Workers unite for Labor Day rally vs ‘endo’

Members of the labor coalition Nagkakaisa hold up fists with construction nails to symbolize the government’s ‘pangakong napako’ or unfulfilled promise of issuing an order ending contractualization.
Edd Gumban

MANILA, Philippines — Fired up after being left out in the cold by President Duterte, labor organizations previously at odds have bonded together to prepare for a major indignation rally on May 1.

In a joint press conference yesterday, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) chairman Elmer Labog said the workers are “angry” over Duterte’s failure to sign an executive order that would end job contractualization.

“The growing frustration, disappointment and disenchantment of workers over President Duterte’s failure to fulfill his promise have only bonded workers. We will march as one on Labor Day in a historic first for the Philippine labor movement,” Labog said.

He said the workers will turn the Labor Day celebration into an indignation rally to show their solidarity against contractualization.

Labor groups are up in arms after Duterte’s refusal to sign an EO that will end the practice of contractualization by employers.

Instead of an EO, the President will certify as priority the Security of Tenure bill pending in Congress.

Nagkakaisa labor coalition chairman Michael Mendoza said Duterte gave them false hope that workers would finally be liberated from inhumane employment practices.

“The problem is the President did not even ask for our opinion. We gave five versions of the EO but he did not even talk to us. We were made to wait for two years for nothing,” he said.

The KMU and the Nagkakaisa, which represent the broadest labor coalition since 1980s, have called on workers “of all shapes and sizes” to join the rally.

Sentro secretary-general Joshua Mata reminded Duterte that the working class voted for him in the 2016 presidential race because of his promise to stop contractualization.
“On Labor Day, Malacañang will feel the backlash of the workers. We will show our anger over what happened. Our hope became an empty promise,” he said.

Mata said aside from the need to contend with contractualization practices, workers now also have to endure inadequate wages and the rising prices of commodities and services because of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law initiated by the Duterte administration.

Meanwhile, an opposition lawmaker urged President Duterte yesterday to shelve his Charter change (Cha-cha) initiative and instead work on creating more jobs and fighting inflation or the increase in consumer prices.

Rep. Tom Villarin of party-list group Akbayan made the appeal in the wake of the first quarter Pulse Asia survey showing people were more concerned with jobs and inflation than with Cha-cha or the effort to revise the Constitution to shift the nation to the federal system.

“The Duterte administration should put Cha-cha in the back burner and focus on people’s needs and wants, not its own power agenda,” he said.

He said the people’s concerns as expressed in the survey should prompt the President “to fulfill his promise to end endo (end of contract).”

“While the ABC crowd sees the administration’s anti-crime campaign as a priority, the vast majority of the poor D and E classes don’t see it as such,” he said.

He added that the President and his congressional allies should genuinely work to help people cope with rising prices and to have jobs and decent wages.

While jobs, wages and inflation were the top issues in people’s minds in the Pulse Asia survey, issues that included Cha-cha were the least of their concerns.

The monthly increases in consumer prices were blamed largely on the tax reform law, officially labeled as TRAIN.

According to Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate, the price hikes were caused by new and higher taxes the law has imposed starting in January. – Sheila Crisostomo (The Philippine Star) - April 26, 2018

Labor group wary of RTWPB-XI motu proprio wage review

The labor coalition NAGKAISA-Davao cautions workers on the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-Region XI’s initiative to review and possibly raise the region’s minimum wage. “As in the past wage orders, the RTWPB-XI’s evaluation is most likely to end up giving loose change to workers,” said Sofriano “Ka Ondo” Mataro, spokesperson of Nagkaisa-Davao and regional head of ALU-TUCP.

TUCP has petitioned the regional wage board for a P104.00 across-the-board increase but the latter said that it has already initiated a motu proprio review of the existing minimum wage in the region in its meeting on January 17, 2018.

“We doubt that the wage review of RTWPB-XI is not prompted by DOLE Secretary Bello, who seems to be working in cahoots with the employers on the issue of contractualization. If not with TUCP’s petition in late March, we would not know that the regional wage board has taken the initiative to take a look at workers’ wages since January”, stated Joel Bañas, spokesperson and Chairperson of SENTRO Davao.

He further explained, “It’s already three months now and no labor group have been consulted and no public hearings were called to discuss the matter. If the regional wage board is talking to some groups, it is not the workers but the employers. Is the right of workers to be heard doesn’t matter nowadays?”

“Agravante said that the wage board has undertaken studies on the region’s economic conditions including the effects of the TRAIN Law, where are the results of these much-vaunted studies? What are its findings?” asks Remy Torres, spokesperson of Partido ng Manggagawa (PM).

Remy Torres is referring to Raymundo Agravante, chairperson of RTWPB-XI and the regional director of the Department of Labor and Employment-Region XI.

“We need to raise workmen’s wages. The P104.00 petition of TUCP is not even enough to recover the lost purchasing power of the regional wage which is P132.70”, asserted Ka Ondo, spokesperson of the group and a convenor of Nagkaisa-Davao.

According to the website of NWPC (National Wages and Productivity Commission), the real value of the region’s minmum wage of P340.00 is a measly P207.30. ” And these figures are as of February 9, 2018. The impact of the excise and value-added taxes under the TRAIN Law is still not factored in”, he added.

The labor coalition alleged that workers are staggering from the effects of the TRAIN Law which inflated prices of basic commodities. The Philippine Statistics Authority confirmed this in an announcement recently that inflation in March 2018 surged to 4.3%.

The law lists ten criteria on which the wage board would base its decision in fixing wages. Among them were the rise in the cost of living, the purchasing power of the peso and workers’ demand for a raise. But Joel Bañas of SENTRO Davao claims, “Since its creation thirty years ago, the regional wage boards has only one consideration on issuing wage orders, which is the employers’ capacity to pay, forsaking the workers’ capacity to buy.”

