BAGUIO CITY – Some five hundred two hundred eighty six individuals were employed by some eighty eight locators within the John Hay Special Economic Zone (JHSEZ) as of the end of October this year.
In his report to Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan, Zaldy Bello, officer-in-charge of the Office of the President and Chief Executive officer of the John Hay Management Corporation (JHMC), revealed that of the total manpower of the locators within the special economic zone, 4,804 individuals or 91 percent come from the Baguio-La Trinidad-Itogon-Sablan-Tuba-Tublay (BLISTT) area while 482 individuals or 9 percent of the zone’s labor force come from non-BLISTT areas.
The top 15 locators inside the economic zone are Convergys with 3,000 workers where 2,710 come from BLISTT and 290 workers are from non-BLISTT areas, SC Reservation with 594 workers,, Le Chef Inc. with 151 employees, Camp John Hay Leisure Inc. with 149 workers, Camp John Hay Golf club with 120 caddies, Maximum Security and Services Corporation JHRA – 81, Le Monet Hotel with 78, Federal Management and Maintenance – 70, Maximum Security and Services Corporation JHSEZ– 68, John Hay Management Corporation – 67, STBN manpower Agency – 62, Camp John Hay Golf Club – 49, Kabadjo Handlers Association – 38, Blackbeard Seafood Island – 37, Tree Top Adventure – 36 and Le Chef Inc. at the Golf Club – 35.
Bello reported the remaining locators employed 30 workers that contributed to the increased employment opportunities for qualified local residents.
Under the provisions of existing ordinance crafted by the local government, companies operating within the jurisdiction of the city must make sure that majority of their work force come from the city’s 128 barangays.
Domogan expressed his gratitude to the JHMC management and the locators for employing qualified residents within the BLISTT area, saying that the increased economic activities in the city will surely translate to more employment opportunities for the qualified residents.
However, he claimed the potentials of the special economic zone has not yet been fully maximized because the developer of the former American rest and recreation center was only able to develop one-fourth of the supposed developable areas, thus, the need to attract more locators to put up their respective businesses in the economic zone for sustained economic growth in the zone.
After the former American military bases, including the Camp John Hay air station, were turned over to the Philippine government, some 247 hectares out of the 686 hectares of the Camp John Hay forest reservation was segregated and subsequently declared as a special economic zone in consonance to the privatization of the facility and its conversion into a world-class tourism multi-use center.
By Dexter A. See
