Volume III - Number 3 - Department of Labor and Employment

W
hile businesses coped with the looming
threats of the global financial crisis and the
demanding challenges of globalization,
the nation’s informal economy remained sturdy
and unyielding. Such display of resiliency amidst
tribulation can be largely attributed to the informal
sector (IS) workers’ resolute attitude which has helped
the country survive numerous financial strains in the
past.
Indigent yet resilient, the glut of informal sector
(IS) workers in the streets has been the silent
majority recognized by the Department of Labor
and Employment’s (DOLE) through the Negosyo sa
Kariton, or Nego-Kart Project.
Through its regional and field offices and
collaboration with its accredited co-partners, the
DOLE has been implementing the Nego-Kart Project
not only to assist the unemployed, but also to improve
PROUD NEGO-KART OWNERS.
and change the lives of many hard-working, but lowJuliet and Richard share smiles
of empowerment as they
income vendors across the country.
peddle their food cart in the
For Juliet Abad, a 38-year-old mother of two
streets of Bataan.
from Mariveles Bataan,
the Nego-Kart Project has
been her ticket not only
Juliet received from the DOLE Bataan Field
to a better life, but also to
Office a newly furbished vending cart with
the road towards women
working capital and livelihood tools amounting
empowerment.
to P15,000.
A former factory worker
Meanwhile, the local government provided
with her husband, Richard,
its 25 percent counterpart assistance to Juliet
Juliet knew that their daily
and other NegoKart beneficiaries in the form of
income, which is below the
various capability building and skills trainings
minimum wage, cannot
relative to their choice of business.
sustain their family’s daily
The LGU of Bataan shall also shoulder the
subsistence.
What was even more threatening for Juliet was the initial payments of social benefits of the beneficiaries which
precarious working condition they endured at the factory just include their social security system (SSS), Pag-IBIG, and
PhilHealth.
to earn a penny.
“Napakalaking bagay po na mapili ako sa dami ng mga street
“Dati, ang sahod namin ng mister ko bilang factory worker ay
hindi talaga sapat para sa aming pamilya. Kulang na kulang talaga vendors dito sa Mariveles. Isang biyaya na po na ako po ay naging
ang kinikita namin para sa mga gastusin sa bahay tulad ng mga kabilang sa mga qualified beneficiaries ng DOLE Nego-Kart
bilihin para sa amin at ng mga bata, pambayad ng renta sa bahay at Project,” Juliet shared.
Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapiliskuryente. Ang nakakatakot pa ay yung uri ng aming trabaho dahil
exposed po kami sa mga sari-saring kemikal sa factory,” Juliet Baldoz hailed the efforts of DOLE Regional Office No. 3 and
its Field Offices in continuously facilitating the provision of
recalled.
Plying to a better and safer trade, Juliet and Richard livelihood packages, saying that “the DOLE is giving equal
treaded the bustling streets of Barangay Laya in Mariveles as entrepreneurial opportunities to a wide range of beneficiaries,
they started their small ‘street food’ vending business. Juliet including women workers.”
“As we celebrate Women’s month, it is right to recognize
peddled from sunrise till dawn just to meet their family’s
the stories of inspiring women workers who believed that they
needs and continuously send their children to school.
Recognizing and rewarding Juliet’s hard work, DOLE and can be sufficient through self-employment. Our assistance is
Public Employment Service Office (PESO) selected her as not a dole-out but a means of giving them a sense of dignity
one of the lucky recipients of the DOLE’s Nego-Kart Project to be capacitated on entrepreneurial activities,” Baldoz said.
Turn to page 8
in Bataan.
In Bataan,
Nego-Kart project
turns former factory
worker into an
empowered woman
entrepreneur
DOLE Good News
DOLE call center reports fewer 13th month payment complaints
T
he DOLE’s early and consistent
campaign urging companies to
voluntarily comply with core
labor standards, such as the payment
of the 13th month pay on or before
December 24 of each year, seem to be
bearing fruit if complaints to the DOLE
call center are to be gauged.