Labor hesitant about Palace Meeting sans knowledge of final EO version

“We are not sure if we will go to the meeting with the President as we don’t know which version of the Executive Order (EO) Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III is once again peddling,” Nagkaisa Labor Coalition said in a hastily called press conference following reports of a much delayed meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte happening in mid-April.

President Duterte, in a meeting with labor leaders on February 27, promised that he and his legal team will look into the workers’ draft EO submitted jointly by Nagkaisa and Kilusang Mayo Uno with the support of the National Anti-Poverty Commission. He promised to sign the issuance by March 15, to no avail.

“The truth is, the Secretary has been obstructing our efforts these past few years. He has been misleading the president and has been fooling the public by twisting labor’s position and making it appear we are unreasonable,” Nagkaisa said.

“The workers’ draft has moved from total prohibition of contractualization to a framework of prohibition of contractualization that would allow certain exemptions for contracting out of work, but subject to the decision of the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council.” Nagkaisa added.

“We abhor the abuse and exploitation of workers through contractualization as it has become the convenient excuse of unscrupulous employers and manpower agencies and pseudo cooperatives to pay low wages, disregard social protection, bust unions and fire workers at will. We believed the President share these abhorrence with irresponsible employers,” Nagkaisa added.

Nagkaisa calls on government to decide where its policy on addressing contractualization stands. “Is it for more profits to employers at the expense of workers’ rights and welfare; or adhering to state guarantees of providing full protection to workers’ rights and welfare that would bring about sustainable growth to the economy?”

“Secretary Bello shamelessly foisted that labor is calling for the total prohibition of contractualization and deliberately misled the public and the President that workers are hardlining and demanding the impossible. He obstructed and derailed the democratic processing of an EO,” Nagkaisa added.

“He has acted beyond the pale and has shown to what depths he will unconscionably betray his sworn trust and the public interest. He must now disclose what this purported April 16 EO contains. It is something we have never seen,” said Nagkaisa.

Nagkaisa only learned about a supposed new round of meetings in Malacañang via news reports as no official invitations and meeting agenda have been received by any labor group.

DTI should impose its weight against rising inflation, not on labor

File photo

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) should impose its weight against rising inflation rather than keeping the labor price low under the policy of contractualization.

The DTI has always been on the side of business, thus, when Secretary Ramon Lopez stated that contractualization “is not unfair to workers” he was essentially parroting the line of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) whose bottom line position on this issue is to keep the price of labor low to remain competitive. For DTI and ECOP, the best way to keep the price tag of labor low is to keep contractualization as the prevailing policy of the Duterte administration.

The labor movement has repeatedly rejected the “win-win” formula of DTI and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). Our bottom line is change: Direct hiring must be the new policy. This is the only way workers can actually enjoy their constitutional right to security of tenure. The DTI and DOLE position is for workers to enjoy security of tenure in their respective manning agencies and not in their principal employers as contained under Department Order 174 of DOLE. This “win-win solution” has led to a farcical situation where majority of the more than 45,000 workers reportedly “regularized” under DO 174 last year now find themselves “regularly employed” by agencies and not by the principal. The rule should be, as its name denotes, manpower agencies and other service providers should merely be treated as agents of the principals.

This is the main reason why we have been pushing for an Executive Order to correct this distortion and rectify decades of injustice imposed upon millions of workers. The Labor Secretary, and in this particular case, the President, can prohibit contractualizaton under the Labor Code.

Section 2 of the labor-proposed EO provides relief for this impasse as it states that: “Contracting or subcontracting when undertaken to circumvent the worker’s rights to security of tenure, self-organization and collective bargaining and peaceful concerted activities pursuant to the 1987 Philippine Constitution is hereby strictly prohibited. Security of tenure refers to the direct hiring relationship between the principal employer and employee.”

Contractualization under the proposed EO is still recognized. Only that the types of job that can be contracted out be done upon consultation with members of the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council (NTIPC). What the DTI wants is to perpetuate the norm of contracting out almost all jobs in the guise of management’s exercise of their prerogative. This regime, for over two decades, led to a dramatic change in employment relations, with “middlemen employers” such as manning agencies and “labor cooperatives” dominating the trade.

This norm also has dissipated almost all rights guaranteed to workers by the constitution and labor laws, from security of tenure, right to organize, collectively bargain and to strike in accordance with law, and to be represented in the formulation of policies affecting their welfare.

Again, to DTI: Contractualization is not unfair to workers? It seems like this agency is now headed by a feudal lord.

Trading workers through manpower agencies who act as middlemen in a trilateral employment relationship is feudalism, which is clearly unjust. For more than two decades, this re-feudalization of labor has become the norm and keeping the policy will perpetuate this abominable condition of poverty and inequality amid economic growth.

Hence, when we stated that the buck stops now with the President, it is because we believe the impasse can be resolve in favor of justice. It’s either change as promised by the President, or business-as-usual as demanded by ECOP.

NAGKAISA Labor Coalition
Press Statement

Time is up: The buck stops now with the President on the issue of endo

File photo

Contractualization was a top billing issue during the 2016 presidential election. And it was the President who made a campaign promise that the moment he becomes the Chief Executive, contractualization will stop. The trade union movement responded with enthusiasm and accorded the President the courtesy and latitude of managing his plans by participating in all the summits, workshops, and dialogues organized by the government on this issue.

Several times he asked leaders of Nagkaisa labor coalition that he be given more time to realize his pledge – the first was on February 27, 2017; then on May 1, 2017; and the last was on February 7, 2018 where he asked for another extension until March 15. On these occasions, President Duterte would always say that contractualization is anti-labor and anti poor as it brings in hardship and poverty upon millions of our workers.

Furthermore, it was also the President who asked Nagkaisa leaders during the Labor Day dialogue held in Davao last year to draft within 10 days an Executive Order (EO) that he can sign to correct the labor-rejected Department Order 174 issued by the Department of Labor and Empoyment (DOLE) in March last year and to rectify the more than two decades of failed framework of regulation. Nagkaisa religiously complied with all these processes and waited for the final response of the President.

