15,000 jobs available in Guam soon - DOLE

Here’s good news for Filipino construction workers aching to work abroad.The Labor department said Monday that about 15,000 jobs would soon be made available in Guam for the construction of American military camps and housing for US marines to be relocated from Okinawa, Japan.Labor Undersecretary for employment Danilo Cruz said government and private groups in Guam have expressed their preference to hire Filipino workers as soon as construction of the US facilities begin."The private sector and the government there [favors] the Philippines for the project," Cruz told reporters.Except for local workers, Filipino workers would expect no other competition for the job, Cruz said, noting that the Philippines has an ample supply of skilled Filipino construction workers qualified for the job."I'm sure though that we have enough skilled workers to supply Guam," he said.Last week, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) administrator Rosalinda Baldoz flew to Guam to negotiate the hiring of Filipino construction workers there.Results of such undertaking, however, have yet to be made available."I don't know yet the results of the negotiations but I am very confident that we will be supplying the labor for the construction project in Guam," Cruz said.Cruz said an estimated $15-billion is expected to be released in the next few years for the manpower and the constructions of the facilities, which include the Marine base and a 4,000-housing facility for dependents of the US servicemen.Last year, the Pentagon announced the US has agreed to transfer 7,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam. About 14,000 Marines are currently in Japan, most of them in Okinawa.At present, the government of Guam is working to revise an existing US federal law that prohibits foreign nationals from working in US bases in Guam. Since World War II, Guam has relied on Filipino workers to solve their manpower inadequacy.There are currently 5,000 local construction workers in Guam, according to its Labor department.