DOLE now focusing on issue of jobs mismatch

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is now focusing on jobs mismatch issues as the agency prepares for the entry of more foreign investors in the country.

I n a statement issued through the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said the DOLE is preparing for the entry of more foreign investors in the country by ensuring that the Philippines has a pool of well-educated and highlyskilled workforce.

T he DOLE is paying attention in resolving jobs mismatch issues through the upskilling of Filipino workers, said Laguesma. Laguesma said upskilling of workers must be industry-led as well as demand- and market-driven so that workers can find employment that suit their skills.

the eight repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Cambodia. The victims, whose ages range from early 20s to late 30s, comprised six males and two females.

T hey arrived early morning of February 26 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 2, on board a Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight from Phnom Penh.

T he victims were all promised salaries of as much as 1000 USD per month, and were forced to work for 16-18 hours a day without day off.

“The trafficking landscape is very different now. Professionals are being lured into seemingly good-paying opportunities, only to end up being trafficked in this crypto scam,” Tansingco lamented.

T he eight OFWs told investigators they were recruited by the syndicates after coming across advertisements on messaging and social media platforms Telegram,

Facebook, and Tiktok.

T hree of the victims were brought out of the country via Zamboanga, and did not pass through formal ports, according to the BI. On the other hand, three of the victims departed via Clark, while two departed via NAIA.

T he three who departed via Zamboanga recounted that they traveled for seven days to reach their destination.

See “Immigration,” A2

L aguesma added that jobs mismatch issues can also be addressed by conducting jobs fairs, with the DOLE focusing on knowing the requirements of every industry to effectively address them.

Earlier, Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez said he sees the Philippines getting swamped with a tsunami of investments from Japan amid overwhelming interest in the country’s economic potential spurred by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos’s recent official visit to Tokyo.

See “DOLE,” A2