Renegotiate public works contracts to hire more Filipino workers: Pangilinan

SENATOR Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan reiterates the need to prioritize Filipino skilled workers and professionals in the construction industry for projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) with other countries.

In a radio interview on Sunday, Pangilinan called for the renegotiation of these contracts as the COVID-19 pandemic rendered major job cuts in the construction and manufacturing sectors.

"This is a proposal: Kailangan busisiin pa nang husto ito. Pwede i-renegotiate natin diyan, given na we entered into those contracts prior to COVID. We should be able to raise this as an issue now that we have 23 million Filipinos jobless," he said.

"Sasabihin natin we will re-train our Filipino workers on technical aspects, baka kaya nating saluhin na at ibigay na sa ating mga kababayan itong trabahong ito. Reduce siguro from 45 percent to maybe 20 percent, mag-negotiate sila. Can we bring it down and give some of these [jobs] to our workers who are now jobless?" he added.

At the October 14 budget hearing of the DPWH, when Pangilinan asked about reports of influx of Chinese construction workers, DPWH revealed that around 45 percent of the workforce of the Binondo Bridge project in Manila and 30 percent in the Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge are Chinese.

Pangilinan said that he would ask for more data on the breakdown of foreign workers in government public works projects before the budget debates reach the plenary.

"We have to determine, baka naman kaya natin iyon, baka kinakailangan lang ng kaunting re-training ng ating mga kababayan para magkaroon ng ganung klaseng mga skills. Eh sa atin dapat unahin," he said.

"In the end it is our call. We can disapprove...Yun ang sinabi sa atin, ang final approval is with the government, our government. And therefore, dapat wag tayong basta-basta na lang nagpapadikta," he added.

A recent Social Weather Station Survey showed that adult unemployment rate in September was 39.5 percent comprising 23.7 million Filipinos.

Pangilinan also underscored that repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) whose construction skills are preferred worldwide should be prioritized for employment in these government projects.

"Sa gitna ng pandemya dapat unahin natin ang ating mga kababayan at dapat kung maari nga ma-renegotiate itong mga kontratang ito at hanapan ng paraan na ang uunahin nating bigyan ng trabaho ay yung ating mga kababayan," he said.

"Sabi nga nila nag-iba na ang kondisyon, nag-iba na ang mundo, matapos ang COVID, at dapat ang pinaglalaban ng ating gobyerno, ng ating Senado -- na yun naman ating pakay dito ay ipaglaban 'yung karapatan ng ating mga manggagawa na unahin sa trabaho dahil rito sa pandemya," said Pangilinan.

DPWH's proposed 2021 budget is P667.32 billion, the second highest budget among the departments, next only to the education sector as mandated by the 1987 Constitution. Its infrastructure budget is P637.885 billion or 57.61 percent of the total infrastructure outlay allocation of the national government.