Now, a few days before his self-imposed deadline and the President is no longer asking for time and more drafts but for a compromise. The buck stops now with President Duterte. The labor-drafted EO which seeks to bring back direct hiring and institutionalize prohibition as the general rule on contractualization but recognizes that there are types of jobs that can be contracted out as along as it passes through consultation with the National Tripartite and Industrial Peace Council (NTIPC) is the fairest middle ground or “compromise” that labor can take. A watered-down version of an EO is unacceptable.

NAGKAISA Labor Coalition
Press Statement

Labor groups hold picket outside Dole offices

For a cause. Members of labor groups in Cebu ask President Rodrigo Duterte to fulfill his campaign promise of ending contract-ualization in the country. (SunStar Photo/Amper Campaña)

A FEDERATION of labor groups called Nagkaisa held a synchronized rally in front of all Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) offices nationwide to lobby for the end of contractualization.

Art Barrit of the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) and Dennis Derige of Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) said that President Rodrigo Duterte is scheduled to sign the executive order (EO) ending contractualization on or before March 15.

The labor groups believe that the issuance of the EO is long overdue, considering that ending contractualization in the country was a campaign promise of President Rodrigo Duterte in the May 2016 election. “I think this is just a pencil-pushing activity but this a coordinated nationwide mass action by a united labor front under Nagkaisa.

The President must sign that EO to end contractualization on or before March 15 because that is long overdue,” Barrit said.

He said Duterte promised to end 50 percent of contractualization in the country by the end of 2016 and the remaining half by the end of 2017.

Derige, for his part, said that once Duterte signs the EO, there will be no more fixed-term employment and labor-only contracting in several companies will be stopped. “There will be direct hiring and the companies are mandated to comply with all the benefits for them like Social Security System (SSS), Philhealth and Pag-ibig Fund since they are regular employees,” he said.

According to Derige, Dole’s Department Order (DO) 174 issued last year, which provided guidelines on contracting and subcontracting, was good that an issuance of EO will no longer be needed. But he said the DO was a failure. “It seems that our Dole Secretary Silvestre Bello III has a balancing act due to the lobby of the business sector,” he said.

Barrit said there are two versions of the EO submitted to Duterte, that of Dole and the labor groups. The latter, they believe favors the businessmen. Dole 7 Director Cyril Ticao, when sought for comment, said that he didn’t know about this since all documents are prepared by their legal department. (EOB)- SunStar

Nagkaisa hails passage of Security of Tenure Bill

SECURITY OF TENURE. The House of Representatives passes the security of tenure bill on 3rd reading. File photo by Ben Nabong/Rappler

Labor Coalition Nagkaisa! is satisfied over the passage on third reading of HB 6908 on the Security of Tenure at the House of Representatives.

Nagkaisa! said that “the SOT bill is a great improvement to existing legislation as it gives more teeth to the government by providing penalties for those who will violate the security of tenure laws.”

“This is the farthest a proposed law on SOT has gone for decades,” said Nagkaisa! “Now, it’s time to get the Senate moving on their proposed SOT measure.”

“HB 6908 gives more flesh and blood to the guaranteed right to security of tenure,” Nagkaisa! said. “It’s not perfect or ideal, but we can live with it,” said Nagkaisa!, the largest labor coalition in the country.

Fear of employers allayed

Nagkaisa! also addressed fears of employers who went on record saying that they will have a “big problem” if the proposed measure was passed. “If the big problem employers have about HB 6908 refers to the potential cutbacks in the windfall of profits a number of employers have been amassing through the massive abuse of workers via contractualization for decades, the bill intends to do just that,” Nagkaisa! said. “Employers who do not abuse workers through contractualization have nothing to fear,” Nagkaisa! added.

“Never in the history of employment relationship in the country has workers enjoying regular employment and implementation of strict rules in labor contracting been detrimental to the economy and job generation,” Nagakaisa! said.

“Job generation is a function of the development of sectors of the economy influenced by economic policies of the government, and not by labor contracting practices,” Nagkaisa explained.

A “serious problem” employers noted is that if the SOT bill becomes a law, it will be detrimental to the economy and job creation. Nagksaisa! countered the argument. “Workers with regular employment generate more income, thus, with more purchasing power contribute to increasing demand in goods and services that lead to higher income taxes and VAT for the government. These are all good for the economy,” said Nagkaisa.

“The fear that the HB can lead to unemployment is only possible if they are not paying their contractual employees what the law currently demands. In other words, their argument is an admission that they are doing business at the expense of workers’ rights – and they want to continue doing so,” Nagkaisa! added.

The recent statement by the employers didn’t specify which provisions of the bill they strongly disagree with.

Nagkaisa! said it was grateful to Labor Committee Chair Rep. Randolph S. Ting  who steered the discussions and Rep. Raymond Mendoza of TUCP Partylist and Rep. Tom Villarin of Akbayan Partylist who co-authored the SOT Bill and helped defend it together with Nagkaisa.

Nagkaisa labor coalition supports House Bill 6908

With its provisions that can be considered as marked improvement from existing laws and regulations pertaining to labor contracting, particularly Article 106 of the labor code and DO 174, rules and regulations on labor contracting promulgated by the DOLE last March 2017, Nagkaisa!, the largest labor coalition of worker's union and labor organization in the country supports HB 6908, an act strengthening workers security of tenure, which was approved on second reading by the house of representatives last January 23.

Among these provisions are:

a) Disallowing subcontracting of jobs already contracted out by principal employers;

(b) Disallowing any form of fixed-term employment;

(c) Any one of the three conditions found present on the the employment relationship between the labor contractor and employees dispatched to principal employers, such employment relationship is deemed labor-only contracting. These conditions are (1) labor contractor has no substantial capital in the form of investment and tools, (2) the labor contractor has no control over the worker's method and means in performing their function, and (3) workers recruited and dispatched perform functions which are directly related to the principal busines of the employer; and

(d) Labor contractors found violating labor-only contracting provisions of this act shall be fined Php 30, 000 for each worker engaged in labor-only contracting arrangement but the total amount of the fine shall not exceed Php 5 million.

