Davao job fair: 400 top gov’t posts open

Presumptive President-elect Rodrigo Duterte.  INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/LYN RILLON

DAVAO CITY—All roads lead to Davao City for the biggest government job fair in six years, with more than 6,000 jobs at stake, including more than 400 top appointive positions, in the incoming administration of presumptive President-elect Rodrigo Duterte.

Peter Laviña, a spokesperson for Duterte, on Friday said the incoming administration was giving priority to the composition of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the economic team to dispel perceptions of uncertainty, gain the trust and confidence of the business community, and keep the Philippines’ economic momentum going.

“We are short-listing three or four names for every post,” Laviña told reporters.

“We are selecting the best and the brightest and those who are willing to sacrifice and follow the new administration’s agenda in the next six years,” he said.

Duterte, who will be the Philippines’ 16th President starting June 30, will serve up to 2022.

Prime jobs

The prime jobs at stake are more than 400 appointive positions for Cabinet secretaries, undersecretaries and assistant secretaries.

“[Those] not offered secretary jobs can still be offered undersecretary jobs, which are [equally] important posts because it’s the undersecretaries and the assistant secretaries who do most of the work in the departments,” Laviña said.

6,000 vacancies

The more than 400 appointive positions are part of more than 6,000 posts that will  be left vacant by the outgoing Aquino administration.

Included in the more than 6,000 posts were jobs in agencies under the departments and positions in corporations either owned or controlled by the government, according to Laviña.

“The appointments to most of the posts will be taken care of by whoever will be chosen to head the departments,” he said.

The new administration may retain some of the employees of the previous one to tap the “institutional memories” that they can share, Laviña said.

“That’s why we are working for a smooth transition,” he said, adding the new administration expected many offers of courtesy resignation.

Already, hundreds have either sent feelers or applications for jobs in the Duterte administration, Laviña said.

“They (applications) come from everywhere,” he said.

“We have no numbers yet, but these must have reached several hundreds and are now in the possession of the transition team, as well as in the hands of many supporters,” he added.

After sifting through the applications, Laviña said, a short list will be given to Duterte for his approval.

Early applicants

On Monday night, as Duterte posted an early lead in the partial, unofficial vote count, a number of people approached Laviña to ask if they could apply for jobs in the incoming administration.

In one scene that the Inquirer witnessed in the media center at the Royal Mandaya Hotel here, Laviña told the applicant that jobs in the Duterte administration were for the selection team to decide.

When the transition team started meeting at the Marco Polo Hotel here on Wednesday, the Inquirer saw a lot of job applicants at the hotel’s lobby.

In an interview on Friday, Laviña said some of the applicants submitted résumés and curricula vitae.

“There was one that sent it through courier service,” he said.

There were also people who sent feelers through text messages, he said.

A female reporter told the Inquirer that she got text messages and calls from people who thought she could pull strings to  help them land jobs in the Duterte administration.

“Some even sent messages to my Facebook account,” she said.

Meeting with ‘well-wishers’

Duterte will meet “well-wishers” today at the clubhouse of Matina Enclaves, an unfinished residential subdivision here.

The meeting with the well-wishers is by appointment only, according to Laviña.

He said he did not have a list of the people coming. But he said he had received information that among those coming were foreign diplomats.

Duterte is expected to hold a press conference this afternoon.