Solon wants OFW recruitment, deployment rules revisited

The brutal death of his family's former nanny in Saudi Arabia in September has prompted a party-list lawmaker to call on Congress to review the rules and regulations of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration governing the recruitment and deployment of Filipino workers abroad.

In a privilege speech, Trade Union Congress Party Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza also urged the House of Representatives to investigate the death of Romelyn Eroy Ibañez, 22, who was found almost lifeless in her employer's kitchen last September 10 by the Saudi police.

Ibañez, who was hired as a nursing aide for a medical polyclinic but ended up as a household worker in Saudi Arabia, later died after she was allegedly forced to drink sulfuric acid. She also bore knife wounds in her neck, abdomen and wrists.

Mendoza asked why Ibañez was deployed although she was only 22 when Philippine laws require a minimum age of 23 for overseas domestic work.

Mendoza called for the creation of a team composed of the DOLE Undersecretary and trade union and civil society representatives to look into the POEA's rules and regulations.

Mendoza likewise stressed the need to bolster the legalization of undocumented Filipino workers and for a more intensive crackdown on illegal recruitment and human trafficking.

"There is a darker side to overseas employment, where job applicants are recruited with false promises, made to sign contracts and become the subjects of abuse, exploitation and even cold-blood killings," Mendoza said.

Meanwhile, Mendoza said he will oppose any move to slash the budget of Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), branding the cost-cutting at the expense of OFWs as "bad policy... inhumane, unjust, untimely and even anti-Filipino."

The DFA had P12.69 billion budget in 2010 but the budget was reduced to P10.98 billion for 2011. The legal assistance fund used to hire lawyers has gone down from the legally-mandated P100 million to P27.3 million.

"There are about 10 million OFWs worldwide, who remitted more than $17 billion in 2009, which is expected to hit $18 billion this year. Is this how we treat our OFWs, the saviors of our economy?" Mendoza asked.

Citing the DFA Semi-Annual Report from July to December 2009, Mendoza said there are about 6,956 Filipinos detained, under house arrest or with pending cases in court, with more than 200 Filipinos on death row worldwide.

He called on the DOLE and POEA to review their decisions on their budget and said the government should be more aggressive in forging bilateral agreements based on international labor standards.

Mendoza said it is high time that the government create more decent opportunities at home, especially for the poor and underprivileged.

He urged his fellow House Members to look deeper into the real problems of unemployment and underemployment and spearhead a no-holds barred forum with labor and trade experts to identify, once and for all, the reasons for joblessness in the country. - Melissa M. Reyes, MRS-PRIB

Solons denounce PAL management

A lawmaker today denounced the Philippine Airlines (PAL) management for its failure to resolve the labor dispute, which was marred by the threat of PAL's labor union to go on strike in the coming days.

"The present problems of PAL are due to the fact that airline's management does not know the meaning of justice - that is, giving what is due to the PAL workers from the pilots, to the stewardesses, to the maintenance and service crews," said Rep. Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza (Party-list, TUCP).

This developed as Rep. Rafael Mariano (Party-list, Anakpawis) filed House Resolution 111 seeking an inquiry into the PAL's threat to retrench more than PAL 2,600 employees claiming that their actions are valid exercise of a management prerogative.

"It is but proper and necessary to ensure that workers be protected from illegal retrenchments which are based merely on highly questionable claims of bankruptcy," Mariano said.

Rep. Susan Yap (2nd District, Tarlac) said Congress must do its share and conduct hearings to get to the bottom of the problem.

"Our country has yet to recover from the losses experienced last year due to natural disasters. The country cannot afford this man-made disaster at this time," Yap said.

"We must find a quick solution to this dispute so as to address more losses that our economy may suffer. We must also look into possible measure that would help avoid these kinds of scenarios in the future," Yap said.

Yap said talks between PAL management and its employees must be pushed. "The government must step into the dispute because it already incurred, and continuous to incur a negative impact in our tourism and national economy," Yap said.