Nagkaisa! admits that HB 6908 is not a perfect bill to prohibit all forms of labor contracting. However, the marked improvement in its provisions would surely address to a great deal widespread use of contractual labor in the country, and thus strengthening workers' security of tenure and the exercise of their right to organize and collectively bargain compared to the present laws and regulations pertaining to labor contracting.

Nagkaisa now calls on the Senate to introduce more prohibitive provisions in their version of bills pertaining to security of tenure so as to further improve what HB 6908 has achieved.

Finally, we thanked the efforts made by Rep. Randolph S. Ting, Chairperson of the Labor Committee, representatives of TUCP and Akbayan! partylists, and the rest of the co-authors of HB 6908 for successfully defending and passing it on second reading.

Security of tenure bill remains imperfect—labor coalition

Rappler photo

THE country’s largest labor coalition on Thursday called on lawmakers to add more teeth to House Bill (HB) 6908, also known as the security of tenure bill.

In a news statement, the Nagkaisa labor coalition said the new legislation is still imperfect since it still allows some forms of contractual labor.

Nagkaisa, however, threw its support behind the legislation, which it said is already a step toward finally providing better protection to contractual workers.

“The marked improvement in its provisions would surely address to a great deal widespread use of contractual labor in the country and, thus, strengthening workers’ security of tenure and the exercise of their right to organize and collectively bargain compared to the present laws and regulations pertaining to labor contracting,” Nagkaisa said.

On Tuesday the House of Representatives approved on second reading HB 6908.

Among the salient points of the legislation is its prohibition of subcontracting of jobs already contracted out by principal employers and any form of fixed-term employment.

It will imposes a fine, ranging from P30,000 to P5 million, on labor contractors who will violate its provisions.

Nagkaisa thanked the House Committee on Labor and Employment and the representatives of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) and Akbayan party-lists, and the coauthors of HB 6908 for supporting the bill.

The group is now urging the Lower House and the Senate to add stiffer penalties for employers who will violate the provisions of HB 6908.

“We call on the Senate to introduce more prohibitive provisions in their version of bills pertaining to security of tenure, so as to further improve what HB 6908 has achieved,” Nagkaisa said.

Almost 2 million workers are expected to benefit from HB 6908 once it takes effect.

In a text message, Federation of Free Workers, a member of Nagkaisa, said it will also hold rallies and forums in the coming weeks to gain public support for the bill.

Aside from the legislative measures, members of Nagkaisa are also set to meet with President Duterte next month to discuss the new EO, which is expected to further restrict contractualization in the country.

“Malacañang said [a] meeting is expected to take place on February 9,” Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III, for his part, said.

Associated Labor Union-TUCP, another Nagkaisa member, said they will urge the President to finally sign the new EO during the meeting.

The meeting was originally scheduled in December 2017, but was later reset due to Duterte’s busy schedule that time.

Nagkaisa is a coalition of 40 major labor groups in the country. - By Samuel P. Medenilla - January 25, 2018

Workers call on governments to Defend Public Services and Reject RCEP

We are trade union and civil society representatives from seven Asian countries who came together to discuss the impacts on labour rights and essential public services of the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) between 16 Asian nations. After two days of deliberations and reviewing the exciting experiences and the analysis available, we concluded that several proposals on the table of this far reaching economic deal have the potential to negatively impact decent work, labour rights, access to essential services such as water, electricity and healthcare, and add new challenges to the provision of quality public services in the region.

As the RCEP Ministerial will be held today 10 September in Manila, we publish the following statement of our position regarding these negotiations.

We are deeply concerned with the secrecy and lack of democratic process around these talks. Despite four years of negotiations texts have not been shared with elected representatives, and not been tabled for discussion in our respective tripartite mechanisms, let alone shared in the public domain for wide and informed consultation. While we acknowledge the ‘official stakeholder’ events that have taken place in the last three rounds of negotiations (Jakarta, Manila and Hyderabad) and in Manila a few days ago, these are far too limited as long as the text under discussion is kept secret.

We reject the controversial Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism proposed as part of this deal. ISDS is a flawed framework in which only one party – the investor – has the right to raise claims against another – the State. There is no justification for such a biased adjudication system in which States can never win, as even when they do not lose they bear the cost of litigation. The Philippines had to pay US$ 58 million in legal expenses despite the German transport company Fraport losing the case against the former. These arbitration tribunals only recognises rights, but no obligations for investors, and privilege the terms of trade and economic deals above our countries’ Constitution.

Further, the threat of challenge under this powerful international arbitration system impinges on the sovereignty of nations to formulate national laws and policies. We are particularly worried of the possibility that foreign investors challenge the outcomes of collective bargaining processes within countries, as we have seen in Egypt. The French company Veolia challenged the increase in national minimum wage brought about in Egypt by trade union demands in the wake of the Arab spring. Veolia demanded that the minimum wage increase be revised or that the company be compensated by the State for so called ‘loss in expected profits’. That a company feels emboldened enough to make such a claim speaks of the abusive use of this system that is currently taking place behind closed doors.

The current trade regime has already led to an intensification of precarious work and contractualisation of employment in the region. Permanent contracts, a key component of decent work as defined by the ILO is seen by business as a rigidity in employment regulations that needs to be done away with. RCEP’s provision of drastic cuts in import duties will increase the competition among manufacturing companies within the region. Experience tells us that most often the response from management is to resort to exploiting loopholes in labour laws or the lack of implementation of labour laws, to cut costs. This not only impacts the livelihoods of workers but also unionisation as precarious workers are less likely to join trade unions. This is a concern for our societies as a whole as it has been shown that lower unionisation leads to more income inequality within a society.

