TUCP seeks probe of foreigners working in PHL without permits

THE Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) on Wednesday called for a thorough investigation on the entry of foreigners who are working in the country without government permits.

The group issued the call following the arrest of 52 more foreign workers allegedly working without valid working permits in Davao City last week.

In a statement, TUCP spokesman Alan Tanjusay said the arrest of the 42 foreigners in Davao City is proof that “there is a clear, continuing and growing violation” of the country’s laws.

The increasing incidence of migrants working in the country without government working permits and without fulfilling other requirements for alien workers has very serious adverse implications not only in the local construction industry, fishing, mining and other industries, but also in the current employment and underemployment situation in the country, he said.

Such trend, Tanjusay said, undermines the job security in the country, as these foreign workers compete with the already limited jobs generated for the Filipinos in the country.

For not having valid working permits, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) rounded up last week 50 Chinese, a Briton and an Australian working in the construction of coal-fired power plant Therma South Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aboitiz Power Corp.

There is also a need to investigate Aboitiz Power Corp. on how was it able to hire the foreigners amid the existence of the law, Tanjusay said. He said the foreigners must go through the due process legally mandated by the laws.

Under Department Order 12 (Series of 2001), known as the Omnibus Guidelines for the Issuance of Employment Permits of the Department of Labor and Employment, all foreigners seeking employment in the Philippines are required to apply for an Alien Employment Permit.

In December last year the BI detained and deported more than 200 foreign workers working in construction sites in Bataan and Batangas provinces after they were discovered to have without working permits.

Sen. Miriam-Defensor Santiago filed Senate Resolution 288 in December 2013 and Party-list Rep. Raymond Mendoza of TUCP filed House Resolution 974 on February 2014 to conduct an inquiry “in aid of legislation” on the matter but to no avail.

According to TUCP, Philippine unemployment rates have remained static on the average of 7 percent the past years. According to the April 2014 Labor Force Survey, the unemployment rate was at 7.0 percent or 2.924 million of the total labor force of 38,172,006, excluding the Typhoon Yolanda-stricken areas while 18.2 percent or seven million were underemployed, and about 36.9 percent or 1.078 million of the unemployed are were college undergraduates and graduates.

The World Bank in its Philippine Development Report (PDR) released in September 2013, estimates that about 10 million good jobs are needed to be generated per year which includes jobs for about three million people who are unemployed and seven million that are underemployed, and that the government also needs to create employment for another 1.15 million new entrants to the labor force every year from 2013 to 2016.

On the average, the government can only generate about 240,000 new employment opportunities annually which leave most job-seekers with no choice but to either seek employment abroad, remain unemployed, go back to school, or rely on financial support from employed family members for the time being, Tanjusay added.

- by Jonathan L. Mayuga, BusinessMirror

TUCP calls for probe on presence of illegal foreign workers

THE Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) is calling on Congress to immediately conduct legislative inquiries on the continued presence of foreigners illegally employed in the country.

The labor group said there is already a need for Congress to intercede in the issue since many workers are affected by their presence.

"We urge the Senate and the House of Representatives to act on their pending resolutions calling for a probe in aid of legislation on the matter," said TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay in a statement.

He noted how Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago and TUCP party-list Representative Raymond Mendoza filed Senate Resolution 288 in December 2013 and House Resolution 974 on February 2014, respectively, both calling for an inquiry on the controversy.

However, Tanjusay noted that no hearing was called by either chamber of Congress since then.

The call comes after several foreign nationals, mostly Chinese, were arrested in Davao City after being found working without valid working permits last month.

Back in December 2013, more than 200 foreign workers employed in construction sites in Bataan and Batangas were also arrested and deported after they were discovered to have without working permit.

Tanjusay said it is unacceptable that domestic laws continue to be violated with the presence of foreigners allegedly working without valid working permits.

"There is indeed a clear, continuing and growing violation of our domestic laws. This undermines the job security in the country, as they compete with the already limited jobs generated for the Filipinos in our homeland," said Tanjusay.

Tanjusay said the presence of the illegal foreign workers ultimately forces local job seekers with no choice but to either seek employment abroad or just remain unemployed.

"We clearly reiterate that TUCP is not against the entry of foreign workers in the country, but of the adverse impact on our very own workers, who are being deprived of potential employment and livelihood opportunities," Tanjusay said.

