TACLOBAN CITY- About 4,000 jobless people from the region are expected to join its workforce courtesy of a job fair coinciding the Labor Day celebration on May 1.
Exequiel Sarcauga, regional director of the Department of Labor (DOLE), said that unlike in previous job fairs held every Labor Day, the department is not putting up a target in so far as applicants hired on-the- spot.
“(Because) there are further tests being conducted by the employers to the applicants and if it’s an overseas work, the (prospective) employer is not around,” Sarcauga said, referring to reasons why the DOLE is not setting up ceiling as to the number of applicants hired on-the-spot during this year’s job fair.
DOLE had earlier put a 15 percent hired-on-the-spot out of the entire number of job applicants during job fairs on Labor Day.
But applicants are advised to bring with them the needed and required documents for them to be immediately considered for possible hiring, said DOLE assistant director Roy Buenafe.
This year’s regional Labor Day celebration will be held at the Leyte Academic Center in Palo town with Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III as the main guest.
Sarcauga said that about 32 employers, both local and overseas, are to attend this year’s job fair with about 4,000 jobs available.
The number of jobs available during the job fair, however, is not enough to address the huge number of people in the region who are actually out of work.
About 86,000 15 years old and above people in the region are jobless with about 1.8 million others considered to be employed.
It was learned from Sarcauga that the number of jobseekers in the region increases every year with new graduates, at the average of 6,000, looking for jobs.
But the labor regional chief said that while there is still a wide gap between the number of people looking for jobs and jobs available in the region, this is being addressed by the government through jobs fair like the one being held every Labor Day.
Sarcauga also said that under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, the issue on contractualization or better known as “endo” or end of contract is being addressed.
Since the policy has been enforced by the Duterte government, more than 1,000 contractual workers in the region have been granted regular employment by their respective employers, the DOLE-8 chief said.
“Hopefully we can improve it because it is not the result the President would like to hear from us,” Sarcauga said.

By: JOEY A. GABIETA
ARGIE GONGON, LSDE Student intern

PALO, Leyte-Fidelino Josol, a public high school teacher in this town, feels uninterested anymore when the topic about the full releases of their long-awaited financial aid after super typhoon “Yolanda” pummeled Leyte on November 8, 2013.
“It is unlikely that it will be released,” said Josol, apparently frustrated about the issue.
Bobby Seno, a colleague of Josol, also said he is losing hope that he would receive the said financial assistance anymore due to its years of delay.
“I move on for many years now.(I) forget about it,” Seno said, referring to the President’s Social Fund granting financial assistance to government employees who were hit by 7.2-magnitude Bohol earthquake and Yolanda in 2013 during then Pres. Benigno Aquino administration.
Former Presidential Management Staff secretary Julia Andrea Abad issued a guideline for the fund release on January 7, 2014.
However, teachers like Josol have only received half of their aid in late 2015 while others have yet to receive their share.
Per guideline, government employees whose houses were totally damaged are entitled to receive P100,000 each while those with partially damaged will receive P30,000.
“It remains an uphill fight. In essence, the ‘emergency’ factor is no longer present in the giving of this emergency fund. If we don’t have any initiative, nothing will happen on this. Unified support from teachers is urgent to solve this issue,” Mer Inisa Ogario, Eastern Visayas regional coordinator of Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), whose organization has been pushing for the full release of the funding, admitted earlier.
Ogario disclosed that aside from closely monitoring the issue, they also sought help from Social Welfare and Development Sec. Judy Taguiwalo to express their appeal to Pres. Rodrigo Duterte to speed up the fund distribution.
She also called division heads from concerned division offices who have not yet complied in their liquidation reports.
(RONALD O. REYES)

CARIGARA, Leyte- Mayor Eduardo Ong of this town is pushing for the revision of its revenue code with the aim of shoring up its income.
Ong said that their current tax code is no longer applicable with the current situation, thus, there is an urgent need to revise it.
The town mayor also said that a bigger income for the town could mean more projects and programs that are to benefit the people.
He added that he is also seeking help from the Department of Public Works and Highways to allocate P200 million that he would need to construct the expanded commercial center where new investors could be located.
“We have to accept that the value of peso now is not anymore the same than during the time our revenue code was enacted. It has to be revised to suit present times,” Ong said.
It was learned from Ong that the municipal government earned P22.17 million last year from its local sources, namely, P 1.13 million from real property tax collection; P 3.12 million from tax on businesses; P 1.91 million from regulatory fees, P 8.51 million from economic enterprises and P5 million in taxes.
Meanwhile, its non-tax revenue such as certification/secretarial fees, rentals on provincial government facilities buildings/hall/equipment), permit fees, miscellaneous income amounted to P12.59 million of the same fiscal year.
“The collection is already good but we can do better if we enforce tax reform policies that would improve local tax sources,” Ong stressed.
Increased revenue collected could also mean, more projects and programs for the towns, the mayor added.
Meantime, Mayor Ong said that more investors are expected to do business in Carigara.
He mentioned that the opening of Puregold, one of the country’s leading supermarket chains, in Carigara that is expected to provide employment and not just income for the local government.
He also said that Metro Bank will also open its branch in the town.
At present, there are 520 business establishments operating in Carigara.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA/AHLETTE C. REYES)