Rama to Employers: Let’s Start the Job

“Tabangan nato kining programaha (Let us all help this program) let us start the job for this JobStart program,” thus said Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama urging the more than 40 employers to join hands together to provide more job opportunities for the Cebuanos during the project launching and media conference of the JobStart Philippines in this city yesterday November 5, 2015 Thursday at the Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu.

The city’s chief executive wanted to adopt the template of the JobStart program to the city government of Cebu, citing that the initial 200 slots for Cebu City is very minimal. He emphasized that to help the job-seekers you must have a pure heart, that is the most important ingredient in human relations.

Rama stressed the importance of a People-Privately Driven Governance or PPDG for a fruitful undertaking in addressing the unemployment concern in the 80 barangays of the city thrust to the city’s Department of Manpower Development and Placement or DMDP.

Ms. Ruth R. Rodriguez, division chief of the Bureau of Local Employment of the Department of Labor and Employment or DOLE agreed the Mayor Rama’s idea to adopt the JobStart framework to the local government of Cebu to help more beneficiaries.

DOLE Undersecretary Nicon Fameronag shared that JobStart Philippines is a partnership initiative by the DOLE, Asian Development Bank, Canadian International Development Agency of the Government of Canada, and various local government units in the Philippines.

Meanwhile, the program was successfully piloted in 2014 in the cities of Taguig, Quezon, San Fernando in Pampanga, and General Trias in Cavite. It aims to provide a full cycle employment bridging package to youth-beneficiaries including life skills training, accessible labor market information, career counseling, on-the-job training, and other employment facilitation services.

This year, the DOLE wanted the JobStart to be implemented in the cities of Pasay, Coloocan, Mandaluyong and Puerto Princesa in Luzon; in the cities of Cebu and Dumaguete and Bilar town in Bohol Province in Visayas; and in the cities of Davao, Tagum and Cagayan de Oro in Mindanao.

Under the program, at least an initial 200 slots for youth beneficiaries from Cebu City is allocated by DOLE. Beneficiaries will receive stipends during the technical and life skills training and at least 75% of the city’s minimum wage from the employers during internship. It further aims to shorten school-to-work transition of unemployed youth from 2 to 4 years to only 6 to 9 months.

In an interview with the BARUGG News, DMDP chief Ma. Suzanne Ardosa said, “After the project launching and media conference, we will have a capability building for our personnel for the implementation of the JobStart program in Cebu City,” adding that they will announce soon if they will start accepting applicants.

True to its mission to provide an effective and efficient employability enhancement programs and placement services, the DMDP continuously provides best employment opportunity through skills training program and job placement services to the city’s constituents and catering even those coming from nearby places.

Furthermore, for two consecutive years now, the DMDP is awarded as Best Public Employment Service Office or PESO for the Highly Urbanized City category in the entire Central Visayas region and was given a recognition in the National Level this year. (Cebu City Public Information Office PIO/Greggy Jiggs P. Senados)