It was the first time that I experienced Labor Day Celebration on May 1, held at the World Trade Center in Manila. Different labor groups came in color coded shirts for group identification. People were already there as early as 6:50am, the place was designed with colorful balloons and streamers. The activities started at 9am, Job Fare in one room, Labor Day program at the other. I was there to accompany my sister who was going to receive her National Certificate (NC II) for Culinary Arts from TESDA. Obviously she passed the course and apparently, the certification given to her is a license for her to work abroad. The awarding was held there as part of the program for Labor Day celebration. Vice President of the Philippines Noli De Castro was there to show the government's support and assurance that their grievances and call for certain improvements and changes in the existing labor laws i.e. wage increase, housing loan interest are being addressed by the government. Members of the labor groups were also awarded certificates and benefits from SSS and other government bodies. Two members won the Condominium units that were raffled off as one of the highlights of the program. The celebration ended at 3pm. We surely had a very long and tiring day.
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