By HENRY EMPEÑO | Subic Bay Freeport

WORKERS in the Subic Bay area who lost their jobs as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic may now use an information and support system launched by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) to help locate prospective employers or upgrade skills to gain re-employment.

This is the SBMA Help Desk for Displaced Workers, which was launched in cooperation with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said the SBMA Help Desk is “a very important tool in providing new means of livelihood for displaced workers, especially those from the neighboring communities of Olongapo City, Zambales and Bataan.”

Eisma pointed out that workers from Zambales lost a total of 1,839 jobs last year because of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, while those from Bataan lost 899.

She added that company retrenchment and business closures last year resulted to a total of 5,510 job losses in Subic, including 3,910 in manufacturing, 717 in shipbuilding and maritime-related projects, and 883 in construction.

“We have to do all that we can to restore lost economic opportunities because workers are among those who are very vulnerable under the prolonged effects of this pandemic,” Eisma said. “We need to build not just physical strength and immunity, but also the community’s financial capacity to withstand this health crisis.”

The SBMA Help Desk, which is manned by personnel of the SBMA Labor Department’s Manpower Services Division, is located at the former Landbank office near the Freeport’s Rizal Gate.

It was launched on March 26 with TESDA-Zambales director Melanie Grace Romero, DTI-Zambales OIC director Enrique Tacbad, DOLE-Zambales chief labor employment officer Reynante Lugtu, as well as SBMA senior deputy administrator Ramon Agregado.

Lawyer Melvin Varias, manager of the SBMA Labor Department, said a database on displaced workers compiled at the SBMA Help Desk would effectively profile those qualified for employment in Subic-registered companies, as well as business establishments in nearby communities.

“With the SBMA Help Desk, we would have profiles of displaced workers, and then we can endorse their application to companies needing manpower, or refer them to DTI, DOLE and TESDA for retooling and retraining,” Varias said.

He said that workers can send in their qualification profile by filling up the profiling form that can be accessed through this link: https://forms.gle/q6LqF6sVcUDDxeJV9. The SBMA Labor Department would also answer queries through telephone at 047-252-4273 or 4073, Varias added.

In her recent State of the Freeport Address, Chairman Eisma said that despite the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the SBMA had approved 69 new investment projects, as well as 11 expansion plans last year, thus creating a total of 946 new jobs.

This year, close to 4,000 new jobs are projected to be generated by new investment projects, although overall employment is seen to decline to 135,773, or by almost 2.3% from 138,966 last year. ~