EcoWaste, TUCP push for stronger anti-asbestos policy

There is an urgent need to improve the policy on the manufacture and use of asbestos and materials containing the disease-causing substance to protect public health, the EcoWaste Coalition (EcoWaste) and Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said Thursday, Jan. 6.

In a joint statement, EcoWaste and TUCP said that the Chemical Control Order (CCO) for Asbestos “needs serious enhancement” to protect the public from the unrestricted importation of raw asbestos and materials or products containing such substance.

According to the groups, the most common diseases caused by asbestos exposure are asbestosis or a form of lung disease, lung and ovary cancer, scarring of the lung lining, and mesothelioma or the formation of a tumor in the linings of the lungs, abdomen, or heart.

“We no longer see labels on asbestos-containing products. And we don’t see warning signages that forewarn the people and keep communities from hazards of asbestos dust exposure in demolition and disposal of asbestos,” said TUCP President Raymond Mendoza.

“The compliance to and enforcement of CCO is long gone. We fear that many workers and their families may have been exposed already, and its effects will only manifest a few years later,” he added.

Meanwhile, EcoWaste Coalition Chemical Safety Campaigner Thony Dizon said the CCO can be strengthened by expanding the ban to cover all forms of asbestos, phasing out asbestos-containing products, and promoting the commercial use of safer alternatives to such carcinogenic material.

“All stakeholders, including workers, communities, and local governments, need to be involved in raising citizens’ awareness on this public health issue and in the conduct of sustained monitoring and surveillance on asbestos exposure,” Dizon said.

The CCO on Asbestos was issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Jan. 6, 2000.

It prohibits all forms of asbestos on toys, low-density jointing chemicals, corrugated commercial paper, and untreated textiles among others.

Moreover, it also notes that asbestos and asbestos-containing materials must be labeled in structures, construction, demolition, disposal, and packaging products.

All manufacturers are also required by the DENR to register with the Environmental Management Bureau, obtain importation clearance, and submit annual reports, among other things, to ensure compliance with the CCO. - by Faith Argosino

Labor groups calls for national action plan vs. COVID-19

PREVENTIVE MEASURES. Employees and visitors of the Manila City Hall wait for their temperature to be checked on March 9, 2020, as part of the city's precautionary measures against the novel coronavirus. Photo by Ben Nabong/Rappler

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has called for a national action plan in winning the fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

In a statement, TUCP vice president Luis Corral said the national action plan should involve a massive information drive and interventions in communities and workplaces to prevent community-to-community transmission.

TUCP also called on the labor department to immediately convene all national and regional industry tripartite councils (ITCs) to do rapid impact assessments, identify risks, design and implement industry specific COVID-19 mitigation and prevention measures to save lives and jobs.

The group said the ITC is composed of employers and the workers from the industry and they know what the actual situation on the ground is.

They added that COVID-19 should not be used as a convenient excuse to justify lay-offs or closures.

“At this time, social dialogue, social partnership, and cooperation between employers and workers is the key in saving jobs through various measures like telecommuting, working from home, flexible work arrangements, or job rotations if necessary,” Corral said.

“The industry should design self-quarantine for workers with symptoms without job displacement. Workers on self-quarantine should be covered by the Employee’s Compensation Commission (ECC) or SSS for wage protection. After all, the worker did not choose to be infected,” he added.

For workers-at-risk who are in the frontline like retail, such as fast-food chains workers who must deal with the public, TUCP said it is imperative that their employers provide them free-of-charge personal protective equipment, surgical masks, alcohol-based hand rubs, and access to washbasins and soap.

“This should be true for emergency responders, healthcare workers, tourism, travel and personal services workers, border security, airport and immigration services workers, teachers, prison guards and cleaners, and those declared as ‘essential personnel,’ by their respective offices,” Corral said.

TUCP said all employers should sanitize all surfaces in their company premises, provide facemasks and alcohol hand rubs as well as soap and hand washing facilities for their workers.

During this emergency, the group also appealed for urgent support from both the national and local governments, particularly for those who cannot go to work or are forced to stay at home.

“This is especially true for those in ‘no work, no pay’ arrangements. They are in real danger of losing their wages, thereby imperiling their lives and that of their families. Without money, they are at the mercy of COVID-19 and poverty,” Corral said.

