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Tuesday, June 23, 2009 / 6:29 AM
THE summer season is particularly slumber time in art production when everyone, including artists, is on vacation, traveling, or going home to the provinces. That’s why very few exhibits happen around this time.
But the season’s low production is augmented with a different kind of art harvest by student’s, mostly young kids, who were enrolled in summer art workshops.
"Matod Pa Sa Lola ni Noy Kulas." Join the story-writing contest on Cebuano folklore and win prizes.
At the school campus of the Philippine Christian Gospel School (PCGS) is an ongoing art exhibit showcasing the creations of students who attended the workshop under painter Boy Sagario.
The young art students, after they were introduced to the rudiments of painting, are proving that they can make serious art worthy of public exhibition.
Latest Bulletin
AN ELECTRONICS manufacturing firm at the Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ) 1 is scheduled to close by the end of August, displacing at least 800 regular workers.
Canadian electronics manufacturing firm Celestica Inc., which has been a locator at MEZ for 19 years, announced its closure about three weeks ago, said MEZ administrator Sansaluna Pinagayao.
"Matod Pa Sa Lola ni Noy Kulas." Join the story-writing contest on Cebuano folklore and win prizes.
The decision, said Celestica senior manager Jeoffrey Escala, came from the firm’s corporate headquarters in Canada and was announced to its Cebu-based employees last May 28.
“The decision made was in response to market demands,” Escala told Sun Star Cebu in a phone interview yesterday.
He added that as an effect of the global financial crisis, the management of Celestica decided to close its facility located at the MEZ to “allow the company to optimize its operating network.”
“It was a high-level (management) decision,” he said.
Pinagayao said Celestica Inc. has tried to avoid the closure through various cost-cutting measures, like reducing workdays, but these efforts were not enough to cope with the “steep” market demand in the electronics industry in the face of the global financial crisis.
But Escala said that the management will give the affected workers severance packages that are above the minimum requirement mandated under the country’s labor code.
Superior
Pinayagao confirmed this, saying the severance package is “superior than what is applicable.”
He added that Celestica Inc., as part of upholding the rights of Filipino workers, should complete the clearances of its employees before the closure will take effect.
The company has already coordinated with several agencies to implement training programs and counseling services for its affected employees.
These include training programs from the Department of Labor and Employment, the Lapu-lapu City Government, the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Agriculture.
For its employees who want to learn new skills, Celestica also coordinated with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
Terminated
Although Celestica’s operation is scheduled to stop by Aug. 31 yet, Escala said there are employees whose services will be terminated as early as July 31, depending on an employees’ workstation.
Escala said management has not yet divulged plans of the company when it comes to its physical assets.
“I also can’t speculate as to how many employees will remain with the company after Aug. 31,” he said.
MEZ plans to reserve the plant for Celestica Inc. for a month or two after its closure should the company be able to spot growth signals in the electronics industry and decide to resume operations in Cebu.
Earlier, another Celestica plant in Laguna was also closed in December of 2007, displacing 500 employees, Escala said.
Escala also did not say if there is a possibility for the company to resume its operations in Cebu but he said that based on a “corporate viewpoint,” the Philippines has still remained to be an attractive destination for international investments.
Pinagayao said they have not received any other closure announcements from other locators engaged in electronics.
In 2004, Celestica Inc. took over NEC Technologies Philippines that was established in 1989 at MEZ.
