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From Oplan Hatid to Oplan Trabaho, the ‘charity SWAT team’ keeps giving


The official poster. Taken from James Deakin's Facebook page
(Updated Dec. 13, 5:57 p.m.) Looks like Christmas will be a little brighter for Yolanda survivors who moved to Manila.
 
Though Oplan Hatid, the volunteers who helped welcome, comfort, and drive out Yolanda victims to waiting family members or friends across Luzon, bade Villamor Air Base goodbye last Sunday, December 1, the organizers are already launching into the second phase of the operations: Oplan Trabaho, a one-day job fair for Yolanda survivors scheduled for Sunday, December 15.
 
“Yesterday, I was asked again for the umpteenth time, 'Why are you stopping Oplan Hatid?' I answered as I always have: We are not stopping Oplan Hatid. You cannot stop it. Oplan Hatid is like a charity SWAT team that can be deployed at a moment's notice to where we are needed most. So, while our operation in Villamor has been turned over, we, as a group of almost 2,000 active members, are not stopping. We are just awaiting our next assignment. #abangan #oplantrabaho,” said unofficial Oplan Hatid spokesman and editor-at-large for C! Magazine James Deakin on Facebook.
 
The Department for Labor and Employment (DOLE) has already partnered with the operation. They have promised help through manpower and permits for the fair, which will take place at  Lapu Lapu Circle in Rizal Park from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and will begin with the Holy Mass.
 
“Oplan Trabaho aims to give Yolanda survivors a job -- even short-term employment -- before Christmas to help them start rebuilding their lives,” read the status on the Oplan Hatid Facebook page.
 
Companies and individuals who would like to hire Yolanda survivors will be required to pre-register. In addition, job sites and agencies such as JobStreet.com and JobsDB.com are also on board.
 
In a phone interview with GMA News Online, Deakin shared that the next steps are securing the National Bureau of Investigation and the Social Security Systems' cooperation in the effort, as well as informing all the survivors.
 
5,000 jobs before Christmas
 
“The idea is to walk in with only your shirt on your back, and walk out with a job,” said Deakin in a phone interview with GMA News Online.
 
However, the Oplan Trabaho job fair does not aim to provide careers for the survivors, as such an endeavor would take a lot more effort to setup Deakin said, adding “though if they do, then great,”
 
“At the end of the day, that's our motivation: Give them back their confidence, self-worth, and dignities in some ways. A job restores that, as well as giving them money for the Christmas period,” he said. “The goal is to get 5,000 people or at least the leaders of families some income for a few months while Tacloban is rebuilding.”
 
He also said that they do not mean to discriminate against the other jobless persons in Manila, but, “we're just trying to help with the surge of unemployment. We just want to use what we've got—the core team and volunteers—to help these people get back on their feet and get back to our normal lives.”
 
Oplan Trabaho organizers hope to get survivors hired on the spot and the job fair is also meant to be a one-stop shop for requirements like an NBI clearance and an SSS number. Because of extenuating circumstances, even families are welcome to hire.
 
“If you have a requirement for a gardener or yaya, if you require services at your house, you can turn up yourself,” said Deakin.
 
Charity SWAT team
 
Deakin said Oplan Trabaho's website will try to provide a database of both potential employers and survivors looking for temporary work.
 
“It's like a wish list,” Deakin explained. “We'll be listing the jobs as vacancies and counting down until there are zero left.” Fitting, as the main and most immediate goal of the organizers is to get the survivors jobs before Christmas. 
 
“We're not trying to make a career out of this, or anything,” said Deakin. “None of us have put up anything of this magnitude before. We're like an emergency charity effort. I like to think of us as a charity SWAT team.”
 
“If ever, the efforts will become something else, maybe Oplan Construction or something, I just pulled that out of the air. That's just an example, we don't know what's next. None of us are doing this professionally. None of us knew we'd get this far.” he said. — JDS, GMA News
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