“TUCP therefore calls for the realignment of the TUPAD (Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers) program of the DOLE to be allocated to address the needs of these workers,” he added. - By Leslie Ann Aquino

Workers’ groups urge gov’t, airlines to implement safety protocols for airport, seaport workers to curb coronavirus risk

As government authorities step up bio-security efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus, the Associated Labor Unions (ALU) has called on the government and airline industry players to ensure that safety and health protection protocols are working not just for passengers but also for cabin crew and airport employees.

The country’s biggest federation of unions said this is because these workers are the first line of defense against the spread of the transmittable coronavirus.

“One of the most difficult parts of the job for cabin crew in ensuring an orderly, safe, and healthy flight throughout the duration of the journey, for example, is to deal with difficult or unruly infected passengers,” ALU National Executive Vice President Gerard Seno said in a statement.

“To help workers perform under pressure, guarantees of enhanced protection from risk of exposure for these workers must be in place.”

Seno said there is also a need to make sure that workers have employment social protection insurance coverage and that emergency health facilities are provided considering the risks they face in performing their jobs.

The group also lauded the airlines for immediately issuing memoranda allowing cabin crew to wear company-provided protective face masks at the onset of the outbreak as primary protection against the risk of exposure to the virus, particularly on flights to and from at-risk destinations.

“We commend them for doing the right thing. These are measures that enhances the employees’ confidence and boosts their morale in doing their jobs under these unusual working days,” Seno said.

Meanwhile, Trade Union Congress of the Philipines (TUCP) President and TUCP party-list Rep. Raymond Mendoza said government measures to minimize exposure to the virus should not only cover passengers but also airport and seaport personnel, including those manning immigration counters.

He proposed that passengers coming from cities that have been infected by the virus have a separate arrival passageway, and that arriving aircraft be directed to a separate landing area for possible fumigation. - By Leslie Ann Aquino

25% hazard pay for workers pushed in Taal Volcano danger zones

AMID the extraordinatrily dangerous situation caused by the Taal Volcano eruption, the labor sector has called for the payment of “hazard pay” corresponding to 25 percent of the basic pay of workers, including members of media, in the affected areas.

In this photo taken on January 17, 2020, workers sweep the ashfall from the pavement near the Binan City Materials and Recovery Facility (MRF) and load the carts of collected volcanic ash from the recent Taal volcano eruption to process them and turn them into cement bricks in Bian. Binan got coated with ash after nearby Taal Volcano erupted Sunday, but the local officials decided to put the dust to work rather than just cleaning it up. The fine grey powder is being mixed with locally collected plastic waste, as well as sand and cement, to form about 5,000 bricks per day. The blocks will be used for local building projects. / AFP / Maria TAN

The workers’ group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) on Saturday took the cudgels for the estimated 2,000 employees working in restaurants and hotels within Taal’s danger zone and about 1,000 journalists.

These workers, according to TUCP President Raymond Mendoza, are risking their lives in the performance of their duties and, as such, should be provided with added compensation in the form of hazard pay.

“Hazard is a dangerous phenomenon, substance, or human activity or condition that may cause loss of life, injury or other health impacts, property damage, loss of sources of livelihoods and services, social and economic,” he added.

Hazard pay is cash compensation to employees on top of their basic salary for rendering work under extraordinary conditions and circumstances that could result in death, serious injuries, sickness and disease, and handicap or debility.

“All employees, including rank-and-file, supervisors and managers working in all business establishments such as hotels, restaurants, casinos and spas, among others, which are located within the 14-kilometer danger zone, particularly Tagaytay City, have the right and are entitled to a minimum 25-percent hazard pay of their daily basic pay,” the group said.

It added that “reporters, cameramen, assistant cameramen, cab drivers and photographers who are covering the Taal volcano eruption and are working in the declared danger zone also have the same right and are similarly entitled to hazard pay whether they are under talent contract, or permanent, regular, contracual, seasonal, directly or agency-hired, freelance, or independently contracted.”

It stressed that working under extraordinary dangerous situations and the exposure to risk from the elements brought by the Taal Volcano explosion on January 12 were sufficient conditions for hazard pay.