This is the statement of Secretary
Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz as she
reported the decreasing number of 13th
month pay queries made before the
DOLE call center.
“In December 2012, the call center
received 1,317 queries related to 13th
month pay. But as we intensively
advocated for the rightful release of the
employees’ 13th month pay, the queries
dwindled down to 253 when January
2013 came,” Baldoz said.
The same trend was recorded in
December 2011 when 13th month payrelated calls was 815, while the January
2012 calls tallied at only 220.
Last year, the DOLE invigorated
a nationwide public
information campaign urging employers
to comply with core labor standards,
reminding and warning them of their
obligation to pay the mandatory holiday
pay especially Christmas holidays.
“As we encourage companies to
voluntarily comply with core labor
standards through our “no compromise”
policy on compliance, more workers
have been vigilant with their rights under
the core labor standards, particularly
holiday payment as mandated by law,”
Baldoz said.
Established in 2005, the DOLE
Call Center was placed directly
under the supervision of the Labor
Communications
Office,
the
public communications arm of the
Department, to serve as the DOLE’s
feedback mechanism in gauging the
public’s pulse on its programs and
service deliveries.
As one of the DOLE’s frontline
services, the DOLE call center strictly
values feedback, one of the strategies in
the sustaining outcomes identified under
the Labor and Employment Plan 20112016 calling for institutional reforms
toward transparency, accountability,
and respect for law.
The DOLE call center determines
client satisfaction by asking callers if
they are satisfied with the responses of
DOLE call center personnel, consistent
with the Secretary’s directive to DOLE
officials and employees to ensure
efficient and effective client services
delivery.
(The DOLE Call Center, which
operates on its philosophy S.M.I.L.E.
(Serbisyong Magalang, Mahusay na
Impormasyon sa Labor at Employment),
operates from 6:00 A.M. to 9:00 P.M.,
Monday to Saturday. Its hotline
number is 527-8000.)
WHO YOU GONNA CALL? As one of the DOLE’s
frontline services, the DOLE call center strictly
values feedback, one of the strategies in the
sustaining outcomes identified under the Labor and
Employment Plan 2011-2016.
Editor
NICON F. FAMERONAG
Director, LCO
Associate Editor
KAREN R. SERRANO
The DOLE Good News is published by the Department
of Labor and Employment, with editorial office at the
Labor Communications Office, 6th Floor, DOLE Building,
Intramuros, Manila. The views expressed herein are
those of the writers and/or their sources and do not
necessarily reflect those of the DOLE’s or the Philippine
Government’s.
Readers’ queries, comments, and suggestions are welcome.
Mail or fax them in, or call us at telephone numbers 5273000 loc. 621. Our fax number is 527-3446. You may also
visit our website: www.dole.gov.ph; or e-mail us at dole_lco@
yahoo.com or [email protected].
March 2013
Staff Writers
JOSE C. DE LEON
MARK JAIME L. CERDENIA
MA. VERONICA R. ALMAZORA
CELESTE T. MARING
HAZEL JOY T. GALAMAY
REVELITA F. LAXINA
Editorial Assistants
GIRLIE MARLYN E. ARCE
MADELYN D. DOMETITA
Contributing Regional Writers
DIANA JOYZ ESGUERRA - NCR
ALDRIN L. APOLONIO - CAR
ARLY S. VALDEZ - Region 1
REGINALD B. ESTIOCO - Region 2
JEREMIAH M. BORJA - Region 3
FRANZ RAYMOND AQUINO - Region 4A
ANDREA JOY AGUTAYA - Region 4B
RAYMOND P. ESCALANTE - Region 5
AMALIA N. JUDICPA - Region 6
EMMANUEL Y. FERRER - Region 7
VIRGILIO A. DOROJA, JR. - Region 8
Graphic Artist
GREGORIO I. GALMAN
GAY IRIS TANGCALAGAN - Region 9
Photographer
JOMAR S. LAGMAY
JOCELYN C. FLORDELIS - Region 11
Circulation Manager
GIRLIE MARLYN E. ARCE
MILDRED E. DABLIO - Region 10
CHARMAINE DAWN L. SONSONA - Region 12
FRANCIS Y. NAZARIO - Caraga
DOLE Good News
A
t 18, cousins Aiza and Ronald
Niñofranco already mirrored
the faces of child labor in
Aklan. Hailing from the small barangay
of Mamba in Madalag, they have no
other choice but to face the inevitable
truth of sacrificing the perks of a jovial
youth as they entered the world of work
at an early age.