In a related development, Reps. Rufus Rodriguez (Lone District, Cagayan de Oro City) and Maximo Rodriguez, Jr. (Party-list, Abante Mindanao) have filed a bill protecting the security of tenure of employees.

The bill will expand the definition of regular employees to include those who have rendered at least one year of service, whether continuous or broken and whether or not the service is usually necessary or desirable in the usual trade/business of the employer.

"The PAL problem is based on the fact that usual and necessary positions in PAL are now being contractualized. We should protect our workers from being dismissed because they are given or made them contractual workers," Rodriguez said.

"You cannot prolong the contractualization if the position is usual and necessary in the course of business. But contractualization has been done in so many companies to save money for the employers," Rodriguez said.

"Under the law, you become regular after you have rendered six months of duty and become entitled to the privileges of regular employees. But then it's been circumvented," Rodriguez said. - Jasmin S. Camero, MRS-PRIB

Lawmaker urges colleagues to support coastal clean-up

A lawmaker today urged her colleagues to support a nationwide campaign to clean the huge coastline of the country coinciding with the observance of "International Coastal Clean-up."

In a recent privilege speech, Rep. Lani Mercado-Revilla (2nd District, Cavite) also appealed to her colleagues to support the early passage of some environmental bills pending at the House of Representatives.

Mercado-Revilla said the country's over 33,000 kilometers long coastline is enough reason for every Filipino to be environmentally concerned.

"Our seas and water system are our life support system for they serve as home to water resources vital to our health and well-being. Their unabated pollution will also endanger our health," Mercado-Revilla said.

Mercado-Revilla cited are House Bill 57 authored by Rep. Lorenzo Tañada III which calls for the establishment of marine protected areas in all coastal municipalities, HB 1559 filed by Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza which proposes the adoption of integrated coastal management as a national strategy and HB 3073 authored by Rep. Jose Carlos Loreto Cari which seeks the inclusion coastal of areas in the allocation of internal revenue allotments received by cities and municipalities.

Mercado-Revilla appealed to the people to stop throwing garbage into the sea, rivers, lakes and other tributaries.

"Let us all do our share in caring and saving the seas for the sake of our children and the future generation," Mercado-Revilla said.

Expressing his support to Mercado-Revilla's appeal, Rep. Manny Pacquiao (Lone District, Saranggani) said he already started a coastal clean-up campaign in his district.

"Our lives are part of God's creation and the destruction of Mother Nature will also adversely affect life. Together, let us protect our environment, conserve and maintain its cleanliness," Pacquiao said.

Solon pushes for one year probationary period for professors of private schools

A lawmaker has proposed that the probationary period for private school instructors be limited to one school year to prevent them from being abused during said try-out period.

TUCP Party-list Rep. Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza said the probationary period for academic personnel of private schools is being abused which put these instructors at a disadvantage over other workers due to the high qualification requirement for their job.

Mendoza said the probationary period of employment has been abused to circumvent the Labor Code provisions on probationary employment and security of tenure, among other things.

"There are numerous instances of abuses of the probation period to circumvent the labor Code. The probationary period for private school personnel has also been a long standing issue," said Mendoza.

Mendoza pointed out that the nature of work of academic personnel in private schools and the high qualifications required for the practice of their profession have put them at a disadvantage and peculiar position relative to other workers.

"This situation should not detract from the fact that private school academic personnel have already devoted so many years of preparations for work, including at least four years of college studies, trainings and many seminars," Mendoza said.

Mendoza said work arrangements of said school personnel, while being responsive to the requirements of the school environment, should also be in balance with humane terms and conditions of employment.

"Work arrangements of said school personnel should contribute to decent work where workers and their families should be able to live with dignity and improved quality of life," Mendoza said.

In House Bill 7015, Mendoza proposed that the probationary period for academic personnel in private schools shall not exceed the equivalent of one school year from their first day of service. - Isagani C. Yambot Jr., MRS-PRIB