To note, one of the requirements in getting an Alien Employment Permit (AEP) is the determination of the Labor Secretary that there is no Filipino national who is competent, able and willing to do the job for which the services of the applicant is desired. (HDT/Sunnex)

TUCP urges Congress to probe rising number of illegal foreign workers in PH

MANILA, Phlippines -- A labor group on Wednesday urged Congress to look into what it called the increasing number of foreigners working in the country without working permits.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines’ call came following the of 52 more foreign workers allegedly working without valid permits in Davao City last week.

“The increasing incidence of migrants working in the country without necessary government working permits and without fulfilling other requirements for alien workers has very serious adverse implications not only in the local construction industry, fishing, mining and other industries, but also in the current employment and underemployment situation in the country," TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said in a statement.

The Bureau of Immigration in Davao rounded up 50 Chinese, one British and one Australian working on the construction of the coal-fired power plant of Therma South Inc., a subsidiary of Aboitiz Power Corporation.

TUCP also called for the investigation into how Aboitiz Power hired the foreigners despite the lack of work permits.

In December last year, the BI detained and deported more than 200 foreign workers working without permits at construction sites in Bataan and Batangas provinces.

While stressing that the TUCP is not against foreign workers in the country, Tanjusay said those without valid permits are vulnerable to abuse.

“They are susceptible to being abused for reasons such as their lack of capacity to speak and understand the Filipino language and other exploitative working conditions such as unjust compensation given to them. They should enjoy the freedom from this worst form of modern-day slavery,” he said.

Senator Miriam-Defensor Santiago and TUCP party-list Representative Raymond Mendoza have filed resolutions for inquiries into the matter.

Department Order No. 12 (Series of 2001) known as the Omnibus Guidelines for the Issuance of Employment Permits of the Department of Labor and Employment requires all foreigners seeking employment to apply for an Alien Employment Permit. - By: Lira Dalangin-Fernandez, InterAksyon.com

TUCP, Ecop: Reduced workweek to backfire

Workers and employers are one in opposing a proposal for a four-day work week to conserve electricity in offices and factories.

Both the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines and the Employers Confederation of the Philippines said the proposal put forth by the Energy department would backfire and erode productivity.

The Department of Energy’s failure to have a policy on power security and competitive rates led to this crisis, said Louie Corral, TUCP executive director. “How dare it now tries to impose a labor policy. Why will workers sacrificed to answer for the policy failure and lack of forward planning of the Department of Energy? When did workers become the safety net to ensure high profits for power generation and Meralco?”

Ecop president Edgardo Lacson, for his part,  said that to cut working days to four a week would blunt the country’s competitive edge in the global workplace.

“While the rest of the world continuously work from five to six days a week, it will  be expected that the country will further slide down in the competitiveness ladder,” Lacson said.

Both groups said the compressed workweek would tell on the health of the workers whose efficiency and productivity would suffer due to fatigue caused by the stressful 2-hour extension for 4 nights.

The Philippines bears highest cost of electricity in Asia and the Filipino family in general has exhausted all means to cut cost, Corral said. “Have they lost all decency? Is this their idea of the social contract of our government with its people? Their cavalier treatment of the SONA directive to consult and their easy conclusion of who must pay the price speak volume about what we can expect from the both of you during the DOE leadership,” he added.

He said that while many Filipinos  are sacrificing because of the power crisis, Petilla apparently does not seem to share this sentiment.

‘Instead of time-bound and transparent multi-sectoral consultations, Petilla is very quick to dump the burden on worker while he insensitively undertook negotiations for expensive power barge rentals. Petilla apparently do not understand correct sequencing,’ he said

For his part, TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said that a compressed  week for daily wage earners would mean one day less of wages.

Tanjusay reiterated the call TUCP made with the Nagkaisa labor coalition in April to President Aquino to convene a multi-agency, multi-sectoral task force to generate a national response and work towards solutions-- a clear policy on power supply, price and a coherent strategy out of the crisis.

He said the DOE failed the consumers by not applying a full-options approach which would have nipped the crisis in the bud or minimized its impact.

The DOE, he said, rather contently sleepwalks from crisis-to-crisis applying one band-aid solution after the other but what they really did was surrender the real power policy making to Meralco and to the generation sector actors-- neither wants a secure power supply or a competitive rate. - By Vito Barcelo