ALKHOBAR, 25 October — Ambassador Bahnarim Guinomla says OFW professional organizations in the Kingdom who are undertaking continuing education programs are on the right track and others who are not yet into the act should start doing so.
“By doing so, you position yourselves as empowered and globally competitive citizens equipped to avail of the opportunities for growth and development brought about by the emerging borderless global economy of the millennium,” he said in a speech at the Le Gulf Meridien Hotel in Alkhobar last Friday.
Guinomla was the guest of honor of the 7th Annual Convention and Election of Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineers chapter in the Eastern Region (IIEE-ERCSA).
Guinomla said that OFWs in the Kingdom should take advantage of career-enhancement opportunities that most don’t get in the Philippines so that anywhere they go they can compete for job openings.
He also challenged other organizations to step up similar activities to help their members. Apart from the IIEE chapters, among the Filipino professional groups in the Kingdom who are actively conducting continuing education programs are the Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers (PSME) and the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
In his own speech, Assistant Labor Attaché Jalilo dela Torre, who heads the Philippine Overseas Labor Office’s (POLO) Eastern Region Operations, urged the electrical engineers to go into information technology training.
With the fast emerging IT market which is tremendously growing in the Gulf countries, Saudi Arabia would be needing more IT professionals, he said.
Dela Torre also said that IT training would give electrical engineers effective preparation for their eventual reintegration in the Philippines.
Outgoing chapter president Robert Mabulay affirmed that IIEE-ERCSA will continue to upgrade the professional knowledge and technical skills among their members.
As part of the whole-day activity, chapter members attended technical presentations on power substation automation conducted by Salman Mehmood, energy savings by Peter Joseph, power industry solution by S. Savikrisnan, design of communication network by Mohammad Al-Chami, and voice over Internet by Ahmed Maher.
The sponsors and mini-exhibit presenters were The International Electrical Products Company (TIEPCO), Shuwayer Electrical Engineering Systems (SEES), BTC Network, Honeywell Turki Co. Ltd., Saudi Lucy, Arab Engineers for Trading Co., General Contracting Company (GCC-Olayan), and MASDAR.
During the election portion, members chose the following as their officers for year 2003:
Juanito Bautista, president; Nicasio Eugenio, vice president for internal affairs; Nelson Tagapulot, vice president for external affairs; Rey Gines, vice president for technical affairs; Voltaire Cabreras, secretary; Cecile Mina III, assistant secretary.
Marino Panganiban, treasurer; Vicente Sorrosa, assistant treasurer; Noel Obras, auditor; Walter Abaya, assistant auditor; and Danilo Reyes, public relations officer.
The election was supervised by a team headed by former chapter president Adolfo Olay and assisted by Hilario Tejero, Roberto Cruz, and Cesar Padre.
