The government might tap Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) to support President Rodrigo Duterte’s P8 trillion (Dh580 billion) infrastructure program.
Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said Duterte’s “build build build” initiative will create two million jobs annually, which could also result in the shortage of local laborers.
Diokno said the shortage may require the government to bring home OFWs and import workers to sustain 75 projects under the administration’s infrastructure program.
“I don’t mind if we import labor just to finish the projects. We can even import labor from Pakistan, India. We have 75 major projects, there’s no way of stopping that,” Diokno said in an interview with ANC.
Diokno previously said the “Dutertenomics’” infrastructure program will support the country’s economic activities.
“Soon, we will get a glimpse of what a modern Philippines would look like. A country with 21st century infrastructure, better trained labor force, more decent jobs and higher wages, and effective and accountable governance,” Philippine Information Agency quoted Diokno as saying.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia, courtesy of Toto Lozano