TUCP spokesman Alan Tanjusay clarified that although there was no prevailing law, policy or department order in the country that regulated employers from giving their workers hazard pay, it was imperative upon business owners and employers’ management prerogative to give hazard pay to their employees considering the extraordinary circumstance in performing their duties and responsibilities.

“On other hand, employees can directly approach and request their employers to provide them with hazard pay,” said Tanjusay.

In the public sector, police, military, firemen and rescuers, including volcanologists and personnel from the Philippine Institute for Volcanology and Seismology, are automatically entitled to hazard pay based on the Civil Service Commission regulation and subsequent agency memorandum giving government personnel hazard pay ranging from 5 percent to 27 percent of their basic pay after rendering 50 percent of the total working hours of the month. - By William Depasupil, TMT

Penalize companies ignoring advisory on health, safety issues

File photo

The Gabriela Women’s Partylist on Monday urged government to penalize private companies, particularly business processing outsource firms, for putting in danger the health and safety of their employees by requiring them to report for work yesterday.

This developed as the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines urged private firm employers to provide their workers with pay, even if they are unable to come in to work because of the ashfall from Taal Volcano.

TUCP president and Rep.. Raymond Democrito Mendoza asked for compassion for workers who will have to face the effects of the possible eruption of Taal.

Represented in the Lower House by Rep. Arlene Brosas, the partylist organization assailed BPOs who required their workers to report for work despite the high alert levels raised by government in connection with the Taal volcanic eruption.

Gabriela said BPO’s have ignored government warnings and advise over the dangers of the volcanic activity.

“We have received information that employees of most BPO firms located in Sta. Rosa, Laguna which is about 20 kilometers from Taal, were still required to report to work despite the high alert level raised over the Taal volcano,” said Gabriela in a press statement.

The group said government should enforce the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Law and “penalize companies who have violated the safety standards by putting workers’ lives at risk.

The organization added: “We would like to remind BPO firms, as well as all businesses in the country that this is an occupational safety and health issue.”

Cited was Section 6 of the Occupational Safety and Health Law or RA11058 that workers have the right not to report to work , “without threat or reprisal from the employer if, as determined by the DOLE, an imminent danger situation exists in the workplace that may result in illness, injury or death.”

“BPO firms that fail to comply with OSH standards must be held liable for non-compliance with the safety of the workers, especially in life-threatening disasters, the partylist group stated.

Meanwhile, Mendoza called on the private sector to temporarily ignore their “no work, no pay” policy in this time of emergency.

“How will our workers be able to protect themselves and their families if the No Work, No Pay scheme is retained? It is impossible for some to make it through the roads to reach their places of work,” Mendoza said. - By Ben Rosario

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

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

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

Solon pushes for inquiry on compliance of entertainment industry with work safety laws

Eddie Garcia / Inquirer photo

MANILA, Philippines — TUCP (Trade Union Congress of the Philippines) Representative-elect Raymond Democrito Mendoza on Tuesday said he would be filing a resolution calling for an inquiry into the compliance by the media and entertainment industries with the Occupational Safety and Health Law.

In a statement, Mendoza said the law, as well as the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) order on occupational health and safety for the media and entertainment industries, was aimed at protecting the safety and rights of workers. He issued the remark in light of the recent death of veteran actor-director Eddie Garcia.

“We are shocked and angered that such a thing can happen to someone of the stature of Mr. Eddie Garcia, but even more so it exposes how ordinary talents and ordinary workers in the entertainment industry are made vulnerable to the failure of management to comply with these occupational safety and health rules,” the party-list lawmaker said.

Garcia, 90, passed away last June 20. He had been in critical condition due to a neck fracture after he tripped on a wire while shooting a TV series for GMA Network on June 8.

Just two days after Garcia’s death, a factory worker in Iloilo, Jomar Junco, fell victim to “unsafe and precarious working conditions when he was caught in grinding equipment at the meat factory he worked for,” according to Mendoza.

“Across all industries and in every workplace, it should not be the case that workers are sacrificed by their employers in the name of profit,” he added.

