Baguio City – On Labor Day, when she should have been with her family at their home in Bail, Santo Tomas, La Union enjoying a bonding time with her siblings, Joyce Mae Ridual 25 years old and a former Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) nurse in Riyadh came to Baguio City to join the thousands of job seekers.
Who would have thought that after working for two years as a nurse in Alfalah International Hospital in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, one of those dreams would come true? Coming home last December 2017 and is desperately looking for job to help her family financially, she heard over the radio that a job fair will be conducted in Baguio City on May 1 Labor Day and without asking permission from her mother, she rode a bus bound for Baguio City and came straight to the jobs fair venue and registered as a job seeker–and won a house-and-lot package in a raffle.
The raffle draw highlighted the 2018 Labor Day Job and Business Fairs held at the Baguio City National High School Main Campus yesterday conducted by the Department of Labor and Employment-Cordillera Administrative Region (DOLE-CAR), the Public Employment Service Office (PESO) if the City Government of Baguio and the Department of Trade and Industry in partnership with partnership with PagIbig Fund, Social Security System, Employees Compensation Commission, OWWA, PRC, Occupational Safety and Health Center, National Reintegration Center for OFWs, TESDA, POEA, NLRC, NCMB and the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB).
“This is such a blessing!” Joyce exclaimed. She had wanted to renovate her parent’s house as a gesture of gratitude. Her father Jesus Ridual is a farmer while her mother Remedios is a government employee as a forester.
“Narigat iti trabaho iti narse idiay balasiw a taaw kas kapanunutan iti kaadwan a nalaka. Ngem kasapulan nga agtrabaho tapno makatulong iti pamilya uray nu maililiwak kenyada. Ammok nga mai angat ko iti panagbiag mi. Ngem agpaspasalamat ak kenni Apo Dios ta iti gasut gasut a kapadak nga agsapsapol iti trabaho ket siak iti napagasatan nga ma bunot iti raffle ticket na “Joyce confided. (Working as a nurse abroad is not as easy as most people think. But I have to help my family financially even if I feel homesick. I am optimistic that I will be able to make our life better. I am thankful to our God that with the hundreds of job seekers it was my raffle ticket that has been drawn)
Her lucky ticket was drawn by Atty. Federico Abuan, Jr., DOLE Assistant Secretary for Human Capital Development, Legislative and Media Affairs, and Administrative Services Cluster.
ASEC Abuan said the House and Lot Package had been provided by PagIbig Fund and the lucky job seeker Ms. Joyce Mae Ridual is really blessed. She was also “Hired-On-The Spot” by Placewell International Services Corporation as a nurse. She has to accomplish all the requirements and after which, she will work in Almana General Hospital in Alkhobar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia if she decides to go back abroad.
END/Patrick T Rillorta
Approved for Release:
EXEQUIEL RONIE A. GUZMAN
OIC Regional Director