Quezon City to open night markets for displaced vendors

Two night markets will open in Quezon City this month to provide livelihood to street vendors displaced by road clearing operations earlier this year.

The night markets, called Sari-Sari Kyusi 2019, will open on Nov. 24 at the Ayala Vertis North grounds and at the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) compound near the city hall.

It will be open from 3 p.m. to midnight at the TUCP compound, and from 5 p.m. to 3 a.m. at Vertis North. The night markets will be in operation until Jan. 19.

“The Quezon City government wanted to establish and develop a space for street vendors who had lost their livelihood because of the clearing operations,” Mayor Joy Belmonte said during the formalization of the city government’s partnership with Ayala and TUCP on Thursday.

The night markets will be able to cater to some 800 vendors displaced by road clearing operations conducted in line with an earlier directive of President Duterte to Metro Manila mayors. - Janvic Mateo (The Philippine Star)

Labor group hits government bid to tax salty food

ILL-ADVISED? Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin calls the proposal to tax salty food ill-advised, considering the vital role played by “tuyo,” (dried salted sardine) “daing” (dried fish) and “bagoong” (shrimp paste) in Filipino diet. —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE , Inquirer.net

The labor group Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines on Monday slammed the government-proposed measure to impose tax on salty food and food ingredients, and instead recommend that government develop healthier, affordable and accessible alternatives than levying tax on salty food.

“With this measure to tax salty food, the government is pushing the poor informal sector workers and their families to fall into deep poverty rather than building ladder to help and empower them,” Gerard Seno, ALU-TUCP national executive vice president, said.

“There is no need to tax salty food and ingredients at this time. We rather strongly recommend government to develop research-and-development-based healthier, cheaper alternatives and options and make these accessible in the market,” he said in a statement.

“But if we raise their income, have developed and made these cheap, healthy food and ingredients alternatives very accessible to the market, then that’s may be the time that we talk about imposing tax on salty food,” Seno said.

Seno said poorly-waged working people and their families are aware that most of their daily meals that they can afford to buy with their meager daily budget are those foods with salty ingredients are mal-nutritious, unhealthy and brings ill-health to their family such as instant noodles, food flavoring, snacks, and dried fish.

However, because of their meager salary, short term, temporary jobs, inadequate social protection safety nets, poor workers have no choice but to purchase these because they are cheaper and more available in the market.

“Workers and the poor informal workers and their families affinity to salty food is bound by their inadequate income and lack of alternatives in the market. They cannot afford to buy healthier food choices and food ingredients with their measly income level,” Seno said.

The country’s minimum wage ranges from the highest at P537 a day and the lowest at P280 a day.

“With these paltry current minimum wage rates amid the rising cost of living, the working poor have no other choice but to buy food with what affords their small income even if it is high with sodium content,” Seno said.

Aside from developing alternatives and raising wages, government must regulate private manufacturing firms to reformulate the standard sodium contents of food, food ingredients and snacks.

Government should also pick up the slack in its responsibility to conduct massive education and information dissemination informing its citizens about other better alternatives and healthier food and ingredients options. - Vito Barcelo

FDA urged: Test Johnson’s baby powder for asbestos

Business World photo

ORGANIZED labor has expressed alarm over reports that the United States Food and Drug Administration (US-FDA) found cancer-causing chrysotile asbestos fibers in one batch of a baby powder that is widely popular among consumers in the Philippines.

Workers group Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-
TUCP) said on Friday the report should also be investigated by the Philippines’ FDA, considering the popularity of the Johnson and Johnson (J&J) baby powder among Filipino consumers.

On October 18, the US-FDA disclosed it found the presence of asbestos in one batch of the product and advised consumers to stop using J&J baby powder Lot # 22318RB.
The findings prompted J&J to voluntarily recall 33,000 bottles.

“We are calling upon the FDA authority to proactively take steps to mitigate the undue anxiety felt by consumers caused by this serious discovery of asbestos contamination in a baby product commonly used by so many Filipinos across our growing population. We are urging them to conduct product evaluation test to assure the quality and safety of the product… to the health of consumers,” said Gerard Seno, national executive vice president of ALU-TUCP.

“The FDA must guarantee to all of us the safety, purity and efficacy of this product in order to protect the health and welfare of the general public. It is better for FDA to err on the side of caution than to realize too late that many people’s health and safety have already been compromised simply because they didn’t check the product,” he added. - By William Depasupil, TMT

2-year probationary period to force Filipinos to work abroad

TUCP president Raymond Mendoza said the proposed measure, if approved, will also “expand the gap between the rich and the poor and strengthen the short-term labor slavery practice in the country.” File

MANILA, Philippines — The proposed two-year probationary period for newly hired employees has “wide-ranging implications,” including forcing Filipinos to seek employment abroad, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) warned yesterday.

TUCP president Raymond Mendoza said the proposed measure, if approved, will also “expand the gap between the rich and the poor and strengthen the short-term labor slavery practice in the country.”

Mendoza noted that House Bill 4802 authored by Probinsiyano party-list Rep. Jose Singson Jr. “is very dangerous and highly disadvantageous to workers because of its deleterious effect on working people and their families once it is enforced.”

“We are at a time when we are struggling to close the gap between the rich and the poor by eliminating this short-term endo (end-of-contract) and to minimize all forms of contractualization employment scheme in the country and ensure a just and fair economic share for workers in a growing economy,” he added.

Mendoza also said the bill would “practically empower abusive employment and business practice with a larger latitude and longer contractualization short-term work scheme.”

Under HB 4802, the extension of the probationary period is being proposed to be prolonged from the current six months to two years.

Singson claimed that six months are not enough for employers to determine if a worker deserves to be regularized.

During this period, probationary workers do not enjoy security and other benefits afforded to regular workers, like vacation and sick leave, separation pay, 13th month pay, Christmas bonus, allowances and paternity and maternity leave.

“Extending the probationary employment period to two years is a race to the bottom scheme because it will improve the currently widely practiced endo labor slavery system and will make contractualized work permanent in the country,” Mendoza said.

Under the current working conditions in the country, some 6,000 to 7,000 Filipinos are leaving every day to work abroad, according to the trade union leader.

He added that if the bill becomes law, the number of Filipinos working abroad will increase, thus resulting in “greater brain drain” and more children suffering from having a parent or both parents away.

‘Mindless, heartless’

Meanwhile, Sen. Leila de Lima described as “mindless and heartless” Singson’s bill which, she said, is definitely not a solution to Filipino workers’ woes.

De Lima said the proposed measure would only prolong the difficulty of the already difficult life of an ordinary working Filipino.

“The proposal for a two-year probationary period for workers is not a solution at all to the long-time woes of Filipino workers. It will even prolong the agony of the workers. It is a fog in which to hide the real issue,” she said.

