MVP firm hiring displaced OFWs for ongoing infra projects

MANILA, Philippines—The operator of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) is hiring returning overseas Filipino workers (OFW) displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic for its ongoing infrastructure projects.

NLEx Corp. said in a statement it is starting with the hiring of 1,500 technical and skilled workers for its 8-kilometer NLEx Connector project, an overhead expressway that will link the NLEx and South Luzon Expressway.

NLEx President and General Manager J. Luigi L. Bautista said priority is being given to OFWs who became unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Being a government partner in infrastructure building, NLEX Corporation and the entire Metro Pacific Tollways group are keen in helping the economy recover from the adverse effects of the pandemic,” Bautista said in a statement on Tuesday (Sept. 29).

“With our ongoing projects, we can create more opportunities for people thus propel growth in the country,” he added.

The NLEx Connector is set to be finished by 2021. It aims to cut travel time between NLEx and SLEx from the previous two hours to about 20 minutes.

The NLEx Connector runs from the Caloocan Interchange, 5th Avenue/C3 Road in Caloocan City,  passing through España, until the Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 at PUP in Sta. Mesa, Manila.

Bautista said NLEx Corp. is currently working on the first five-kilometer section of the NLEx Connector stretching from Caloocan City to Sampaloc, Manila.

“As projected, more than 1,500 workers are needed to accelerate the construction work,” Bautista said.

NLEx Corp. is a unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., an infrastructure group headed by businessman Manny Pangilinan and involved in power distribution, water services, tollroads, railways and logistics.

TSB