THE BANGSAMORO entity that will be created to govern a Muslim autonomous region should have the primary supervision and regulation of the hydroelectric power plants in Lake Lanao, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said on its Web site.
Citing the delineation of powers in the Annex on Power-sharing of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB), the MILF said that the Bangsamoro entity would have primary jurisdiction on the issues of power generation in Mindanao.
“It is on this premise that such claim that the regulation of existing hydropower plants in Lake Lanao will remain primarily under the concerned national government agencies is not accurate, and, therefore, should be corrected at once,” the MILF said in an editorial posted on its Web site luwaran.com.
Miriam Colonel-Ferrer, the chief negotiator of the government peace panel, said that the Lake Lanao power plants will remain primarily under the concern of the national government during the Ad Hoc Committee hearing on the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) last week at the House of Representatives.
However, Ms. Ferrer clarified that power plants not connected to the national transmission grid will be under the regulatory powers of the Bangsamoro government.
Under Article XIII on Economy and Patrimony, Section 22, on Inland Waters, the proposed bill says that “the Bangsamoro shall have exclusive powers over inland waters, including but not limited to lakes, marshes, rivers and tributaries.”
The proposed bill further states that “the Bangsamoro Parliament shall enact laws on the regulation, management and protection of these resources.”
According to the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), the current base-load of electricity in Mindanao comes largely from hydroelectric sources, which contributes roughly more than 700 megawatts to help meet the overall power demand of 1,300 megawatts in the Mindanao region.
BANGSAMORO COUNCIL WILL LEAD TO JOB CUTS
Meanwhile, labor groups have urged the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to step in and address the possible displacement of some 23,000 public sector workers -- most of whom are teachers -- in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) once the Bangsamoro Transition Council takes over by next year.
“The labor center expresses concern over the unknown fate of these workers who will be dislodged once the Bangsamoro law takes effect. We call on the Civil Service Commission to step in and take the necessary course of action,” said Gerard R. Seno, Associated Labor Unions (ALU) executive vice-president, in a press release.
Of the 23,000 workers in the region that may find themselves jobless, 18,000 are teachers.
“This is a significant number of public sector employees ever to be displaced in the course of Philippine government paving the way for the new Bangsamoro,” said Louie M. Corral, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) executive director, in the same release. “The government has the primary responsibility to provide safety nets for these workers who had been serving the bureaucracy quietly... They should be integrated because they are already an asset.”
For his part, CSC Commissioner Robert S. Martinez earlier said that employees which will be affected may apply for other positions if their posts will be dissolved. -- BusinessWorld Online with Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas
Monday, October 13, 2014
Concerns over possible dislocation of ARMM workers
Labour confederation says 24,000 government workers in Mindanao would be left jobless once a new body takes over from ARMM
Manila: A labour confederation has expressed fears that some 24,000 government workers in Mindanao would be left jobless once a new body takes over from the administration of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
“The labour centre expresses concern over the unknown fate of these workers who would be dislodged once the Bangsamoro law takes effect. We call on the civil service commission to step in and take the necessary course of action. We are wondering why the commission has no preparations towards one of the very important elements of the transition issue,” Gerard Seno, executive vice president of the Associated Labour Unions (ALU) said.
Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front had largely focused on the political and economic aspects of the planned Bangsamoro — a self-sustaining self-rule region envisioned to be comprised by Muslim dominated areas in Central and Western Mindanao. Authorities had all but completely ignored or had forgotten about the government workers who would be left without jobs once the transition starts.
It can be recalled that in March this year, the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) signed a peace agreement, ending more than two decades of conflict with the Christian-dominated central government in Manila.
According to Seno, the labour group is proposing the civil service commission oversee transition matters pertaining to the labour sector and ensure the workforce to be integrated into the new Bangsamoro government would consider absorbing those currently employed in ARMM, with a merit-based integration adopted rather than leaving displaced employees to fend for themselves.
TUCP executive director Louie Corral said: “This is a significant number of public sector employees to be displaced. But the government has the primary responsibility to provide safety nets for these workers who had been serving the bureaucracy quietly. Rather than allowing these people fall through the crack, they should be integrated as they are already an asset.”
Sources said although a peace agreement had been signed between MILF and the government, it could still take several months until a new authority could be set up to replace ARMM.
The ARMM was set up during the administration of President Fidel V. Ramos as a result of the 1996 peace agreement between Moro National Liberation Front.
More than two decades after ARMM was established incumbent President Benigno Aquino III, as part of his promise to MILF, started work on dismantling ARMM which he described a “failed experiment” in self-rule. - By Gilbert P. Felongco, Correspondent Gulf News
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Manila: A labour confederation has expressed fears that some 24,000 government workers in Mindanao would be left jobless once a new body takes over from the administration of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
During a recent House of Representatives committee deliberation on the provisions on the proposed Bangsamoro Law, officials of the civil service commission admitted to Rep. Raymond Mendoza of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) Party list they have not made any plans concerning possible dislocation of workers once an administration for the envisioned self-rule region steps in.
