Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita today lauded the Department of Labor and Employment’s Labor Opportunities Program (DOLOP) which brings together foreign and local employers in Manila that is certain to provide employment to thousands of Filipinos.

Part of DOLOP’s Nov. 8-11, 2005 program of activities is the First International Labor Mart on Nov. 10-11 at the Philippine International Convention Center.

Ermita also conveyed his greetings and welcome to the 138 foreign employers and more than 200 licensed recruitment and manning agencies who are now in Manila for the program to offer jobs to Filipino applicants.

"We would like to welcome foreign employers who have come from all over the world to recruit our skilled and professional workers," Ermita said in a statement released by the Office of the Press Secretary.

"Most of these employers will be employing Filipinos for the first time through licensed recruitment agencies with the help of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration," Ermita added.

The foreign employers are from Australia, the United States, Singapore, Canada, Japan and countries in the Middle East, the Caribbean and Europe.

In line with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s directive to further boost employment, DOLE will also conduct job fairs nationwide under the aegis of its various regional offices in collaboration with local government units, private sector companies, and licensed overseas recruiters.

"This only shows that we fully intend to optimize job opportunities for our people while carefully considering safety nets and other measures to help ease their economic burdens," the Executive Secretary stressed.

To convey the government’s appreciation of foreign employers who have treated Filipino workers exceedingly well, the Second International Employers Award will be handed out in Malacaņang on Thursday, Nov. 10 with no less than President Arroyo presenting the awards.

On Nov. 11, as part of the DOLOP, some 600 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their dependents will participate in plenary sessions on jobs and investment opportunities in franchising, tourism, agri-business, call centers, and other fields.

The Jobs and Business Forum for OFWs and their families, organized by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), will also be held at the PICC.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said the overseas job market is filled with opportunities for skilled Filipino workers.

For instance, POEA said, outsourcing operations in Singapore require Filipino workers as main operators of its growing information technology sector. Australia and New Zealand are also looking for medical practitioners, midwives, pharmacists, craftsmen, tradesmen, and dairy farm workers.

The Bahamas, POEA added, requires welders, electricians, carpenters, painters, and other workers in the medical sector and shipping industry, while Taiwan has a quota for 15,000 skilled migrant workers in manufacturing, electronics and information technology.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita today called on the people to allow the legal process to take its course, and not to prejudge the outcome of the case against six American servicemen accused of raping a 22-year-old Filipina at the Subic Bay Freeport in Zambales on Nov. 1.

He urged the people to exercise patience as the government, through the Department of Justice, pursues the case against the suspects.

"Let us respect the victim’s right to privacy as well as the suspects’ legal right to avail themselves of an impartial hearing," Ermita said during his weekly press conference in Malacaņang.

He pointed out that the US Embassy in Manila has assured full cooperation in the investigation of the case in line with the two countries’ Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

Yesterday afternoon, the Department of Justice (DOJ) served subpoenas on the six US soldiers through the US Embassy, which has custody over the suspects.

Ermita said the rape case will not affect the vibrant bilateral relations between the Philippines and the United States. Both countries will comply with the provisions of the VFA, he added.

"(Meanwhile), the bilateral relations between the Philippines and the US remain vibrant and strong as both countries are committed to pursue a common agenda to reduce poverty, promote freedom and fight terrorism," he said.

A clear majority of Filipinos in Mindanao and the Visayas favor the proposed shift to parliamentary form of government from the present presidential system.

Dr. Jose Abueva, Consultative Commission (Con-Com) chairman, made this disclosure in today’s media briefing in Malacanang based on their public consultations last month with more than 1,500 regional representatives from seven major cities in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Abueva said majority of the sectoral representatives from the cities of Davao, Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga in Mindanao, and Cebu, Tacloban, Iloilo and Puerto Princesa in the Visayas were for a change in the country’s form of government.

Abueva, a political scientist and former president of the University of the Philippines (UP) System, said three major issues – form of government, structure of the Republic, and national patrimony -- were intensively discussed during Con-Com regional consultations.

He said the regional representatives favor a shift to parliamentary government with a unicameral legislature, except for Zamboanga City where majority favor the retention of the present presidential system.

On the structure of the Republic – whether to retain the unitary centralized structure or shift to federal system with autonomous regions and local governments -- Abueva said majority favor the federal system, except again for representatives from Zamboanga City who were divided on the issue.

The Con-Com chair said a clear majority of those consulted were "strongly or very strongly in favor of changing to a federal system after a proposed transition of ten (10) years."

On the national patrimony issue, referring to natural resources and economic reforms, he said the regional representatives generally favor the liberalization of the constitutional restraints on foreign participation in developing the country’s natural resources and other industry sectors.

Discussions on the issue, he said, focused on ownership of land, exploitation of natural resources, ownership of media and educational institutions and operation of public utilities, among others.

Some regional representatives, however, want the Philippines to be more cautious in allowing unrestricted participation in certain industry sectors, until after safeguards are clearly put in place, Abueva noted.

The cautious attitude, he added, was generally pervasive despite the representatives’ awareness of neighboring countries that attract foreign investments are more developed and prosperous.

Abueva also noted that Filipinos in the south feel they should have more political power and authority and not be overly dependent on the national government and politicians for the development of their areas.

People in the Visayas and Mindanao, he said, are "as worried and frustrated over the nation’s worsening economic and political problems . . . but they seem to be turned off by what they see as obsessive and endless politicking in the national government and Metro Manila."

Abueva said some Con-Com members have long been promoting the vision that Charter change "can bring about good governance by sustainable people power."

"Instead of using people power solely to topple or immobilize an unwanted President, it can be made a sustainable force for making government more accessible, participatory, efficient, transparent, and accountable to the citizens through functional institutions, including parliamentary government, modern political parties, autonomous regions, a reformed electoral system and judiciary, and a committed civil society," Abueva stressed.