COTABATO CITY — At least 37 jobseekers were hired-on-the spot by different private companies during a job fair on Wednesday that the Bangsamoro government organized as part of the Labor Day commemoration in the autonomous region.
The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao covers Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi and the cities of Lamitan, Marawi and Cotabato.
Regional Labor and Employment Minister Muslimin Sema and Bai Sara Jane Sinsuat, director of the Bureau of Employment, Promotion and Welfare of the Ministry of Labor and Employment, separately told reporters on Thursday that 16 private firms, including big business outfits operating on national franchises, participated in the daylong job fair in the regional capitol here and in the Bangsamoro provinces and cities.
Initial reports dispatched to media outfits in Central Mindanao on Thursday by MoLE-BARMM and the Bangsamoro Business Council, led by the entrepreneur-lawyer Ronald Hallid Torres, stated that 21 applicants got employed instantly by private companies before noontime Wednesday at a processing site inside the 32-hectare Bangsamoro regional capitol in this city.
The 21 individuals employed by different companies are from marginalized families in different barangays here and in nearby towns in Maguindanao del Norte.
Sinsuat said 16 others in Tawi-Tawi province were hired by private companies in the job fair facilitated by provincial personnel of MoLE-BARMM on Wednesday.
“We are thankful to the private companies that willingly participated in our Labor Day job fair,” Sinsuat said.
Radio reports on Thursday quoted executives of the private firms involved in the job fair as saying that 62 other vacant positions are at stake for qualified applicants, whose applications are now being processed by their human resources personnel.
Sema said he is optimistic that the 62 job vacancies shall all be filled out in the next two weeks.
“Imagine more than 80 applicants getting employed via our Labor Day job fair this year, mostly from impoverished families. We are grateful to the companies that helped push the activity forward," Sema said.