Order to license massage workers put on hold

Pinoy Hilot massage class in cooperation of TESDA and TUCP Party-list (file photo 2011)

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Health has issued a three-year moratorium on its administrative order mandating the licensing of massage therapists.

The moratorium was issued to give ample time for the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and DOH to harmonize the government's program for massage therapists in the country.

The moratorium took effect last month and will stay in place until December 2017.

Consul Robert Lim Joseph, secretary general of the Philippine Organization of Wellness Establishments and Resources, told The Freeman the DOH must have taken the organization’s opposition to the administrative order.

“We expect to meet the DOH Secretary next week,” Joseph said.

Last month, through TESDA-7, some spa and wellness operators in Cebu called for a congressional inquiry into the DOH order.

Administrative Order No. 2010-0034 dated December 10, 2010 entitled Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations Governing Massage Clinics and Sauna Establishments, provides that no person is authorized to practice massage as a profession without holding a valid Certificate of Registration issued by the Committee of Examiners for Massage Therapy and approved by the DOH. This has been in place since January 2011.

Joint Memorandum Circular 2015-001 of TESDA and DOH requires, at a minimum, massage therapists must have a National Certificate in Massage Therapy NC II issued by TESDA, which is valid during the moratorium period as a minimum requirement.

A composite team of TESDA and DOH experts will work out a process that would harmonize the implementation of training, assessment and certification/licensure of massage therapists.

This initiative of TESDA and DOH to harmonize the program on massage therapy is intended to attract more students to take the course and promote it as a viable career.

TESDA-7 Board Member Art Barrit, spokesman of the Associated Labor Union-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP), said they have forwarded the requests for inquiry to TUCP Party-list Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza. — By Gregg M. Rubio/JMO (The Freeman)

Groups to DOJ: Remove Japanese unionist from black list order

Labor groups call on Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to remove Japanese trade unionist's name on Black List Order.

MANILA, Philippines - A labor group coalition on Friday called on Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to review the Black List Order (BLO) following the mistreatment of a Japanese trade unionist upon arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Wednesday afternoon.

Labor coalition Nagkaisa also scored the personnel of the Bureau of Immigration for violating the rights of trade unionist Katsuhiro Sato.

"The biggest coalition of labor groups and workers’ organization the Nagkaisa condemns the unjust, irresponsible, grave abuse of authority, and gross violation of basic human right to free movement, free assembly and right to free expression committed by the Bureau of Immigration in the implementation of its BLO following the illegal detention and deportation of trade unionist Katsuhiro Sato," the coalition statement said.

Allan Tanjusay of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said Sato is a member of the executive committee of Jichiro, the largest umbrella organization of local government unions in Japan.

"Upon reaching the Immigration counter, he was set aside, held and put under deportation proceedings on the whimsical basis of his joining international solidarity on free expression and free assembly in Manila toward one-sided ADB (Asian Development Bank) policies in 2012," Tanjusay said.

"We call on the Department of Justice for the immediate removal of the name of Mr. Sato and all identified trade unionists in the BLO. In the same breath, it is also high time for DOJ Secretary Leila De Lima to conduct an immediate tripartite review of the criteria used in the qualification and the manner by which the BLO is implemented," he added. - By Dennis Carcamo (philstar.com)

Plastics industry stakeholders eye gradual shift to oxo-biodegradable alternative

The association of stakeholders in the plastics industry has proposed a gradual shift to an eco-friendly alternative to disposable plastic bags instead of phasing them out in one go.

Willy Go of the Philippine Plastics Industry Association (PPIA) made the suggestion at the technical working group hearing of the House ecology committee Thursday.

“Pagdating sa plastic na take-out bag or single-use bag, mas maganda kung i-phase out natin gradually, bigyan natin ng isang taon or panahong nakatakda para maubos ‘yung stocks, then mag-shift tayo sa oxo-biodegradable na plastic,” he said.

Go described oxo-biodegradable plastic bags as a cheap but more environmentally-friendly alternative to existing single-use plastic bags as it is only two to three percent more expensive than non-biodegradable plastics.

Due to its composition, oxo-biodegradable plastic bags degrade much quicker than its non-biodegradable counterpart, which can take hundreds of years to disintegrate to smaller pieces.

For his part, Jeremiah Sebastian of the Pollution Control Association of the Philippines suggested putting a minimum percentage of recycled component in manufactured plastic bags to entice manufacturers to buy used plastic bags.

“Since a minimum recycled component is required, magkakaroon ng demand for recycled plastic bags as a resource,” he said.

Sebastian observed that disposable plastic bags are considered low-value by the public in general because there is little value in recovering it.

Plastic bottles, in contrast, are deemed high-value by the several people since they can be sold to junk shops, he said.

“If we put some sort of value in plastic bags— such as it’s recyclable—and people realize there’s a value in recovering it, they’d eventually collect it by themselves,” Sebastian said.