The senator added this ominous fog of a proposal will not only enshroud the actual issue – the abusive “endo” practice – but will also “expose our workers to labor malpractice. – Sheila Crisostomo (The Philippine Star) With Cecille Suerte Felipe

House bill seeks to set up banana research center

A Department of Science and Technology staff shows tissue cultured from varieties of wilt-resistant cavendish bananas. -- BW FILE PHOTO

A PARTY-LIST legislator has filed a bill seeking to establish a banana research institute to develop better planting methods and find new uses for the plant, one of the Philippines’ leading fruit exports.

Rep. Raymond C. Mendoza of TUCP Party list filed House Bill No. 2622, noting that the banana industry pays about P1.78 billion in local taxes a year and provides income opportunities for some 30,000 agrarian reform beneficiaries.

“The industry has become a potent instrument of development and empowerment for almost two million residents of Mindanao who depend on it… It is ironic that the strategic value of the industry was built with little or no assistance from government,” Mr. Mendoza said in his explanatory note.

The measure hopes to establish the National Research, Development and Extension Center for Banana at the University of Southeastern Philippines in Davao City.

The research center will develop improved cultivars through traditional and biotechnological methods; develop efficient, economic, and productive banana production technologies; develop effective and efficient production systems for all banana varieties; discover productive banana-based farming systems; establish international linkages for banana research; and provide training for workers and farmers.

The bill provides for tax and duty exemptions for the research center, including on imported machinery. — Vince Angelo C. Ferreras

Labor groups hail contributions of ex-Senate President Pimentel

Former Senate president Aquilino “ Nene” Pimentel Jr (Czar Dancel / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)

Labor groups expressed their condolences to the family of former Senate President Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr., who passed away Sunday morning.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said Pimentel was a “conscience of our nation and a tireless defender of democracy at a time when too many Filipinos chose the path of silence, acceptance, and obedience to the dark heart of a dictatorship.”

“His lifelong struggle for political democracy and economic democracy inspires the TUCP and the entire working class to never give up and to never surrender,” the group said.

The TUCP also cited Pimentel’s contribution as the latter authored the Local Government Code “to ensure genuine autonomy and self-direction for local governments.”

Pimentel also authored the Cooperative Code of the Philippines and the Charter of the Charter of the Cooperative Development Authority.

“This was meant to empower ordinary workers, farmers and fisherfolks by pooling their finance together to help each other free their class from economic exploitation by cartels, oligarchs, and the vested interests,” the group said.

The Federation of Free Workers (FFW) said that the late senator’s good deeds will remain to be emulated.

“FFW extends its prayers and condolences to the bereaved family of a good man,” it said.

“We note with sadness the death of a good man and workers’ companion in the struggle for social justice,” it added. - By Analou De Vera

TUCP: 700,000 workers in PHL may lose jobs due to CITIRA

JOB LOSSES? Citing estimates by business groups, labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines says some 700,000 workers may lose their jobs if the Citira bill is passed. File photos by AFP 

The livelihood of around 700,000 workers in the country will be imperiled by the proposed Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act (CITIRA) as it threatens to push investors to shut down and transfer to other countries, according to the labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) on Monday.

“Our economic managers are hell-bent in pushing thousands of workers and their families towards the fire by pushing the approval of the CITIRA without any credible job protection measures and believable safety nets for workers affected by the enforcement of this second tax reform package measure,” TUCP vice president Louie Corral said in a statement.

CITIRA, the second package of the Duterte administration's comprehensive tax reform program, seeks to reduce the corporate income tax (CIT) rates from the current 30% to 20% in 2029, on a staggered basis.

It also aims to foster a more competitive fiscal incentives system by making tax perks time-bound, transparent, targeted, and performance-based.

The DOF previously claimed that this measure would create 1.4 million jobs when passed into law.

Corral, however, slammed the DOF officials for allegedly spreading "half-truths" for the passage and approval of the CITIRA.

"They’re saying workers will be protected and new jobs will be created with CITIRA but if you take a closer look at the measure, these provisions are insubstantial and vague when it comes to protecting jobs and providing safety nets for workers,” said Corral, while noting that the proposed measure only provides P500 million annual budget for displaced workers.

He added that providing allowances to displaced workers for a period of three to six months, a proposal backed by Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, is not a "sure-fire formula."

“The idea is devoid of sincerity and logic. We all know that with the kind of government bureaucracy that we have, workers would be unable to get anything. Tinanggalan na nga siya ng trabaho ng gobyerno pagkatapos siya pa ang magpapatunay na tinanggal siya sa trabaho para makakuha ng limos?" Corral said.

He underscored that ecozone workers who will likely be affected must be consulted regarding the matter.

On the other hand, the DOF previously claimed that the foreign investors were unfazed by the CITIRA.

"Despite the persistent fear-mongering activities of certain groups, the international investment community continues to signal its confidence in the policies of the Duterte administration and in the strength of the Philippine economy and its workforce, as illustrated by the surge in FDI [foreign direct investment] pledges in the year’s first semester,” Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick Chua had said.

“It goes to show that the noisy naysayers against the long-due efforts to reform the country’s convoluted corporate income tax system are mistaken,” he added.

Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Director General Charito Plaza also expressed support to the measure.

Last month, the House of Representatives approved the CITIRA bill on its third and final reading. The Senate version is still undergoing deliberations. — By DONA MAGSINO, GMA News , LDF, GMA News

TUCP slams Finance for tax push

The labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines slammed the Department of Finance for pushing the Corporate Income Tax Incentives Reform Act without consulting the labor sector, saying more than 700,000 workers would be displaced if the new tax scheme should become a law.

“Our economic managers, led by the Finance department, is (sic) about to push thousands of workers to fall through the cracks by introducing Citira tax scheme in the same way they shove workers and their families’ throat with the TRAIN Law inflation with no consultations with grossly affected workers’ sector,” TUCP president Raymond Mendoza said in a statement.

Firms affected by the process may close down and transfer to another location or may be forced to cut jobs and displace around 703,000 workers.

The DOF is seeking Congress’ approval for the second package of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program, known as the CITIRA bill.

The measure seeks to entice investors by lowering the corporate income tax to 20 percent from the current 30 percent by overhauling the tax incentives enjoyed by firms.

Citira is the renamed version of the Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-Quality Opportunities bill that the House had passed in the previous 17th Congress.

The Trabaho bill, however, ran out of time in the Senate and had to be refiled in the 18th Congress.

The measure would also remove certain tax perks enjoyed by companies in the country.

The Citira bill retains the current incentives for two years, for investors to have enough time to adjust to the new tax scheme. Perks would also be targeted, time-bound, and transparent.

Though the measure allotted P500-million annual budget for grants and support programs of the Department of Labor and Employment for displaced workers in companies affected by the corporate income tax adjustments, the TUCP accused the DOF ignoring workers plight when it comes to the implementation of the law.

“Workers got nothing from TRAIN Law despite of the budget provisions it has for affected sector. Now our white-collared Finance people are again deliberately playing dice on the lives of workers and their families by dangling an annual budget provisions for displaced workers and by sugarcoating CITIRA with a million jobs it supposes to create,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza said the P500 million yearly budget for CITIRA-displaced workers is highly insufficient compared with the day-to-day expenses amid rising cost of living created by TRAIN Law.