“The labour centre expresses concern over the unknown fate of these workers who would be dislodged once the Bangsamoro law takes effect. We call on the civil service commission to step in and take the necessary course of action. We are wondering why the commission has no preparations towards one of the very important elements of the transition issue,” Gerard Seno, executive vice president of the Associated Labour Unions (ALU) said.
Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front had largely focused on the political and economic aspects of the planned Bangsamoro — a self-sustaining self-rule region envisioned to be comprised by Muslim dominated areas in Central and Western Mindanao. Authorities had all but completely ignored or had forgotten about the government workers who would be left without jobs once the transition starts.
It can be recalled that in March this year, the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) signed a peace agreement, ending more than two decades of conflict with the Christian-dominated central government in Manila.
According to Seno, the labour group is proposing the civil service commission oversee transition matters pertaining to the labour sector and ensure the workforce to be integrated into the new Bangsamoro government would consider absorbing those currently employed in ARMM, with a merit-based integration adopted rather than leaving displaced employees to fend for themselves.
TUCP executive director Louie Corral said: “This is a significant number of public sector employees to be displaced. But the government has the primary responsibility to provide safety nets for these workers who had been serving the bureaucracy quietly. Rather than allowing these people fall through the crack, they should be integrated as they are already an asset.”
Sources said although a peace agreement had been signed between MILF and the government, it could still take several months until a new authority could be set up to replace ARMM.
The ARMM was set up during the administration of President Fidel V. Ramos as a result of the 1996 peace agreement between Moro National Liberation Front.
More than two decades after ARMM was established incumbent President Benigno Aquino III, as part of his promise to MILF, started work on dismantling ARMM which he described a “failed experiment” in self-rule. - By Gilbert P. Felongco, Correspondent Gulf News
>
Group fears displacement of 2,400 ARMM gov't workers with creation of Bangsamoro
Labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP)-Nagkaisa is worried that around 2,400 government employees in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao will lose their jobs once the region is dissolved and taken over by the Bangsamoro Transition Council.
In a statement, the group said the public sector workers are currently employed in municipalities, cities, provincial and regional government offices in the region.
“The labor center expresses concern over the unknown fate of these workers who will be dislodged once the Bangsamoro law takes effect,"said Gerard Seno, executive vice president of the Associated Labor Unions (ALU).
He said the Civil Service Commission should step in, adding the CSC does not seem to have prepared for "one of the very important elements of transition."
During House deliberations on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law chaired by TUCP Party-list Rep. Raymond Mendoza, CSC resource persons could not answer
TUCP-Nagkaisa said the CSC should make sure that the existing workforce will be integrated into the new Bangsamoro government through "lateral transfer and merit-based integration".
Meanwhile, TUCP Executive Director Louie Corral said that it is the responsibility of the government to look after the welfare of public sector workers.
"Rather than allowing these people fell through the cracks, they should be integrated because they are already an asset," he said. — JDS, GMA News
In a statement, the group said the public sector workers are currently employed in municipalities, cities, provincial and regional government offices in the region.
“The labor center expresses concern over the unknown fate of these workers who will be dislodged once the Bangsamoro law takes effect,"said Gerard Seno, executive vice president of the Associated Labor Unions (ALU).
He said the Civil Service Commission should step in, adding the CSC does not seem to have prepared for "one of the very important elements of transition."
During House deliberations on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law chaired by TUCP Party-list Rep. Raymond Mendoza, CSC resource persons could not answer
TUCP-Nagkaisa said the CSC should make sure that the existing workforce will be integrated into the new Bangsamoro government through "lateral transfer and merit-based integration".
Meanwhile, TUCP Executive Director Louie Corral said that it is the responsibility of the government to look after the welfare of public sector workers.
"Rather than allowing these people fell through the cracks, they should be integrated because they are already an asset," he said. — JDS, GMA News
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
WORLD DAY OF DECENT WORK | Workers picket manning agency for labor lawviolations
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| Rally outside the Asiapro office in Pasig City, 7 October 2014. PHOTO COURTESY OF NAGKAISA |
MANILA - To mark the World Day of Decent Work today, members of labor coalition Nagkaisa (United) on Tuesday picketed the Asiapro main office in Barangay Kapitolyo, Pasig City to condemn the “pseudo” manning agency for gross violations of workers’ rights.
In a statement, the coalition said that despite its name, Asiapro is not a multi-purpose cooperative.
“Asiapro is a grand structure of deceit and an organized syndicate with a multi-billion peso profiteering from the blood and sweat of hapless Filipino workers,” Nagkaisa said.
“The people running Asiapro are with pedigree, deeply-experienced and widely networked to camouflage and further entrench their labor-only-contracting fleecing operation. They are not just modern day labor slavery drivers, they are also rapacious and brutal not only for not giving the right wages and benefits for is workers but for skirting the laws and statutes by not paying millions of pesos of taxes that a responsible manning agency does to government,” it added without identifying the people behind Asiapro.
The coalition said it would try to uncover the Asiapro masterminds so that they can be held accountable “for their abuse and injustice committed against thousands of its workers and their families.”
- InterAksyon.com The online news portal of TV5
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