At least five bills have been filed in the House of Representatives seeking to ban the sale and use of disposable plastic bags in business establishments. One of the proposals, House Bill 3153 authored by Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza, prohibits the importation, sale and use of plastic bags thinner than 15 microns.

Under Mendoza’s measure, establishments that use thin plastic bags, or those that do not provide an in-store plastic bag recycling program or require a deposit for the use of plastic bags face a penalty ranging from P100,000 to P500,000 depending on the number of times an offense has been committed.

House Bill 5379 filed by Nueva Ecija Rep. Estrellita Suansing, meanwhile, proposes to require retail stores that provide plastic bags to implement a plastic bag collection and recycling program.

The proposed “Plastic Bag Recycling Act” provides that stores giving out plastic carry-out bags to consumers as part of a purchase at retail will be required to establish an in-store recycling program for consumers to be able to return the bags they used.

According to Suansing, four to five trillion plastic bags are used worldwide each year, with billions ending up as waste that takes hundreds to thousands of years to disintegrate. — By XIANNE ARCANGEL, GMA News ELR

Labor, advocacy groups ramp up campaign vs BBL

THE country’s largest confederation of labor associations and an advocacy group composed of nine major organizations nationwide have called on President Benigno Aquino 3rd to stand up and come out in defense of the grieving families of the 44 Special Action Force (SAF) commandos who were brutally killed by joint forces of the Moro Islamic Liberation (MILF) and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, on January 25.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines-Nagkaisa (TUCP-Nagkaisa), through its spokesman Alan Tanjusay, on Thursday challenged Aquino to seek from Congress suspension of deliberations on the controversial Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) in deference to the shout for truth and justice by a mourning nation.

The BBL, if enacted into law, would pave the way for the creation of a Bangsamoro autonomous region,

“What we expected the President should have done is to directly respond to the growing but unaddressed deep-seated clamor for justice by suspending now the BBL deliberations both in the Senate and in the House of Representatives,” Tanjusay said.

The suspension of deliberations on the BBL, he added, should stay until the MILF has shown its sincerity regarding the peace process by surrendering Addul Basit Usman and other MILF commanders and Islamic fighters involved in the Mamasapano incident.

The MILF, Tanjusay said, should also return all government-owned firearms, cellphones and other personal belongings of the fallen commandos, and destroy their munition factory.

Usman is the right hand man of expert bomb maker Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, who was killed by the SAF assault team during the January 25 operation.

He was with Marwan at the time but was able to escape.

The Senate Committee on Local Government, headed by Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., has suspended its deliberations on provisions of the BBL, but its counterpart at the House of Representatives is yet to follow suit.

The TUCP also urged the MILF to join the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) in crushing the BIFF, a supposedly breakaway group of the MILF.

“Genuine expression of sympathies and condolences about the incident is accompanied by overt acts of good faith. If they desire the Filipino people to continue to trust that they (MILF leaders) deserve to lead the Bangsamoro aspiration for an autonomous region, then they should show sincerity first by bringing BIFF militants as quickly as possible to the fold of justice,” Tanjusay said.

The Ang Katipunan ng mga Samahang Maharlika (Ang KaSaMa Inc.) further prodded Aquino to junk the BBL and arrest Jemaah Islamiya terror cell leader Usman to prove that the Philippine government is not negotiating with terrorists.

The Ang KaSaMa Inc. is an advocacy group of nine major organizations from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao that is lobbying against passage of the BBL.

“The BBL has nothing to do with the peace and order situation in Mindanao because the Christians and Muslims in the region are long-time friends. It is only the separatist and terror groups that are causing trouble,” its national coordinator Deo Palma said in an interview.

“We believe that the BBL will not succeed because the (MILF) is not sincere in the peace process,” Palma added.

The MILF that is talking peace with the government, according to him, is the same MILF that has been coddling Marwan and Usman since 2001, according to Palma, who explained that this information came from one of his close friends working with the Military Intelligence Group based in Mindanao.

Palma said Marwan and Usman cannot continue with their recruitment activities in Mindanao without the MILF’s support.

He added that the two terrorists have used various MILF camps in Maguindanao, Jolo (Sulu), Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte to train their recruits in bomb-making.

The MILF has also intensified its recruitment of young blood as second liners for their ideological fight without the knowledge of the government while the peace negotiations are ongoing, Palma said.

His sources also revealed that the high-caliber firearms and other personal belongings taken from the 44 commandos “will not be surrendered because the BIFF and MILF have already divided the loot among themselves.”

Meanwhile, Johnny Siao, the Moro National Liberation Front chief of the National Border Command, said most of his contacts at the MILF camp have told him that they will not surrender their firearms.

“They (MILF) believe in the peace agreement with the Philippine government but they will not follow orders for them to surrender their firearms,” Siao added.

He said the problem with the MILF hierarchy is that they have no control over their field commanders. - by JERRY N. ADLAW AND WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL / Manila Times