The provision of quality public services is also at risk. On the one hand government revenues are affected, and on the other, the cost of public services provision, especially for healthcare, stands to increase substantially. According to UNCTAD, import duties are key sources of government revenues for developing countries. In the region, this can be as high as around 17% of central government revenues in India. Drastic cuts in import duties will have a negative impact on the ability of the government to adequately finance services such as healthcare, water and sanitation, and education. In addition, the compensation claims from international arbitration are exorbitant and this comes from tax payer’s money. Indonesia had to pay US$ 337 million to Cemex in compensation. According to a leaked text, RCEP also demands decreased licensing fees, which are essential revenues for municipalities.

The cost of the provisions of essential services has to be balanced between infrastructure, human resources and cost of inputs. If there is a substantial increase in any of the three, the availability of resources for the other will be affected. For instance, medicines are essential inputs in the provision of healthcare that account for a substantial part of government’s health budgets. Provisions proposed under the Intellectual property rights text of RCEP would strengthen the monopoly of patent holders. Studies have shown that such changes would lead to higher costs of medicines (Kajal to add data).

Further, in the name of ensuring market access and equal treatment to foreign players, RCEP promotes the commodification of public goods, such as health, water and energy. These are services that are best provided by the public sector, require social accountability and have to be provided in the public’s interest. The private sector and the market are neither equipped, nor adequate to their provision and can at best play a subservient role under tight government regulation and guidance. Not only does RCEP promote the role of private players in the provision of these essential services, provisions in the services and investment chapters of RCEP stand to affect the ability of the government to regulate private providers. This is nothing but a recipe for disaster in which the worse affected will be the poor, women and marginalised communities across the region.

Finally, as shown in a recent report called “Reclaiming Public Services –how cities and citizens are turning back privatisation”, the failure of privatisation experiments, especially but not limited to the energy and the water sector, have led to a wave of cases where cities and municipalities have brought back privatised entities into public hands. The report identifies more than 800 cases in 41 countries over the past 17 years. Provisions proposed under RCEP, such as Standstill, Ratchet and MFN-Forward, would entrench privatisation and pose a threat to the option to remunicipalise services.

Based on the above concerns, we demand that the RCEP negotiations be halted until the text is made public and discussed in parliament and in tripartite bodies in our respective countries. We reaffirm and support the call of ASEAN Parliamentarians for a thorough cost-benefit assessment of RCEP as well as a human rights impact assessment.

We demand that submissions from the trade union movement and other people’s organisations, based on a careful examination of the proposition on the table be taken as part of the negotiation process.

ASEAN governments have asserted the centrality of ASEAN in this process. We demand then that the guiding principles of ASEAN be at the core of the considerations of economic deals in the region. This implies that differences in development need to be given due recognition and form the base of expectations from different countries within and outside ASEAN. The notion of ASEAN centrality should also mean giving primacy to peoples rights and needs in these negotiations. Human rights such as the right to water, right to health, right to life and right to development come before economic expectations of investors. To ensure this, the trade union movement and other people’s organisations must have meaningful participation in the negotiations.

Until these demands are fulfilled, we reject the RCEP negotiation process and the outcome of it as a flawed and undemocratic process that does not stand to benefit workers, communities, and social development in our region.



Statement issued by:

NAGKAISA, PSI, Focus on the Global South and Transnational Institute

1M graduates face bleak future

One million students graduating from college this year are facing a bleak future, according to the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP).

Waiting for the graduates are the same old problems of job-skill mismatch, low wages, contractualization and unsafe workplaces, the group said.

“We don’t want to give these young [people] any false hopes. We don’t want to discourage them either, but these are the issues that confront our new graduates,” Alan Tanjusay, ALU spokesperson, said in a statement on Monday.

Citing the October 2016 Labor Force Survey, which showed close to 8 million workers in need of second jobs to augment their daily income, Tanjusay said mismatch between skills and actual jobs available was the prime driver of underemployment in the Philippines.

“Graduates are also confronted with low entry-level minimum wages. The purchasing value of the current P491 entry-level daily wage for workers in the National Capital Region has eroded to P363 a day excluding mandatory social protection, salary deductions, and transportation and meal expenses,” he said.

The graduates also face precarious and prevalent job contractualization arrangements, he said.

Known as “555” (five-month contracts) and “endo” (end of contract), contractualization is a work arrangement where workers are terminated after five months and then rehired for another five months.

“Seven out of 10 of the current 41-million-strong workforce are contractuals. Workers who were contractuals more than five years ago remain contractuals, getting the same entry-level pay without security of tenure and the benefits that they are supposed to enjoy,” Tanjusay said.

“That’s how bad and massive contractualization is,” he added.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III is expected to sign an order on contractualization this week.

Bello was supposed to sign the order last week but labor and management groups asked for four days to discuss their “fundamental differences.”

Labor coalition Nagkaisa spokesperson Rene Magtubo said the proposed order was unacceptable because it still carried the “win-win” solution that workers had rejected.

Bello, on the other hand, explained that the labor department could not end contractualization.

“We have to accept the fact that there are certain works or jobs that are seasonal. We have to be ready for that, we have laws to talk about,” he said.

“Our position is, there are certain contractual arrangements that are allowed, which we intend to regulate. House Bill No. 444 will definitely prohibit and criminalize contractualization and all forms of fixed-term contracts. But in the meantime that there is a law, that’s what I’m going to do, which allows certain forms of contractualization,” he added. - By: Tina G. Santos - Reporter / @santostinaINQ Philippine Daily Inquirer

Bello rapped for defying Duterte's policy directives

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III

VARIOUS labor groups slammed Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III for defying the policy directives of President Rodrigo Duterte to stop contractualization by drafting a new department order which will still continue contractualization scheme.

The Nagkaisa and Associated Labor Unions chairman Michael Mendoza said the President instructed Bello to draft a new department order ending all forms of contractualization and do away with labor contractors who serve as middlemen between employees and principal employers.

“We are shocked that DoLE management has said that the DoLE can only regulate but not prohibit contractualization and all forms of fixed term employment. Section 106 of the Labor Code is crystal clear saying the Secretary of Labor may ‘regulate’ or ‘prohibit’ contractualization,” Mendoza said.