“How did they arrive with the amount? How many firms would really be affected by CITIRA? How many workers would really be affected? What are these government programs that could save the thousands of displaced workers?” said Mendoza.

The TUCP is proposing a genuine transition program for displaced workers prior to the implementation of CITIRA and not after its implementation.

The group is asking the economic managers for labor consultations on CITIRA and on other programs and policy reforms affecting the labor sector. - Vito Barcelo

Hike Citira aid for displaced workers—group

Inquirer photo

The country’s largest labor group on Sunday demanded the allocation of more government funds for workers who may be displaced by the passage of a bill that mandates the rationalization of fiscal incentives.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said the proposed P500-million government aid for workers that may lose their jobs due to the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act (Citira) is “too small.”

“The P500 million yearly budget for Citira-displaced workers is highly insufficient compared with the day-to-day expenses amid rising cost of living created by the TRAIN [Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion] law,” said TUCP President Raymond Mendoza in a statement.

Albay Rep. Joey Salceda said the amount will be used for the skills training of the affected workers. Salceda said last month that the money is not needed as the passage of Citira will not result in job losses.

A business group estimated over 700,000 workers will be retrenched if the Citira bill is enacted as it will remove fiscal incentives in economic zones in exchange for lower corporate income taxes (CIT).

Government officials are mum on the possible displacement of workers following the passage of the bill, but they said the measure will generate 1.5 million in “net employment.”

The TUCP criticized the administration for its “cavalier response” to the issue, which could affect the employment of thousands of workers.

“Our white-collared [Department of] Finance people are again deliberately playing dice on the lives of workers and their families by dangling an annual budget provisions for displaced workers and by sugarcoating Citira with a million jobs it will supposedly create,” Mendoza said.

He called on the government to conduct more public consultations, which should include labor groups, before the measure is approved by Congress.

Mendoza said issues that should be clarified during the consultations are the budget that should be allocated for workers that may be displaced by Citira as well as the number of companies and workers that may be affected by the measure.

The TUCP said the administration should come up with a “genuine transition program” for the affected workers.
‘Wider income gap’

The Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) said the Citira bill, formerly known as the Trabaho (Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-quality Opportunities) bill, will worsen inequality in the country.

FDC said the government is giving businesses a tax gift in the form of the reduction in corporate income taxes. This is “regressive taxation” which punishes the poor who pays more due to the value-added tax (VAT) law and the TRAIN law.

This will increase inequality in the Philippines where the country’s Gini coefficient is already at 0.4439 as of 2015, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. The Gini coefficient is a measure of inequality where zero indicates perfect equality and 1, perfect inequality.

“As it is, the top 50 corporate families have wealth equivalent to .0000021 percent of the aggregate wealth of the 23 million families. The Philippines is clearly one of the most unequal societies of the world. With Citira, inequality will deepen further,” FDC Executive Director Zeena Bello Manglinong said in a statement.

Manglinong said the Department of Finance’s own data showed that the country loses P300 billion annually from foregone corporate income taxes.

FDC said Citira provisions on the reduction of CIT are “unnecessary and archaic, quick-fix scheme such as tax competition.”

It added that the claim of the government that the country’s CIT is the highest in the region is “inaccurate.”

“FDC research also shows that some claims of the government are not exactly accurate. Vietnam’s CIT is at 20 percent, but what is often failed to be mentioned is that this is merely a floor rate. Vietnam’s CIT rate goes as high as 32 percent to 50 percent, especially for oil, mining and gas companies,” the group said.

However, FDC said it agreed with the Citira provision of removing perpetual incentives to companies.

While fiscal incentives should not be forever and must be “performance-bound and time-bound” as well as “efficient,” the group said Citira’s “foreign direct investments-financed development paradigm” remains “dangerous” to the economy.

This, FDC said, must be replaced by one that is based on “high value-added, technology-enabled manufacturing and services sectors.”

“The Freedom from Debt Coalition believes that the way forward is an industrial policy that purposely builds up the capacity of domestic firms to develop and compete,” FDC said.

“This must also mean that our method of taxation must also follow suit. We cannot pretend that technocrats in government have the sole solution to issues plaguing our country. It is time that we step forward with an alternative,” it added. - By Samuel P. Medenilla & Cai U. Ordinario

TUCP party-list files security of tenure legislation as HB 4892

Philstar file photo

THE TRADE UNION Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) Party-list said it has filed its version of the Security of Tenure bill, one of various versions of the legislation in play seeking to end the practice of contractualization after a previous bill passed by Congress was vetoed.

TUCP Party-list Rep. Raymond C. Mendoza filed House Bill No. 4892 which if passed will be known as the Security of Tenure Act of 2019. It seeks to criminalize all forms of contractualization and ban all forms of fixed-term employment.

Contractualization, also known as “endo,” denies workers a pathway to permanent employment and benefits, typically by terminating employment before the 6-month deadline for achieving permanent status and forcing workers to sign up again also on a contract basis.

“The bill seeks to provide security of tenure to 9 million Filipino ‘endo’ workers who are being exploited today in a modern form of slave labor […] Endo workers experience not being paid the minimum wage, even as they go without social security, Philhealth and PAG-IBIG coverage. Further they are denied their Constitutional rights to organize and to bargain,” Mr. Mendoza said in a statement.

The measure aims to totally prohibit contracting, subcontracting, manpower agency hiring, and outsourcing, including those undertaken by so-called service cooperatives engaged in manpower supply.

“This Bill seeks to criminalize labor-only contracting which is already prohibited under our existing laws but is perpetually being circumvented to deprive workers of their Constitutionally-guaranteed rights to Security of Tenure,” according to the bill’s explanatory note.

Under the bill, all employees regardless of employment status or position cannot be dismissed without cause or due process.

The measure also provides that all employees, except those under probation, be considered regular including project-based and seasonal employees.

HB 4892 also prescribes fines of P50,000 to P5 million, and imprisonment of six months to one year for violators.

In his July 26 veto message to the Senate, President Rodrigo R. Duterte said that while he stands firm in his commitment to protect the workers’ right to security of tenure, the enrolled bill “unduly broadens” the scope of labor-only contracting, which is already banned by law. — Vince Angelo C. Ferreras

Fuel price hike to erode workers’ buying power – TUCP

Business World photo

The fuel price increase may trigger the erosion of the buying power of all workers, a labor group said Tuesday.

“The big-time fuel price increase will definitely impact the prices of goods and cost of services which will automatically lessen the purchasing power of wage,” said Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) president Raymond Mendoza in a statement.

“This natural increase in the prices of goods and services will be confounded by additional prices imposed by profiteers and profiteering activities who always exploit the weak enforcement of government regulation on prices of basic commodities and services,” Mendoza added.

The Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) slammed the oil price hike as “artificial, unwarranted, and unjustified.”

“The Duterte government is allowing big oil companies to use the attacks in Saudi Arabian oil companies, which can be fixed soon, and the long-standing trade war between US and China to implement a big-time oil price hike. The Oil Deregulation Law must be junked because it only feeds the greed of big oil companies. They are always using the international situation as an alibi,” said KMU secretary-general Jerome Adonis in a statement.

“We won’t take another series of OPH (oil price hike) sitting down while prices of basic commodities again go up. The Christmas season has practically started in the Philippines, and we don’t want manufacturing companies and supermarkets to get yet another excuse to raise the prices of their products during the run up to December. Neither, will we accept the attempts of the oil companies to justify oil price increases by saying, yet again, that global prices have also gone up. The government should confront the oil companies once and for all for jacking up their prices at the slightest excuse,” he added.

Julius Cainglet of the Federation of Free Workers said the oil price hike was grossly unfair to workers.

“They are raising oil prices on the basis of mere speculation. There should be enough buffer stock in the international market to stave off the price increases,” he said.

Rene Magtubo of the Partido ng Manggagawa said there should be no big-time price hike given that oil companies still have their reserves priced at a lower cost.

“Any big-time increase should be supported by the DOE’s assessment on the oil companies’ present oil reserves and costs. Absent this, big-time oil price hikes will be a windfall to oil companies but would bring about price hikes to basic goods that ordinary workers consumed,” he said.

Josua Mata of Sentro believes any additional oil price hike would be highly speculative.

“From what I gathered, the Saudi government is acting fast to rebuild their capacity, and they should be able to address the problem soon,” he said. - By Leslie Ann Aquino

Requiring permits not enough to protect construction workers —TUCP

Rescuer are busy as they search to retrieve a body believed to be trapped when a hotel being demolished in Malate Manila, eventually collapsed Monday morning.The incident killed two workers wounding several others. - Business Mirror photo

Issuing construction and demolition permits alone are not enough to ensure that the occupational safety of workers are given importance by contractors, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said on Tuesday.

TUCP made the statement following the death of two laborers when a Hotel Sogo building collapsed on Monday.

“This fatal Sogo construction site mishap with multiple deaths shows the repeating cycle of how city hall building permit officials and the Labor department regional officers are negligent in conducting onsite inspection and worksite visits before or after issuing building and demolition permits to building owners and contractors,” TUCP President Raymond Mendoza said in a statement.

According to the TUCP, at least 11 deaths have been recorded at various construction sites across the country from January to September 2019.

It cited the case of a construction worker who was killed in Manila in July after he was crushed by a falling crane pulley.

“Most building owners and contractors wanted to finish the project quickly as possible and at a low cost as possible and at the expense of the safety and well-being of construction workers," Mendoza said.

"Without government on-site inspections, fatal and death-causing accidents such as this Sogo hotel demolition incident happens,” he added.

“The TUCP ardently hopes that city hall officials and labor regional officers to be consistent in conducting worksite inspections to ensure building owners and contractors comply with the occupational safety and health standards that the building and demolition permits and clearances requires," Mendoza said.

On Monday, the collapse of a Sogo building under demolition in Malate, Manila killed two workers. Others sustained minor injuries.

Hotel Sogo assured that the demolition firm would assist the victims.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday also ordered a "thorough" probe on the incident. By DONA MAGSINO, GMA News

Foreigners’ influx feared with online gambling ban

The labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines on Monday feared the influx of foreign workers in the Philippines after Cambodia banned online gambling, displacing thousands of foreign workers, mostly Chinese nationals.

In a statement, TUCP president Raymond Mendoza is proposing the creation of a coordinating body in managing and controlling the growth of offshore online gambling industry as it sees the influx of more Chinese workers into the country following the recent ban of gaming operations in Cambodia.

The Cambodian government last month banned the issuance of new online licenses and ordered a crackdown on thousands of Chinese workers employed in the operations in the towns of Sihanoukville, Bavet and Poipet.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said he wanted online gambling operations terminated by the end of the year.

Around 6,000 Chinese nationals are leaving Cambodia since the ban directive was issued middle of last month, reports said.

For his part, Senator Joel Villanueva said they expected nothing less than the immediate shut down of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations.

“We do not owe anything to these errant POGOs who have the gall to refuse the correct payment of taxes of their workers,” he said.

The senator, chairman of the Senate labor committee, stressed it was high time the government acted with dispatch to make these firms comply with the country’s laws.

“We call on the interior department to support the Department of Finance by asking all local government units to revoke business permits of POGOs who do not comply with our tax laws,” he said.

He said the Interior department should also lend a hand to the Bureau of Internal Revenue by asking the police to fan out and shutter these firms, the way it closed down operations of the PCSO last month.

According to Villanueva, the sudden rise of the POGO industry and the problems that went with it like the so-called “real estate bubble” and the increase in crimes involving foreigners, was no joke.

The POGO industry has overtaken the information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) sector in terms of demand for office space as of September, data released by real estate services firm Leechiu Property Consultants on Monday showed.

There is demand for more than 1 million square meters of office space so far this year, LPC chief executive officer David Leechiu said in a press conference in Makati City.

POGOs account for 34 percent of the demand equivalent to 386,000 sqm, while 31 percent or 355,000 square meters came from the IT-BPM and 35 percent or 398,000 sqm from other sectors.

The TUCP said the country remained attractive to Chinese online operators and workers though the Philippine government suspended issuing new licenses to prospective Philippine Online Gaming Offshore operators.

“While we are assessing the POGO overall social implications and weigh the comprehensive benefits of this online gambling industry in our economy by putting on hold issuance of new operating licenses, the TUCP would like to propose the creation of a POGO coordinating body that has supervision and control of the industry for the benefit of the country,” Mendoza said.

He said there were various government agencies that exercises authority over different aspects of the entire POGO industry namely the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, the Department of Trade and Industry, Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Bureau of Immigration, the Department of Labor and Employment, and the Philippine National Police.

However, despite the affluence the POGO industry is bringing to the office and residential business, additional government revenue, construction, transport, retail and food, local employment, growing incidents such as kidnapping, homicide, misconduct, illegal recruitment, human trafficking, illegal online gambling operations, prostitution and use and trafficking of illegal drugs are also on the rise, Mendoza said.

“Government agencies have limited authority and they cease to function on area that is beyond their mandate. The dis-coordination between and among these agencies might cause government to entirely lose control of the industry. We have to learn from the Cambodian experience specifically in the aspect of government control over the entire aspects of the growing industry that has the potential to our economy,” Mendoza said.

The proposed coordinating body is composed of different concerned government agencies along representatives from labor and business sectors attached to the Office of the President.

Aside from coordinating government common response to the industry, the body shall also develop policies and programs in improving enforcement and compliance to labor and gambling operations, he said.

