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Thousands of applicants from this city and other parts of the region swarmed the two-day job fair held inside the newly opened Plaza del Pilar, this city.

Mayor Celso Lobregat disclosed at least 32 local and out-of-town recruitment firms joined in the recruiting activities.

Recruitment agencies provided more than 14,000 job opportunities for job placements to the Middle East, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada and European countries.

Mayor Lobregat told reporters that in demand jobs include nannies, domestic helpers, nurses, engineers and others.

During the opening Friday, 623 males and 608 females had registered and yesterday, as of 3 in the afternoon, 120 males and 135 females had also applied.

Out the 1,486 applicants in the two-day jobs fair, 102 for overseas employment while 375 applicants for local were hired on the spot.

The job fair is a yearly activity in the city during the weeklong Zamboanga Hermosa Festival.

The mayor said the job fair is one way of helping the unemployed find work.

Meanwhile, Lobregat said the grand opening of the Plaza del Pilar will be on October 10, 2010 (10-10-10) and no less than Tourism Secretary Roberto Lim will lead in the inauguration of the P25 million facility.

Aside from the Pasalubong Center, the stalls include the candle vendors, restaurants, canning, inmates of San Ramon Penal farm, Inmates from the Zamboanga City Reformatory Center, 4-H Clubs, Rural Improvement Club (RIC) and many others.

By Nonong Santiago