Members of the militant labor group Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino also condemned Bello’s latest draft of the department order that contradicts Duterte’s directive to abolish contractualization, an order he reiterated when he met with labor leaders.

Mendoza said the legal stance smacked of intellectual dishonesty and deception.

“We therefore affirm that the context of any new department order must be one of total prohibition. That was reinforced by the President when he spoke with Labor and Secretary Bello on Feb. 27. President Duterte has said he will not renege on his promise to end contractualization and abhors agency hiring,” Mendoza said.

Throughout the country, the presidential commitment to end contractualization has resonated with millions of Filipinos who for the past 20 years have labored to receive the smallest of minimum wages only to be laid off after a few months.

“Presidential Spokesman Abella’s elaboration of the President’s commitment further raised massive expectations that indeed the Duterte government would bring real change through meaningful income through secure jobs,” Mendoza said.

“We are unmoved by employers and contractors in their assertion that contractualization is allowed. The billions they have earned while their workers slave at subsistence wages are testament to 25 years of injustice,” Mendoza added. - by Vito Barcelo  / manilastandard.net

High time for PH to end wage-regionalization and wage-setting at barest minimum rate

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TO REALIZE the national vision of every Filipino living a life of dignity and enjoying quality standard of living as a matter of right, the 1987 Constitution directed the State to provide labor full protection and ensure the right of workers and their families to a living wage.

Regrettably, from the time the Constitution was ratified up to the present, the issue on living wage has never been addressed; one administration after the other deviated instead toward “wage-regionalization.” This consequently created wide gaps in wage levels all over the country.

Meanwhile, the wage-setting practice drifted toward containing the wages to the barest minimum, seeking the lowest level of balance in every region where the market clearing price of labor was primarily determined on the basis of employer’s capacity to pay rather than on the worker’s right to a living wage. The same problem exists in the public sector despite the salary standardization program.

This has created the condition for chronic poverty in the country, which has further deepened inequality as millions of workers are consigned to sustaining their families on wages that can hardly meet even half of the daily cost of living.

We, at Nagkaisa—a coalition of 47 labor federations, workers organizations in the private and public sectors, and urban and peasant groups—therefore, welcome the current administration’s plan to nationalize minimum wage, as announced recently by Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello. Indeed, there clearly is a need to rectify the deformed policy of regionalizing minimum wages.

However, a major government pronouncement remains a propaganda if left without form at the policy level. That, certainly, is what happened to the living wage principle that has lain lifeless in the Constitution for the last three decades. But with the new administration’s pledge to rectify the errors of previous administrations, Nagkaisa and the government can work together in achieving our common goal of stopping contractualization and realizing the living wage.

At this point, Nagkaisa gladly presumes that the Duterte administration remains committed to the principle of living wage and that its planned nationalization of minimum wage will ultimately lead to the realization of this goal. Workers, in the first place, deserve not a minimum wage but a fair share in the product of their labor.

Hence, encouraged by the announcement of Secretary Bello, Nagkaisa calls on Malacañang to issue an order directing all regional wage boards to set a uniform minimum wage based on the Metro Manila rate. At the same time, we call on President Duterte to certify as urgent a bill seeking the same and the repeal of the existing Wage Rationalization Act.

Nagkaisa also calls for a uniform application and implementation of the Salary Standardization Law among all local government units. Nagkaisa strongly believes in the principle of equal pay for equal work and work of equal value, not just for private sector workers but also for government employees who are in the same bind.

It is high time the Philippines ended wage-regionalization and -setting at the barest minimum. Nagkaisa believes this can be done, especially with government treating the labor movement as its main partner in this enormous reform endeavor.

—NAGKAISA (47 labor federations and workers organizations both in the private and public sectors) - By @inquirerdotnet

Labor unions press end to contractualization

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THE country’s biggest group of labor unions pressed for the total ban on contractualization scheme as it rejected the short-term hiring of workers for being illegal.

The Associated Labor Unions (ALU), through spokesperson Alan Tanjusay, on Sunday said short-term employment contracts, either through direct hiring by employers or through sub-contracting, violates Articles 106 to 109, Article 259, and Articles 294 to 296 of the Labor Code.

Leaders of ALU, along with Nagkaisa (Solidarity), an alliance of labor federations and workers’ organizations, and other labor groups are set to meet with Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd this week for another round of consultative discussions on the implementation of the President’s directive to put a stop to contractualization.

Earlier, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez proposed to end the contractualization scheme through the regularization of employees by manpower and recruitment agencies instead of the principal employer.

But Tanjusay pointed out that Lopez’s proposal is not acceptable because there is nothing in the law that allows it.

“This is not what our President Duterte has said in his vow to workers. The President has said to end contractualization, period. What Mr. Lopez and the employers’ lobby group are proposing now is still a form of contractualization and we strongly oppose it,” Tanjusay said.

ALU and its allied groups also called for a ban on all fixed-term employment and the repeal of all department orders that allows contractual work schemes .

The group said all employees should be regularized after the six-month probationary period as mandated by law.

“Labor groups have been lenient with government and employers by allowing them to have more flexibility in the past several decades. During these periods, employers’ profits improved and the country’s wealth developed. But workers’ and their families, who helped built that profit and wealth, are getting poorer because contractualization deprived them of their right to proper wages, adequate social protection and safe and healthy workplace,” Tanjusay pointed out.

Earlier, the militant Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) and its allied organizations dubbed Henry Sy as the country’s “King of Contractual Labor.” - By William Depasupil, The Manila Times

For Central Visayas workers: Labor groups to meet on wage hike amount

Last October 10, 2015, the wage board decided to integrate the P13 in the minimum wage, so that no private sector workers in Metro Cebu received a salary less than P353 per day. Philstar.com/File

CEBU, Philippines - Labor coalition Nagkaisa will have a consultation this week with various labor organizations as to how much increase they will be asking for workers in Central Visayas.

Dennis Derige, Nagkaisa convenor and Partido ng Manggagawa-Cebu spokesperson, said whether they would seek a wage increase or not is no longer an issue for them.