Mendoza said the labor organization was conducting study and assessment of the overall impact and trends in POGO industry particularly its economic and social implications in the community including the employment, living and working conditions of Chinese POGO workers in the country. - Vito Barcelo and Macon Ramos-Araneta

Labor alliance pushes for new panel to regulate POGOs

Vignettes of the office space inside an offshore gaming company in Metro Manila. Philstar file photo

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — Labor alliance Trade Union Congress of the Philippines is urging government to create a coordinating body to manage and regulate the offshore gambling sector in the Philippines as it foresees more Chinese workers coming to the country after Cambodia banned online gaming.

According to a Radio Free Asia Report, around 120,000 Chinese nationals had left Cambodia by early September because of the ban.

With this, TUCP said it is anticipating the migration of the displaced offshore gaming operators and their Chinese workers to the Philippines. It said the country remains attractive to Chinese online operators and workers though the government suspended issuing new licenses to prospective Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators

"While we are assessing the POGO's overall social implications and weigh the comprehensive benefits of this online gambling industry in our economy by putting on hold issuance of new operating licenses, (we) would like to propose the creation of a POGO coordinating body that has supervision and control of the industry for the benefit of the country," TUCP president Raymond Mendoza said.

Mendoza warned that despite the profits the POGO industry is bringing to the office and residential business, additional government revenue, construction, transport, retail and food, local employment, "there is rising incidents such as kidnapping, homicide, misconduct, illegal recruitment, human trafficking, illegal online gambling operations, prostitution and use and trafficking of illegal drugs."

TUCP said "government agencies have limited authority and they cease to function on area that is beyond their mandate. The dis-coordination between and among these agencies might cause government to entirely lose control of the industry."

Mendoza sad the proposed coordinating body should be composed of different concerned government agencies along with representatives from labor and business sectors and attached to the Office of the President. - Artemio Dumlao (Philstar.com)

ALU-TUCP urges McDonald’s to hire PWDs, senior citizens in stores nationwide

The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) on Thursday urged McDonald’s Philippines to expand its hiring program for the elderly and persons with disabilities (PWDs) to all stores nationwide.

“Expanding the policy to other McDonald’s branches nationwide will provide hope to other PWDs and senior citizens who are often ignored by other local government unit and businesses. The policy extension will discourage discrimination and raise the business practice standards and compel other firms to do the same,” ALU-TUCP national executive vice president Gerard Seno said in a statement Thursday.

On Wednesday, McDonald’s Philippines signed a memorandum of agreement with the city government of Manila to employ senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs) in at least 40 McDonald’s stores in the city.

During the signing ceremony, McDonald’s Philippines executive vice president and managing director Margot Torres told reporters that the company has already hired over 30 elderlies and PWDs in different stores all over the country.

“We will work closely with PESO (Public Employment Service Office) to be able to do this outside after the city of Manila. Yes, there are plans to expand kasi meron na naman … its already there,” Torres said.

ALU-TUCP praised McDonald’s move to hire senior citizens and PWDs in its stores in Manila.

“Hiring senior citizens, persons with disabilities … but fit to work and highly productive individuals to work in McDonalds branches in Manila is commendable company policy,” Seno said.

“The agreement will attract more customers to the restaurant, provide income for the employees, make Manila city vibrant again and restores people’s trust in the city government,” he added. — By TED CORDERO , VDS, GMA News

TUCP: Review Datem Inc. accreditation

File photo / Inquirer

The workers group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines on Tuesday urged the Department of Labor and Employment and the Philippine Contractor Accreditation Board to review the license and accreditation issued to Datem Inc. due to alleged deaths of construction workers while working at high-rise projects in Metro Manila.

TUCP president and TUCP party-list Rep. Raymond Mendoza called on the PCAB and the DOLE to step in and review the license and permit they issued to the firm.

“They must look into the very serious reports of construction workers falling to their deaths not reported to the police and labor officials. They must look at various serious violations of general labor standards and construction occupational safety and health protocols and act accordingly,” said Mendoza.

Mendoza said he filed a resolution at the House of Representatives to conduct a legislative inquiry into the workplace deaths incidents with the aim of reviewing the policies on enforcement and monitoring of labor and occupational safety and health laws, and the accreditation of licenses issued to contractors and construction firms.

“The DOLE and PCAB must also closely look at reported rigged construction and substitution of materials with substandard items in some of Datem projects. If this is true, many of Datem high rise condominiums projects is at risk due to substandard construction materials used. The government authorities must act on this very serious matter,” Mendoza said.

In issuing accreditation and contractor’s license, PCAB must ensure contractor firms must comply with workers’ safety and construction building standards.

The DOLE, on other hand, should conduct special inspection and issue a work stoppage order with reports of workplace accidents resulting to deaths and serious injuries.

According to the workers, there were at least three incidents of Datem Inc. project sites accidents this year where workers’ deaths were not brought to the notice of the Philippine National Police, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and even to barangay unit which has jurisdiction where the mishap happened. - by Vito Barcelo

TUCP wants secret deals investigated on substandard building materials

File photo / Manila Times

The labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines is calling for congressional investigation over allegations of substituting building materials with substandard and cheaper items in the construction of condominiums and other buildings in Metro Manila.

This puts into doubt the structural integrity of all projects undertaken by a firm particularly in terms of the safety of its building tenants during earthquakes and disasters.

TUCP president and party-list Rep. Raymond Mendoza wants a congressional probe over alleged secret work site deaths, sub-standard construction buildings and other serious violations of general labor and occupational safety and health standards committed by private construction contractor firm Datem Incorporated.

Mendoza said the party-list was looking at reviewing the compliance and enforcement system surrounding the country’s basic Construction Occupational Safety and Health program required by law in every construction project.

The inquiry will also look into helping strengthen the Republic Act 4566, also known as the Contractor’s License Law in ensuring only qualified and reliable contractors are allowed to undertake construction activity in the country with the safety of the public in mind, Mendoza said.

“After hearing serious testimonies and first-hand accounts from construction workers themselves, I have filed a resolution seeking investigation in aid of legislation on alleged incidents of workplace deaths of construction workers kept secret and unreported to the police and to the labor inspectors,” Mendoza said.

According to the workers, there were at least three incidents of Datem Inc. project sites accidents this year where workers’ deaths were not brought to the notice of the Philippine National Police, Department of Labor and Employment, and even to barangay unit which has jurisdiction where the mishap happened.

Mendoza also called on the government’s Department of Labor and Employment and the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board to exercise their oversight function and find out whether Datem Inc. conforms to the rules and regulations in granting the firm with the accreditation and contractor’s license.

Union members of the Samahan ng mga Construction Workers sa Datem-Associated Labor Unions have alleged rampant violations of general labor standards and non-compliance to construction occupational safety and health standards.

They sought the help of TUCP a few days ago over several instances of deaths and injuries following workplace mishaps happened in several of its projects sites in Metro Manila not reported either to the PNP and the DOLE which has jurisdiction over the location of the incident.

