Palace: Phl won't open jobs to foreigners yet

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang on Thursday allayed fears that Filipinos will lose opportunities as the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is reportedly eyeing foreign workers to address inadequacies in some local professions.

At a televised press briefing, Communications Sec. Sonny Coloma clarified that the proposal to open local hard-to-fill jobs to foreigners is still just an understudy.

He said local industries have only recommended that DOLE should consider the feasibility of opening 15 categories of highly-skilled occupations to possible foreign employment in the event of shortages in local supply.

"'Yung industriya, pinapaaral lang po ito sa ating pamahalaan para mapagtulungan kung paano ma-meet' yung apparent shortage," said Coloma, adding that the consultation between the DOLE and the industries continue.

Coloma added that the suggestion to open the hard-to-fill jobs to foreign workers came from the local industry and not from DOLE, which has been criticized after the matter was reported in the media.

He said the government continues to prioritize job creation and to reduce unemployment among Filipinos by working closely with industries.

"Hindi po focus ng gobyerno 'yung tanggalan ng oportunidad ang mga mamamayan at i-offer sa mga foreigner," Coloma said.

According to reports earlier this week, Labor Sec. Rosalinda Baldoz said the government is allowing the entry of foreigners to at least 15 occupations suffering from skills shortage: architect, chemical engineer, chemist, environmental planner, fisheries technologist, geologist, guidance counselor, licensed librarian, medical technologist, sanitary engineer, computer numerical control machinist, assembly technician, test technician, pilot and aircraft mechanic.

Baldoz said this occupational shortage list was derived from a series of survey and consultations with concerned stakeholders.

Read: Phl opens hard-to-fill jobs to foreign workers

She said that an occupation can be considered to be experiencing shortage when there is a high demand for the position but there are very few applicants, or when there are few qualified applicants compared to the number of available jobs.

Coloma, meanwhile, said the shortages in some professions "could serve as a signal for our Filipino professionals abroad to return to the country to fill this gap and for schools to realign courses offered to match the demand for highly skilled workers."