“The issue that will be tackled is how much is the amount,” he said.

Aside from PM, Nagkaisa includes SENTRO ng Manggagawang Pilipino, Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, Kilusan-Makabayan, Alliance of Genuine Labor Organization, PS-Link, Alliance of Progressive Labor-Central Visayas, among others.

It can be recalled that the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board-7 did not grant any wage hike last year; instead, it gave a P13-per-day increase in the Cost of Living Allowance for minimum wage earners in the private sector but for Metro Cebu only.

Last October 10, 2015, the wage board decided to integrate the P13 in the minimum wage, so that no private sector workers in Metro Cebu received a salary less than P353 per day.
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Prior to that, the Living Wage Coalition and ALU-TUCP filed for a wage adjustment of P145 per day and P92 per day, respectively, for all workers in Central Visayas. Both petitions did not prosper.

“We will fight that by this time, there should be an increase in the worker’s wages,” Derige said. — By Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/RHM (The Freeman)

Labor groups push for ‘just transition’ in March for Climate Justice

Echoing the view of global trade unions that a shift to lower carbon economy is not just necessary but inevitable to address the worsening climate crisis, the coalition of labor groups Nagkaisa marched with multisectoral groups in the March for Climate Justice held in Quezon City this morning.

The group denounces corporate greed for spawning both a humanitarian and environmental crisis as manifested in the intensification of exploitative working conditions and the acceleration of climate change.

“When corporations rule under the framework of unlimited greed, workers endure the worst kind of exploitation. And when climate crisis worsened as tons of carbon are emitted into the atmosphere by oil and energy companies, mining and other hard industries, everyone suffers the brunt most particularly the poor people living in most vulnerable countries like the Philippines,” said Nagkaisa in a statement.

The group pointed out that while the country is less in carbon emission, her position of vulnerability can generate a powerful voice for demanding climate justice during negotiations.

“Unfortunately our government tailgated weakly behind the US position of simply having Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) process instead of playing hardball in pressing a return to binding cuts based on science and common but differential responsibility and which will limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius,” lamented Nagkaisa.

The group said that even with INDC process and actual submissions, the UNEP still anticipates a 4-6 degrees Celsius, rendering the COP ineffective.

Workers were also apprehensive of the fact that while governments are active in climate negotiations, the next one in Paris next week, most of them didn’t have a clear framework on how to fine-tune this transition to lower carbon economy in a manner acceptable to the people.

Nagkaisa is pushing the framework for a ‘just transition’ which promotes social justice and employment, requires active government intervention, and demands proportionate responsibility from all stakeholders, including business.

“The Philippines, for instance, has not explicitly declared a timeline to when fossil-fuelled power plants are finally phased out so that the transition is clearly plotted in favour of renewable energy and the creation of climate jobs,” the group said.

The coalition believes further that thousands of climate jobs can be created in the country in the shift to renewable energy, disaster response and building climate resilient communities that includes resettlement in climate-proof buildings and housing projects, as well as the greening of mass transport system.

“Funding is main requirement for this shift. In climate negotiations, the rich industrial nations must be made responsible in funding the transition of most vulnerable nations,” the group added.

Meanwhile, Nagkaisa said transition policies should not, in any way, transgress into the framework of decent work since regular job and social security help build the resiliency of many people against the wrath of Mother Nature.

Labor hits plan to hide homeless

THE country’s largest coalition of labor unions blasted the government Tuesday for trying to hide the homeless during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit this month in Manila, prompting another denial from the Palace that the P4,000 given to each poor family was aimed at getting them out of the city during the event.

“The expanded or modified CCT [conditional cash trasfer] is part of a government program to promote poverty reduction and social development of the poorest of the poor in the country,” said Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. The recent P4,000 dole, he added, was part of that program.

But Wilson Fortaleza, spokesman for Partido Manggagawa, one of 49 labor organizations belonging to Nagkaisa, said the government had hidden away the homeless before, during the papal visit in January, when it took them off the streets and booked them in a resort for the duration of the pope’s stay.

On Saturday, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said the department’s project for the street families during Apec was a way of “reaching out” to the poor.

Kabataan Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon, however, said Soliman was planning to hid them again in resorts.

Ridon had earlier asked the DSWD if it would repeat its “vanishing act” on the homeless.

In response to Ridon, DSWD budget sponsor Rep. Maria Carmen Zamora said that the department could not commit to stopping the outings, since the modified CCT was still ongoing.

She added that such activities had been going on, even after the pope’s visit.

“I take that to mean, then, that the DSWD will be repeating this deplorable vanishing act during the Apec summit?” Ridon retorted.

Zamora replied: “The DSWD will continue with the [program] even during the Apec summit, because it is the mandate of the DSWD.”

DSWD has asked Congress for a P62.6-billion budget for the conditional cash transfer program for 2016.

“Today, DSWD not only confirmed that the policy of hiding poor families has continued, but that they will repeat this act come November. This, ladies and gentlemen, is your shameless government that continues to resort to sweeping the escalating poverty... under the rug,” Ridon said.

Vice presidential candidate and Senator Francis Escudero hit the government for its double standard in dealing with the homeless.

He said there was something “severely wrong” when the government could move swiftly to give street dwellers in Manila financial assistance to relocate because they were “eyesores,” while leaving more than 200,000 families who survived Typhoon “Yolanda” two years ago languishing in temporary shelters.

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo earlier blasted the government for its plan to conceal the homeless during the Apec summit by giving them money to be used for renting temporary homes from Nov. 15 to 20.

Deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte defended the DSWD, saying this was part of the government’s program to give homeless families “dignified living quarters,” and not because of Apec.

United Nationalist Alliance spokesman Mon Ilagan branded as “shameful” the government’s clearing of Metro Manila streets of homeless people.

He said “window dressing” poverty remains as the biggest moral scandal of the government.

“Why do you have to hide them? To cover up the inefficiencies of this government?” he also asked.

“The administration is ashamed of the poor but what’s more embarrassing is that after five years the numbers on poverty and hunger have worsened,” he added.