Workers also accused Datem Inc. management of inhumane conditions at their sleeping and resting barracks,purchase of personal protective equipment and boarding fees at the expense of workers, union busting, non-payment of separation pay, illegal dismissal, diminution of benefits, unauthorized salary deductions,forcing them to work even though they are sick.

They were allegedly forced to render overtime work causing high blood pressure and over fatigue.

“Construction workers are very important force in the process of nation-building yet they are the most vulnerable to various forms of abuse and more likely than to die, debilitated and suffer disease from accidents and exposure to hazardous elements and tedious long hours at work compared to other workers. It is unfair and unjust if they are further oppressed like this. It is murder to the highest degree if their deaths were not reported to government authorities,” Mendoza said. - Vito Barcelo

Body urged to monitor foreign workers

These photo taken in May 2019 shows Chinese workers working on the bridge that will connect Binondo and Intramuros. PHOTO BY JOHN ORVEN VERDOTE

ORGANIZED labor has proposed to President Rodrigo Duterte the creation of a tripartite monitoring body for foreign workers to better address problems arising from an influx of aliens, particularly Chinese, who are working and living in the country.

The monitoring body will be composed of government agencies, workers’ groups and the private sector, according to the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).

The TUCP, the country’s biggest labor group, raised the idea on Friday amid serious issues such as non-payment of taxes by Chinese citizens working in Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs).

“There must be a single tripartite board that addresses and manages the issues surrounding these foreign workers,” TUCP President and TUCP party-list Rep. Raymond Mendoza said.

It was revealed in a recent Senate hearing that there are around 400,000 foreigners working in Metro Manila.

Of the number, 150,000 are reportedly working in POGOs.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd has expressed concern over the influx of Chinese citizens, saying there were only 115,000 foreign workers with alien employment permits (AEPs) issued by regional directors of the Department of Labor and Employment.

Of the 115,000 AEPS, 51,000 were issued to Chinese citizens.

Under the TUCP’s proposal, the tripartite body will report directly to the President.

It is to be composed of government agencies, workers groups and private business organizations coordinating with foreign embassies, with a mandate to inspect and manage the needs and growth potentials of the industry and its workers.

“Right now, no one is in charge of this new multi-billion dollar industry [POGOs] because government agencies have limitations and [are] unable to go beyond their respective mandates. However, with this tripartite government, workers and business oversight body, the government must be able to fill the gaps and be able to be in control of these overlapping needs of the business and the workers,” the TUCP said.

The government, it added, was at a loss on the number of legally and illegally working Chinese and other foreign workers actually staying in the country, partly because different government agencies issue different permits and various visas.

The TUCP had also been raising with the government the issue of Chinese construction workers performing jobs that can be performed by Filipino workers. - By WILLIAM DEPASUPIL, TMT

Labor sets protests vs security of tenure bill junking; refiling next

File photo

LABOR groups will mount a mass demonstration on Monday to signal the start of a series of protest expected to culminate in a big indignation rally over the junking of the security of tenure (SOT) bill last week.

Partido Manggagawa (PM) said the first wave of protests will be held in Metro Manila and Cebu to show the outrage of workers over President Duterte’s decision to veto the bill, which took nearly two decades to go through the legislative mill before getting bicameral approval, only to be scuttled at the last minute as business groups mounted a last-ditch lobby against it.

“The security of tenure bill is the latest victim of killing under the Duterte regime. Workers vow to continue the fight to end ‘Endo,‘” declared Wilson Fortaleza, spokesman of Partido Manggagawa, referring to Duterte’s 2016 campaign promise to “end Endo [end of contract],” the catch-all term for illegal contractualization.

Dubbed the “Black Monday Protest,” the noise barrage in Metro Manila will be attended by members of PM, Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (Sentro) and Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), at the Boy Scout Circle in Quezon City at 5 p.m.

Sentro Secretary-General Joshua Mata said the militant labor group will also hold a small protest action in Mendiola, Manila, in the morning.

The Cebu protest will be held at the Gate 1 of the Mactan Economic Zone in Lapu-Lapu City, also at 5 p.m. “After these events, labor groups will be meeting to discuss the big indignation rally,” Mata said.

During these demonstrations, Fortaleza said they will hold Duterte accountable for “killing” the SOT bill in favor of business interests.
Local and foreign business groups had campaigned against the SOT as crafted by the 17th Congress, despite observations the final version—the Senate bill as adopted by the House of Representatives—was “watered down.”

According to an exclusive BusinessMirror report, a briefing paper sent to Duterte by some employers estimated that in manufacturing alone, business will have to shell out P49 billion annually as additional cost to comply with the measure if it is signed into law.

“Workers will not forget this betrayal by Duterte of his promise to end Endo. He is parroting the lame capitalist alibi that businesses will die if workers are made regular. Duterte’s promise to end Endo is dead,” Fortaleza said.

Refiling next

The protests also aim to drum up public support for their renewed attempt to have the SOT bill refiled in the 18th Congress.

According to labor leaders, several lawmakers have already committed to file the SOT bill, including Senators Joel Villanueva and Risa Hontiveros, and Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) Party-list Representative Raymond Mendoza.

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto prodded Malacañang at the weekend to convene a tripartite summit before it submits to Congress its version of another SOT bill, to avert another veto.

This, even as Villanueva ruled out a congressional override option to reverse the Palace veto.

“Override is an option but I don’t think it’s a viable solution,” Villanueva said over the weekend, adding that “some lawmakers are not comfortable with it.

Villanueva, however, confirmed his readiness to refile the vetoed measure.

“We will refile the bill because it is the right thing to do,” Villanueva vowed.

Palace told: Write own version

For his part, Recto signaled determination to push passage of the bill. “But this time, the Executive Branch should write its own version and send it to Congress with an attached presidential certification as to its urgency,” Recto said, adding: “If it has changed its mind, then the version it now wants must be in black and white, so nothing will be lost in translation.”

Recto explained this is needed because the Palace veto message did not cite the specific provisions that triggered the veto.

“Let the burden of proposition fall on them this time,” the Senate President Pro Tempore said. “But this will be for the information of Congress only, and should not mean that it must be the one passed en toto.”

Better still, Recto recommended that Malacañang convene a tripartite summit on endo, with business, labor and the government in a frank exchange of views.

“Last, this episode underscores once again the need to strengthen its liaison work with Congress. I sympathize with Senator Villanueva who had worked hard on this bill…This was not an easy bill to write. Joel made sure that it was a balanced one. It was a tightrope act under stormy conditions.

Senate Majority Leader Miguel Zubiri recalled it was Duterte who reminded lawmakers about the Security of Tenure bill in his State of the Nation Address in 2018, only to veto it.

“The Cabinet should get their act together as it would make us legislators look stupid and embarrass the President as well, as he mentions these measures during the Sona,” Zubiri said. - By Samuel P. Medenilla & Butch Fernandez

‘Scare tactics’ by bizmen behind SOT bill veto

File photo

MANILA – The usually moderate Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), touted as the country’s biggest labor union, squarely placed on businessmen’s shoulders the blame for the major setback in the enactment of the Security of Tenure Bill, also known as the “End Endo Bill”.

