A TOTAL of 11,227 job vacancies were offered by some 51 participating local employers and 29 overseas agencies during a job fair conducted by the provincial government of Bulacan through the Provincial Youth, Sports and Public Employment Service Office (PYSPESO) as part of the tribute on commemorating Gat Blas F. Ople's 96th birth anniversary held at the Pavilion, Hiyas ng Bulacan Convention Center, Malolos, Bulacan on Saturday, February 4.

According to PYSPESO head Atty. Kenneth Ocampo-Lantin, more than 3,000 Bulakenyo applicants had preregistered in the face-to-face job fair wherein local employers offered a total of 4,309 jobs while overseas agencies offered a total of 6,918 job vacancies abroad.

Earlier before the job fair, Department of Migrant Workers Secretary Maria Susana 'Toots' Ople graced the commemoration of her late father Gat Blas F. Ople's 96th birth anniversary as she led the wreath-laying activity together with Bulacan local officials headed by Gov. Daniel Fernando and Vice Gov. Alex Castro.

In her message, Ople reminded Bulakenyos to be cautious of the job offers from online platforms such as Facebook and encouraged job hunters to also consider local employment.

'Most of us are looking at jobs overseas, but also consider local employment,' Ople said.

For his part, Fernando expressed his interest in implementing a job fair on a monthly basis and made sure that every Bulakenyo will benefit from the growing economy of the province.

The job fair also offered a one-stop shop where applicants may avail of government services from SSS, PSA, Pag-IBIG, PhilHealth, BIR, DMW, DTI, and DoLE. Meanwhile, Jeymalyn Larin, a fresh graduate, thanked the provincial government for the opportunity as one of the job seekers hired her on the spot.

Further, coinciding with the job fair is the Department of Migrant Workers-PGB Medical Mission in collaboration with Damayan Sa Barangay mainly for over 400 overseas Filipino workers and Bulakenyos wherein they can avail of free general checkups, medicines, ECG, X-ray, vaccines for measles, and Covid-19 vaccines and booster shots with the help of 10 doctors from DMW, 10 doctors from Pampanga and eight doctors from the Bulacan provincial government.