Mendoza also said their party-list fully supports the proposed “Eddie Garcia Law” or the Actors Occupational Safety and Health Standard Bill which would also be filed by Garcia’s stepson, 1-Pacman Rep. Michael Romero, when the 18th Congress opens.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III earlier said he had ordered the Occupational Safety and Health Center to conduct a probe of the incident. - By: Pathricia Ann V. Roxas - Reporter / @PathRoxasINQ

How safe are our malls? TUCP seeks DOLE-BFP joint fire safety inspections nationwide

Otto van Dacula via Reuters

MANILA – The Philippine economy has been growing the past several years on the back of continued robust consumption, fueled in turn by the proliferation of malls nationwide, but how safe are these malls?

The safety question was raised at the weekend by the biggest labor federation in the Philippines, as authorities struggled to put out the second major mall fire in just over two weeks.

Firefighters in Cebu City grappled at the weekend with the blaze that hit the Ayala Mall, even as authorities in Davao City had just pulled out the last body of the 38th victim in the Dec. 23 NCCC mall fire in the southern Mindanao City.

Alarmed over what it called the mall owners’ gross violations of fire safety and healthy and safe workplace regulations that caused the death of workers and put at risks the lives of mall shoppers, labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) on Sunday called for a joint fire safety audit of malls nationwide.

It cited violations of NCCC Mall and SSI call center to fire safety codes and non-compliance with occupational safety and health regulations.

All of the 38 fatalities in the Davao fire were call center agents working for the US-based SSI firm, which leased space at the mall. Some quarters had questioned the wisdom of allowing call centers – which run 24 hours – to occupy space at the malls, which go into lockdown mode at night and limit entrances and exits for security reasons.

TUCP President Raymond Mendoza said a nationwide inspection to be conducted by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) will greatly minimize fires in malls.

“It is outrageous to see another fire taking place in Metro Ayala mall and Gaisano mall in Cebu City when just 15 days ago 38 workers perished in NCCC Mall fire in Davao City. These are not isolated incidents. There is a widespread violation of malls owners to fire safety standards and compromise the safety of mall goers and well-being of mall workers to cut costs and make bigger profit for themselves,” Mendoza said.

“The ongoing Metro Ayala Mall and the Gaisano mall and the NCCC Mall fires are symptoms of the wanton disregard of department store owners to go around our building safety laws and ignore workplace policy on workers’ health and safety. We have to find out other malls nationwide how safe or how fire-risks these are,” he added.

According to Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) spokesman Alan Tanjusay, the joint DOLE-BFP safety audit inspections could be conducted immediately to coincide with the forthcoming dry season when most fire incidents happen. March is traditionally marked as Fire Prevention Month, but it’s also that time of year when many fires occur.

“Fire safety audit to all malls is important because workers work here and children, old folks and entire families consider malls as home. It is the place for work, recreation and business. Malls have become very important place in the community, but how safe is our malls in the light of these twin mall fatal fire incidents? Tanjusay asked. - News5-InterAksyon

Labor group calls for joint fire safety audit of malls nationwide

Manila Bulletin photo

Alarmed by the alleged violations of mall owners to fire safety codes and noncompliance to occupational safety and health regulations, labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has called for a joint fire safety audit of malls nationwide.

In a statement, TUCP president Raymond Mendoza said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) should conduct a nationwide inspection to greatly minimize fire incidents in malls.

“It is outrageous to see another fire incident taking place in Metro Ayala mall and Gaisano mall in Cebu City when just 15 days ago 38 workers perished in NCCC Mall fire in Davao City,” he said.

Mendoza believes these are not “isolated incidents.”

“There is a widespread violation of mall owners to fire safety standards and compromise the safety of mall goers and well-being of mall workers to cut costs and make bigger profit for themselves,” he said.

Mendoza said the ongoing Metro Ayala Mall and the Gaisano mall and the NCCC Mall fires are symptoms of the wanton disregard of department store owners to go around the building safety laws and ignore workplace policy on workers’ health and safety.

“We have to find out other malls nationwide how safe or how fire-risks these are,” Mendoza said.

Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) spokesman Alan Tanjusay stressed the importance of conducting fire safety audit inspections in malls, which some Filipinos consider as home.

“Fire safety audit to all malls is important because workers work here and children, old folks and entire families consider malls as home. It is the place for work, recreation and business,” he said.