TUCP spokesman Allan Tanjusay said the labor group “blames the scare tactics and deception of capitalists, both local and foreign businesses, for misleading President Duterte in rejecting the bill because it would disincentivize business and investors.”

Permanently putting an end to the often-exploitative practice of labor only contractualization was one of the president’s campaign promises, he added.

The measure aims to outlaw the practice of labor-only contracting or endo (end of contract) which the employers’ sector have been known to perpetuate in order to limit the benefits extended to workers and allow for easy termination of services.

“Business groups threatened our government with frightening scenarios of capital flight, relocation, and increased costs. We remind the foreign chambers, the employers, and the economic managers that dirt cheap and exploitative labor policies are no longer come-ons for investments,” Tanjusay added.

Meantime, a statement released by Malacañang following the bill’s veto said that Duterte merely wants to see some revisions on the bill, to promote fairness and retain ease of doing business in the country, which he also works on to invite more investors to come into the country.

“Our goal has always been to target the abuse while leaving business free to engage in those practices beneficial to both management and workforce,” the president’s statement read.

With the bill expected to be filed again in the 18th Congress, the Palace has reportedly pointed out certain provisions in the measure that need to be changed by its proponents.

This includes allowing certain forms of contractualization that do not specifically do harm to employees, instead of legislating a wholesale ban on short-term labor contracts. The proposed law should also take into account that policies adopted to protect workers should not “oppress or destroy” capital. (PNA)

TUCP asks Duterte to consider workers affected by crackdown on PCSO games

Labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines appeals to President Rodrigo Duterte to institute reforms in the agency as soon as possible to avoid compromising workers' livelihoods

CLOSED. Members of the Philippine National Police, including NCR top cop Guillermo Eleazar (right most), immediately close PCSO establishments following President Rodrigo Duterte's order. NCRPO photo 

MANILA, Philippines – Labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) urged President Rodrigo Duterte to consider the thousands of workers who would be displaced following his order to stop all gaming schemes of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).
TUCP said that while it "respects" Duterte's decision to suspend PCSO's operations due to "massive corruption," they hope the agency's attendants were considered in the process.

The group appealed to Duterte to institute reforms in the agency as soon as possible to avoid compromising workers' livelihoods.

"Nakikiusap ang mga manggagawa ng PCSO betting stations na nawalan ng trabaho na kung maaari bilisan ang panahon ng suspension of operations upang sila ay makapagpatuloy sa kanilang trabaho. Nangangamba kasi sila na baka tuluyan na silang mawalan ng trabaho at mawalan ng kabuhayan," TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said on Saturday, July 27. - Sofia Tomacruz

Workers’ groups, solons slam Duterte ‘betrayal’

File photo / Philstar

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines slammed foreign businessmen and their chambers of commerce for interfering in the country’s domestic policy following President Rodrigo Duterte’s veto of the proposed Security of Tenure bill.

“They are engaged in an unwarranted interference in the purely domestic affairs of the Filipino people. They are also infringing [on] our sovereignty. We remind these businessmen and chambers that while we welcome their investments, it should not be at the expense of denying what should rightly be regular jobs for Filipinos,” the group said in a statement Friday.

The TUCP said it took 19 years in Congress for the SOT bill to reach this stage, only to have it blocked by those who “stand in the way of the struggle of Filipino workers and their families’ struggle for decent work through secure and regular jobs.”

The Department of Labor and Employment and labor groups had thrown their full support for the bill.

On Friday, they said President Duterte’s veto would enable companies to keep hiring contractual workers who will be terminated after only five months and rehired on the same contractual basis, as a way to avoid regularizing their workers.

The Employers Confederation of the Philippines, on the other hand, welcomed the veto.

“We’re very glad that Malacañang has finally made up its mind that the security of tenure bill will only lead to loss of jobs and investments,” ECOP president Sergio Ortiz-Luis said.

He said ECOP would police its own ranks to end abusive contractual practices.

Duterte clearly turned his back on workers, the TUCP said.

“The most democratic and most peaceful struggle of ordinary workers out of their poverty trap to endo are shut by a man who promised to introduce genuine change and uplift them,” TUCP President Raymond Mendoza said in a statement.

“President Duterte certified the security of tenure bill as an urgent measure in his 2018 State of the Nation Address, saying he did not have the power to end endo and only Congress, which has the legislative power, could do this. Now that Congress has acted on his certification, why veto something he certified as an urgent national bill?”

The TUCP also said the bill was not a disincentive to businesses, who could still hire seasonal and contractual workers.

The Pagkakaisa ng Timog Katagalugan-Kilusang Mayo Uno denounced the President’s veto as a betrayal of his campaign promise to end contractualization.

“Duterte has only put the nail on the coffin on the workers’ call for regular jobs under his administration, Similarly, there remains no justice for the more than 30,000 workers in the Southern Tagalog region that have been declared regular workers but have not returned even for a single minute as regular workers,” Pamantik-KMU said in a statement.

“In light of his betrayal against the people, we enjoin the call to intensify the workers’ fights outside the walls of Congress,” the group said.

Senator Joel Villanueva on Friday led senators in expressing disappointment over the presidential veto, while vowing to refile and prioritize the bill for the 18th Congress.


“Unfortunately, profit wins again with the veto of the SOT bill,” said Villanueva, who chaired the Senate labor committee.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the upper chamber “will refile and prioritize [it]. We will find an acceptable version.”

In a separate text message to GMA News, Sotto said he was “crestfallen but that’s how democracy works, and Congress, being dynamic, can refile [and have the bill passed again].”


Minority Leader Franklin Drilon also said he was saddened with the President’s decision because the Senate worked hard for its passage, as it was certified as urgent.

He said the bill can be refiled but the executive branch “must first get its act together.”

“We have frontline departments [DOLE and NEDA] with opposing views. We are unclear as to what the policy is. The bill passed by Congress essentially mirrors DOLE’s position but apparently the NEDA has a different one—which was eventually concurred with by the President,” Drilon said in a statement.

In the House of Representatives, Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas denounced the veto, calling it the President’s “biggest betrayal” of Filipino workers.

She said she and her fellow legislators would file a “stronger” anti-contractualization bill that would plug all the loopholes in the law that allow businesses to engage in job contracting.

“President Duterte’s veto of the security of tenure bill exposes his full allegiance to big businesses which lobbied hard against the measure,” Brosas said. “Despite certifying the measure as urgent and despite prominently vowing to end contractualization during the campaign period, the President pandered to the pleasure of business chambers by killing the anti-endo bill.”

Brosas accused Duterte of acting “in absolute compliance to the business sector’s demand not to sign the security of tenure law in utter disregard of his campaign promise. Duterte chose big business over workers and even over himself.”

