NEWS

By Aileen Cerrudo

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has admitted to hiring Chinese workers in two infrastructure projects funded by China.

During a Senate hearing on Wednesday (October 14), Senator Francis ‘Kiko’ Pangilinan questioned the number of Chinese workers in several critical infrastructure projects of the government.

The Estrella-Pantaleon bridge project has 31% Chinese workers, while 69% are Filipino workers. In the Binondo-Intramuros project, 45% are Chinese workers while 55% are Filipino workers.

“We have many ways of being able to push for local employment over foreign employment. Mataas ang 45% (45% is high), mataas ang 31% (31% is high), no matter how you look at it,” Pangilinan said.

The senator stressed the need to put more local workers in the construction industry and noted the 30% decline of employment in the said sector due to the pandemic.

DPWH Secretary Mark Villar clarified that none of the contracts require hiring of foreign nationals, but the foreign workers were needed for their technical skills and specialization in modern technology.

Villar also assured to prioritize Filipino workers in future projects and will support local manufacturers and locally-made products.

“We will always be one in this desire to increase job creation in our country and we will only allow foreign [workers] when it is absolutely necessary for certain technical skills,” he said.

Source: UNTV Web