COTABATO CITY—The opening of a supermarket chain in this city signals investors’ confidence and translates into more job opportunities for its residents, despite incidents of petty crime that officials say are “sporadic.”
City Information Officer Halima S. Ibrahim, said for this quarter alone, at least 250 workers are set to be hired by the PureGold Inc., one of the biggest hypermarket franchises in the country and the latest of giant business investments here.
Cotabato City Mayor Japal Guiani Jr. expressed pride in the state of his city being the first Moro-dominated area in the south to host a PureGold branch.
He said the influx of investments in the city is partly because of the city government’s drive to attract business and to the improved behavior of residents.
PureGold executives conducted interviews last Oct. 5-7 at the city hall here for batches of job seekers being processed through the city government’s employment program, Ibrahim said.
PureGold Mindanao area manager Ferdinand Binluan said their job offerings including management, supervisorial and utility works are available only for city residents in keeping with the culture of “symbiotic benefits.”
Sam Tampugao, a 23-year-old job applicant from resident of Barangay Tamontaka, was all praises for the PureGold’s preference for city residents.
“I am happy because unemployed people like me are given the chance to earn a living and help our families,” said Tampugao, noting that “jobless people are prone to hunger” and that “hungry ones tend to be angry.”
Officials of local business chambers and the city hall here say more than a hundred new big establishments ranging from hotels, food chains and other trading enterprises have opened businesses here this year alone.
As a result, there are more job openings in the private sector, complementing the recruitment in the government sector, notably by the regional offices of ARMM-affiliated agencies and those of the national government, officials of the Cotabato chamber and the city hall said.