“It is very clear in the veto message that the President wants to allow businesses to have the upper hand in outsourcing jobs “regardless of whether this is directly related to their business.”

“This essentially means unli-job contracting that will trap more workers in short-term, low-paying, and unsafe employment,” Brosas added.

Parañaque City Rep. Joy Tambunting said Congress would need to find “a better compromise between labor and management.”

Tambunting is the wife of former Parañaque City Rep. Gus Tambunting, who was the principal author of the measure at the House of Representatives during the 17th Congress. - Joel E. Zurbano and Maricel V. Cruz

Labor group: Vetoing ‘anti-endo’ bill ‘really hurt’ contractual workers, their families

File photo

MANILA—The President's decision to veto a bill that would have given temporary workers secure employment "really hurt" laborers and their families, a union group said on Friday.

Alan Tanjusay, spokesman for the Associated Labor Unions—Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP), said the group was disappointed for contractual workers who had hoped that President Rodrigo Duterte would fulfill his promise to stop "endo," the colloquial term for hiring and dismissing workers in fixed cycles.

"We are saddened for the millions of endo workers and their families dahil matagal silang umasa. They hoped for the President for so long, hoping that before the end of Duterte's term that he would fulfill his promise to address head-on the issue of poverty caused by endo," Tanjusay said Friday in an interview with ANC.

"It really hurt us because this is the President's campaign promise and he said he would not renege on his promise to end contractualization."

Duterte vetoed the Security of Tenure (SOT) bill authored by Sen. Joel Villanueva, despite his promise during his presidential campaign to stop contractualization and help in granting full-time employment status and corresponding benefits to contractual workers.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo announced the veto of the bill after retracting his statement late Thursday that the President rejected the measure.
Duterte vetoes 'security of tenure' bill, says spokesman

"So this is a non-fulfillment of his (Duterte's) promise and he's turning his back away on the workers," Tanjusay said.

The spokesman stressed the bill was a "chance" for contractual workers to "experience the economic gains the country has been experiencing."

"Mataas ang ating ekonomiya, yumayaman ang ating bansa, lumalaki ang profits ng companies, pero hindi po sila nakikinabang dito sa economic wealth na ito na sila mismo ay naging bahagi," Tanjusay said.

According to him, there is no more middle ground between the President and contractual workers.

"We don't see any middle ground because the SOT bill is the middle ground," Tanjusay said.

Duterte, he said, "might take a hit on his political capital" for rejecting the bill. - ABS-CBN News

18-m workers may lose jobs in 6 years

File photo / Rappler

The labor group Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines feared more than 18-million Filipino workers would lose their jobs in the next five to six years due to factories and establishments resorting to robotics, automation and artificial intelligence in selling products.

ALU-TUCP National Executive Vice President Gerard Seno expressed the apprehension after

Department of Trade and Industry Undersecretary Rafaelita Aldaba claimed around 18.2-million workers could lose their jobs over the period of the next five to six years as enterprises shifts to automation, robotics and AI to create efficient service and more products to be competitive.

“We can confirm that workers particularly in the agriculture, retail and manufacturing are now being impacted with only one employee left operating a machine in a production line that used to be manned by five to 10 workers,” Seno said.

Seno said they were concerned that affected or displaced workers might have difficulty to cope and acquire new skills needed to cope with the innovation if government will not be able to provide adequate and inexpensive up-skilling sessions for them.

Seno is also appealing to government to provide unemployment insurance schemes or programs specially to help displaced workers mitigate the impact caused by the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The DTI said around six-million workers from the agriculture sector, 3.4 million in retail and 2.4 million in manufacturing sectors could lose jobs by 2024 with more and more transition to automation and AI. - Vito Barcelo

Govt cheers deeds; labor jeers anti-SOT tack

File photo

AS government patted its back on accomplishing regularization of 471,394 contractual workers, labor groups slammed employers for pushing for the outright veto of the pending Security of Tenure (SOT) bill.

Labor Assistant Secretary Benjo Santos M. Benavidez told the BusinessMirror the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) was already able, as of July, to facilitate the regularization of nearly half-a-million contractual workers.

Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III considers this as a result of the government’s campaign.

“The regularization of almost 500,000 contractuals is a big thing,” Bello said. “It is unprecedented.”

The labor chief said these figures could still rise especially if President Duterte will opt to sign the pending SOT bill, which imposes additional restriction for contractual work arrangements.

“I am sure and quite positive we will get a positive reaction from the President. After all, this is certified [SOT] bill,” Bello said.
‘Wrong assumption’

HOWEVER, labor groups slammed employers for pushing for the outright veto of the SOT bill based on a wrong assumption.

Last week, local and foreign business groups submitted a letter to Duterte to appeal to him to junk the SOT bill, claiming it was already redundant with the provisions of Executive Order (EO) 51 and the DOLE Order 174.

Labor coalition Nagkaisa chairman and Federation of Free Workers (FFW) President Jose Matula called the assessment “unrealistic,” citing the thousands of workers who fall prey to arbitrary contractualization.

“With due respect the business leaders claiming that the old rules is enough to solve Endo, it appears they are out of touch of reality with the situation of millions of workers,” Matula told the BusinessMirror.

Endo is the acronym for “end of contract,” an illegal form of contractualization wherein workers are repetitively hired and rehired by their employers for the purpose of circumventing their right to be regularized.
Mutually beneficial

Last May, the DOLE reported it was able to facilitate the regularization of around 400,000 workers since 2016 from 3,377 firms, which were found or suspected of engaging in illegal forms of contractualization.

Many of the said employers claimed they were not aware that some of their positions cannot be legally contracted out since they are part of the company’s “core” business.

The process of determining if a position is “core or non-core” has been the subject of numerous labor disputes due to contradicting interpretations from management and labor unions.

Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) Spokesman Alan Tanjusay said the passage of the SOT bill will aid in ending this contentious issue.

He said it is this mutually beneficial nature of the SOT bill that makes them confident that Duterte will back the legislation.

“The SOT bill, when approved into law, as it is, will identify the jobs that can be contracted out and what are those that can only be regularized,” Tanjusay said. “This will help employers to plan better and cope with demands of the modern times.”

Matula explained the process of this determination will be done through the Industry Tripartite Council, which has representatives from both employers and labor groups.

Bello earlier said the bill was already transmitted to Malacañang last June 21 for Duterte’s consideration.

‘Unparalleled’

But even without the SOT bill, Bello said Duterte’s accomplishment on contractualization policy is already unparalleled, which is why he endorsed this achievement together with the soon-to-be constructed overseas Filipino workers (OFW) Hospital in Pampanga to become part of the President’s upcoming State of the Nation Address (Sona) later this month.

The construction of the first- ever OFW-dedicated hospital in the country, Bello said, is expected to start by July 15.

Malacañang said Duterte’s Sona this year will focus more on the administration’s poverty alleviation programs to show the government’s malasakit or concern to Filipinos. - By Samuel P. Medenilla