BY MAI DELA CRUZ
FOLLOWING the success of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s state visit to Singapore, Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople foresees an increase in demand from the prosperous city state for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
She cited the goodwill arising from the President’s state visit.
Reforms at the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) promoting ease of doing business strategies such as the digitalization of recruitment processes are also seen to contribute to the surge in demand.
“With digitalization and given the remarkable talent and dedication of our workers, we expect a surge in demand for OFWs not only in Singapore but also in other parts of the world,” said Ople.
In fact, she pointed out, even prior to the President’s visit, the DMW labor office in Singapore had already approved close to 10,000 job orders with 5,000 jobs awaiting aircraft technicians in the aviation industry.
Approved job orders refer to immediate manpower requirements given by Singaporean employers to the POLO that are expected to be filled up in the next few months.
Here’s the breakdown of the approved job orders submitted by Singaporean employers:
* Aviation industry – 5,000 aircraft technicians
* Medical industry – 3,000 healthcare workers
* Engineering industry – 1,000 skilled workers
* Education industry – 500 workers
* I.T. sector – 300 workers
GOOD NEWS TO PINOY HEALTHCARE WORKERS
Secretary Ople also said Singapore is emerging as a viable option to Filipino healthcare workers who wish to work abroad but in a destination much nearer to the Philippines.
She revealed that the Ministry of Health plans to explore training programs and scholarships for Filipino nurses.
During President Marcos’ recent state visit, a Joint Communique signed by Ople and Singaporean Health Minister Ong Ye Kung.
In it, the two governments agreed to hold exploratory talks on the hiring and deployment of Filipino medical professionals on a government-to-government arrangement, said Ople.
The Singaporean government, she revealed, was appreciative of the professionalism and dedication to duty of Filipino healthcare workers in the city state, particularly at the height of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in 2020.
“Our OFWs in Singapore have truly become ambassadors of goodwill,” said Ople.
President Marcos Jr. and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong witnessed the joint communiqué signing.
In the communiqué, the two governments agreed to do the following:
* explore mechanisms on the number of Filipino healthcare workers to be deployed
* hold exploratory discussions on a mutually beneficial deployment arrangement for Filipino healthcare workers to Singapore pursuant to existing laws and regulations
* affirm the importance of ensuring that the recruitment, protection, deployment, and placement of Filipino healthcare workers to be deployed is done through legal, transparent and ethical recruitment policies and systems
* uphold fair treatment of Filipino healthcare workers in Singapore pursuant to existing laws and regulations/PN
