As a participant in the Marcos administration’s job generation program, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) is among the most active. Aside from the regular skills training of workers and referrals of technicians, the SBMA is also open to being a partner of other government agencies in creating and giving jobs to deserving citizens.
Recently, the SBMA and the Parole and Probation Administration (PPA), an attached agency under the Department of Justice (DoJ), signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that supports the reintegration of probationers, parolees, and pardonees into the workplace.
The MOA was signed between SBMA Chairman and Administrator Eduardo Jose Aliño and Department of Justice-Parole and Probation Administration (DOJ-PPA) Administrator Atty. Bienvenido Benitez Jr.
Under this employment accord, the SBMA will facilitate the endorsement of potential and qualified clients through a Register of Eligibles (ROEs) to Subic Bay Freeport Zone locator-companies under the Workplace Reintegration Program. The Authority and the PPA will jointly develop a workplace reintegration program for these clients that specifies its objectives and includes a register of the knowledge, skills, and competencies that these persons already have or acquired for skills-matching.
Both the SBMA and the DOJ-PPA will endeavor to reintegrate the parolees, probationers and pardonees (also known as clients) into the workplace, to create employment opportunities and help rebuild the lives of former persons deprived of liberty (PDLs).
The SBMA officials said providing equal employment opportunities for persons who had been jailed and had paid their debts to society would be an honorable undertaking for the agency.
According to Aliño, the workplace reintegration program is a silver lining for those who were deprived of liberty and be part of the social mainstream again.
“If you are a parolee, probationer or pardonee, people will tend to look down on you because of the social stigma from your past actions. I honestly think though, that they should not be denied their right to work and provide financial support to their families,” he said.
He added that this stigma has hindered most of them from reintegrating into a workplace, as they are usually shunned by companies due to their past records.
It is worthy to note that the SBMA is the first among the government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) that supported this DOJ program, and we hope that there will be more agencies who will help.
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