco Salcon Power Corp. over low pay and union busting had been averted with the help of Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz.
A strike at the 200-megawatt Kepco power plant could have resulted in a power outage in Mactan and Negros island.
“We should be able to calmly resolve [the issues] so that these would not be disruptive. Kepco is a power producer and power is quite important for the continued growth of the economy,” Mr. Aquino said.
In his speech, the President praised Baldoz for her efforts to maintain harmony between employers and employees.
He said that in 2013, only one labor union held a nationwide strike, “the lowest in the history of Department of Labor and Employment.” With reports from Maricar B. Brizuela and Julie M. Aurelio
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