He said the “band-aid” solutions implemented by the administration have failed to address poverty. by Sandy Araneta With Macon Ramos Araneta / The Standard

20 million contractuals in govt, private sectors

The country’s biggest coalition of labor groups on Tuesday said labor contractualization brought up by Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. the other day was “extremely condemnable,” citing 20 million who have fallen victim to the malpractice.

The coalition Nagkaisa’s Sonny Matula, a lawyer, said the “5-5-5” labor contract was already declared illegal by the Supreme Court in the case of Purefoods vs National Labor Relations Commission in 1997.

“[But it] is still rampant today and it seems that the [Aquino] administration is helpless to curb it,” Matula added.

According to the Nagkaisa, an association of 49 progressive labor unions and federations headed by the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), there are about 20 million contractual workers in the government and private sectors as of September of this year out of over 41 million salaried workers/employees in the country.

On Monday, Marcos described contractualization as “oppressive,” saying there is one contractual worker for every three rank-and-file employees among the country’s entire workforce who is underpaid and barred from receiving additional financial benefits on top of his basic pay.

Matula, president of Federation of Free Workers, said the “5-5-5”

practice is a blatant disregard of employment security as guaranteed by the Constitution.

Under the practice, a worker is replaced by another also under a five-month contract.

A six month’s employment makes it mandatory for an employer to make an employee a regular one.

According to Leody de Guzman, president of the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, the concept of contractualization has prevented workers from joining labor unions and pushing collective bargaining agreements.

Mark Tanjusay, spokesman for the TUCP-Nagkaisa, said contractualization also prevents workers from benefiting from the country’s “growing economy.”

Tanjusay added that they have been urging Congress to pass the proposed Security of Tenure Act to assure that 90 percent of workers in every business establishment in the country are employed as regulars, while only 10 percent are contractuals. - by NELSON S. BADILLA, REPORTER The Manila Times

Five labor groups: Pass 2,000 pension hike now

FIVE of the biggest labor organizations in the Philippines on Thursday strongly urged the Senate to immediately pass the proposed law requiring the Social Security System (SSS) to increase the monthly pension of about 1.9 million retired workers by P2,000.

The call of Trade Union Congress of the Philippines-Nagkaisa (TUCP), Nagkaisa, Partido Manggagawa (PM), Federation of Free Workers (FFW), and Labor Party of the Philippines (LLP) was issued for the Senate to hasten the passage of the House Bill No. 5842 that was adopted and sponsored by Sen. Cynthia Villar on August 26.

Alan Tanjusay, spokesman of TUCP—Nagkaisa, said the approval must be immediate since the 1.9 million SSS pensioners badly needed the money to augment their budget for their monthly expenses on medicines, electricity, water, and so on.

Renato Magtubo, former congressman and now chairman of PM, said his group is strongly calling the attention of the senators to prioritize the proposed P2,000 increase on the SSS monthly pension since “there is no dramatic increase on the amount of pension that SSS pensioners have been receiving for a long period of time.”

Magtubo stressed that Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares’ proposal was “timely [despite] the amount was small [because it] will surely help retirees/pensioners in their needs most specially their medical needs.”

Sonny Matula, a lawyer who chairs FFW, likewise pointed out that the SSS pensioners “badly needed” the P2,000 hike.

Tanjusay noted that even Nagkaisa (coalition of 90 percent of labor unions in the country) and LLP are in full support of the proposed SSS pension increase because it would benefit around 1.9 million retired workers from private firms.

On August 26, the Senate Committee on Government Corporations and Public Enterprises chaired by Sen. Villar cited HB 5842 in her sponsorship speech.

In the same day, Villar made the sponsorship on the Report No. 213 of the Committee on Government Corporations and Public Enterprises.

As she made the sponsorship, Villar said, “Kasi sa tinatanggap na monthly pension ng ating mga retiradong manggagawa na minimum of between P1,200 and P2,400, mabibilang sila sa mga Pilipinong living below the poverty line. In fact, kahit na dagdagan pa ang kanilang monthly pension ng P2,000 ayon sa ating rekomendasyon, hindi pa rin nila malalampasan ang poverty threshold. As such, they will still be labeled as poor… Ibig sabihin, matapos magtrabaho ang mga pribadong manggagawa ng 20 taon, kapag sila ay retirado na, marami sa kanila, na aasa na lang sa monthly pension nila, ay mamumuhay below the poverty line. Medyo nakakalungkot naman ang hahantungan ng mga empleyado sa ating bansa [The minimum monthly pension received by retired employees is between P1,200 and P2,400, and they would be classified as Filipinos living below the poverty line. In fact, even if we add P2,000 on their monthly pension, based on our recommendation, they still would be in the lines of poverty threshold. As such, they will still be labeled as poor… This means that after working for 20 years, when they retire, most of them would just depend on their monthly pension and they would be living below the poverty line. It’s saddening that this is the fate of retired workers in our country.”

After August 26, Villar’s committee has yet to make a follow-up action on the proposed law.

The proposed law specifically intends to amend Section 12 of Republic Act No. 1161, which states that workers who have 10 years of SSS monthly contribution will receive P1,200 monthly pension and those who have 20 years of SSS monthly contribution will get P2,400 monthly pension.

Unfortunately, reports have been floating to the media that the government agency could not afford to finance the P49 billion budget for the increase from year 2016 to 2042.

This led Rep. Colmenares to blow his top last week saying “the SSS [must] stop scaring the Senate from the P2,000 pension increase by claiming that Social Security System (SSS) has no funds for the increase.”

“SSS should stop trying to delude the people and the Senate that it has no funds for the P2,000 pension increase because this is not true. The SSS Board is tryng to sabotage the passage of the P2,000 pension increase, even if it has actually admitted several times that it has the funds for the pension increase. The increase will only shorten its fund life to 2029 instead of the current 2042,” Colmenares added. - by NELSON S. BADILLA REPORTER / The Manila Times

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.