Malls have become very important place in the community, but how safe is our malls in the light of these twin mall fatal fire incidents? Tanjusay asked.

ALU-TUCP said the joint DOLE-BFP safety audit inspections should be conducted immediately in view of the forthcoming dry season when most fire incidents happen. - By Leslie Ann Aquino

Valenzuela fire inspection to affect 12,000 workers

Closure of several business establishments that are not complying with fire safety laws in Valenzuela City will displace at least 12,000 workers, according to a labor group. 

MANILA, Philippines - At least 12,000 workers will be affected by the closure of business establishments in Valenzuela City, labor coalition Trade Union Congress of the Philippines-Nagkaisa (TUCP-Nagkaisa) said on Friday.

Alan Tanjusay, the group's national spokesperson, said that the number could balloon if Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian would continue with his plan to shut down businesses that failed to comply with fire safety requirements.

"Rather than immediate closure, we suggest that erring and non-compliant companies should be given at least 10 days to correct themselves. Unless, Mayor Gatchalian does have immediate alternative plans to provide jobs to those thousands of workers who might be affected by his closure plan and prevent a massive problem, we recommend that he be rational at this time," Tanjusay said.

He said Gatchalian should devote local government resources to enforcing existing fire safety laws and ensure labor standards are being faithfully observed by companies within the city.

Tanjusay said labor coalition Nagkaisa have forged an agreement with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to inspect and assess all factories in Valenzuela.

He said Nagkaisa, with TUCP as one of the 49 convenors, will make comprehensive recommendations in reforming the enforcement and compliance to the Labor Law Compliance System being implemented by DOLE.

The launching of the joint inspection will be announced later.

The city government has intensified its inspection on business establishments after the May 13 fire that razed a slippers factory, killing 72 persons. - By Dennis Carcamo (philstar.com)

Kentex inquiry by House Committee on Labor and Employment chaired by Cong. K. Nograles as attended by Nagkaisa! members

NAGKAISA labor coalition calls on creation of a tripartite labor laws compliance inspection task force

PNOY, nga-nga sa mga manggagawang biktima ng sunog - Ensure health and safety of workers

The lives and the scathing injury of KENTEX workers are the heavy price for the complete breakdown of government’s labor laws enforcement and for the employers’ patent disregard to the mandatory laws on wages, social protection benefits and the statutory basic workplace safety guidelines.

The KENTEX factory workers’ deaths depict the abominable culture of indifference among many public servants and profit-oriented employers to enforce existing guidelines that uphold workers’ basic rights and well-being.

Therefore, we, the undersigned convenors of the NAGKAISA Labor Coalition, collectively call on Labor Secretary Baldoz to establish a tripartite "Task Force Valenzuela" (TFV) to undertake a surprise sweep and unannounced inspection of factories and plants in the City of Valenzuela to crack down on sweatshops.

In the light of the tragedy that befell our fellow workers in KENTEX, we believe that it now becomes imperative to verify employer compliance with all existing labor laws and safety standards, fire and building structure standards and to determine compliance with all other city requirements for the issuance of business permits and operational licenses.

Justice must now not just be for the KENTEX dead and their families but also for the countless workers nationwide who labor under the same pakyawan system or through unregistered and unregulated labor manning agencies, to be deployed without any statutory benefits, least of all minimum wages, into firetraps where their lives are sacrificed on the altar of profits. Disposable lives and in the case of the KENTEX workers, thrown away.

We strongly believe that the immoral and illegal activities of the KENTEX owners are actually widespread in Valenzuela, and the inspections should begin in the very factory neighborhood where the fire occurred and with those firms also serviced by the unregistered manning agency. The inspections should also cover those firms that undertook voluntary self-assessments of their labor standard compliance. It is never the best way to enforce labor or safety standards by relying on the mere "say-so" of a very self-interested employer and factory owner.

This proposed crackdown in Valenzuela will have national resonance and will hopefully, by making an example of those who will be caught, ensure that labor standard compliance will be honored more in the practice, rather than in its breach.

We urge the DOLE to seize the historical opportunity to render justice not just for the KENTEX workers but to finally break the widespread culture and practice of corporate irresponsibility that made the loss of the workers lives not just immoral but evil and criminal.