SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union — To facilitate the registration of college graduates in the skills registry system of the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), a new school-based Public Employment Services Office (PESO) was created in La Union.

 This developed after a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was signed between DoLE Region 1 Director Henry John S. Jalbuena and Lorma Colleges, Inc. executive director Jose P. Mainggang.

Jalbuena said that this latest development is in harmony with President Aquino’s 22-point labor and employment policy agenda which seeks to address the labor mismatch problem through better and strengthened coordination among various social players. He said that the skills registry system (SRS) was launched by President Aquino during the opening of the 10th National PESO Congress held from October 5 to 7 in Tagaytay City.

 “The SRS will capture the available skills and qualifications of jobseekers in a national registry which will be posted in PhilJobnet, the country’s official job portal, where employers can easily find the needed manpower for their industries,” Jalbuena said.

 “For years now, the Lorma Colleges, Inc. has been an active partner of the DoLE in carrying out its mandate of achieving full, decent and productive employment. (Freddie Lazaro)

Vintage Materials Found in Bataan

BALANGA CITY, Bataan — World War II (WWII) artifacts and alleged gold bullions, worth hundreds of millions of pesos, if not billions, believed to be part of the reported Yamashita treasures hidden in the country during WWII, were allegedly retrieved by unidentified treasure hunters in the remote village of Dangcol, which was said to be used as a Japanese military garrison, police and newsmen learned Sunday.

 This development came after members of the Bataan Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team headed by Insp. Dennis Orbista, accompanied by newsmen, recovered empty boxes where the alleged gold bars were reportedly kept, including Japanese-type hand grenades, ammunitions, and other explosives Friday afternoon at Sitio Abo-abo in Barangay Dangcol, this city.

Sr. Supt. Arnold D. Gunnacao, Bataan police director, said that a total of 20 WWII vintage grenades, two pieces of 40mm cartridges, and two pieces of Trip Flares were recovered by the explosives team of the Bataan police command in an abandoned mine site in Dangcol. (Mar Supnad)

CAR Seeks More Funds for Roads

BAGUIO CITY — The clamor of the Regional Development Council (RDC) in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) for the national government to pour additional resources for infrastructure development in the region was considered by concerned departments as the funds for road maintenance which are expected to increase by 30 percent in the 2011 budget.

Engineer Enrico S. Guilas, outgoing Department of Public Works and Highways-CAR (DPWH-CAR) director, was able to push in the agency’s central office not to pattern the road maintenance funds of the Cordillera with those of the lowland areas because maintaining and constructing mountain roads are very much different from flatland roads.

According to Guilas, the roads in the region are considered unique and the mountainous terrain of the region is a key factor affecting the condition of the roads which must be considered by the agency planners. (Dexter See)