Ronald, the second of four children,
dropped out of school to help earn
for the family and joined the group
of sacada workers in going to Negros
Occidental during the start of the
milling season in 2011. He was then 17
years old and had just finished his first
year in high school.
Sharing the same fate, Aiza is the
eldest of three children. Her father
is also a sacada worker. After her
high school graduation in 2011, she
already worked as house help in
the municipalities of Malinao and
Tangalan at the age of 16.
With her strong adage in education
as her key to a better life, Aiza
graduated valedictorian in high
school. Her desire to continue her
college education is so great that she
never ceases dreaming of having
a career one day. She knew that
her father’s meager income could
hardly support the family needs.
“Life did not give us much
choice, but we could not complain. All
we could do is help ourselves and our
family,” Aiza said.
A twist of fate dramatically changed
Aiza and Ronald’s lives when they
were chosen by the local government
of Madalag as beneficiaries of the
Department of Labor and Employment’s
Child Labor-Free Barangay Campaign
in Aklan last October 2012.
In 2012, the DOLE, through its
regional offices, reached 89 barangays
and benefited 4,863 child laborers and
1,849 parents with various converged
programs and services with its
community-based Child Labor-Free
Barangay Campaign which cascaded
the government’s action to minimize,
if not end, child labor in the country.
“The DOLE’s child labor-free
barangay campaign sets the tone for
child laborers and their parents in
the target barangays to take the first
step towards self-transformation and
empowerment through education or
other interventions,” Baldoz said.
Former child
laborers shun
sacada work,
welcome
hotel job
DECENT JOBS, BETTER LIVES.
SPES-TWSP scholars Ronald
(top) and Aiza (left) have bid
goodbye to their former sacada
work as they welcome their new
housekeeping jobs at Boracay
Regency Resort and Convention
Center in Aklan.
“At the barangay level, we are
implementing measures to prevent
and eliminate child labor with the
full support of the community and its
leaders,” she added.
Ronald grabbed the opportunity.
The night before the campaign, he
prepared a letter addressed to Labor
and Employment Secretary Rosalinda
Dimapilis- Baldoz requesting assistance
that he may be removed from his sacada
work.
During the campaign in Aklan,
Baldoz, through DOLE Regional Office
No. 6 Director Ponciano Ligutom,
granted Ronald’s wish and assisted him
in pursuing any technical-vocational
course under the Technical Education
and Skills Development Authority
(TESDA).
Under the Special Program for
Employment of Students - Training
for Work Scholarship Program (SPESTWSP) Ronald and Aiza both received
scholarships which supported their
schooling at Panay Technological
College in Kalibo, Aklan.
After two and a half months,
they successfully passed the
TESDA assessment and finally
received their National Certificate
II (NC II) in Housekeeping last 09
February 2013.
Luck continues to knock on their
doors as the cousins both found
jobs at Boracay Regency Resort and
Convention Center, one of the premier
resorts in Boracay Island, Aklan. They
already began their training on 10
March as housekeeping staff.
No words could express Aiza
and Ronald’s gratefulness to the
government, especially to the DOLE,
for the unexpected blessing. Their
strong adage for a better life continues
as they now reflect the faces of educated
and empowered youth.
“I was very happy then. I never
thought that kind of opportunity will
come my way. I was already contented
with the kind of life that I had, but I
could not keep myself from dreaming
that one day I could go back to school;
that was the opportunity that I waited
for,” Ronald shared.
March 2013
DOLE Good News
“Our time-tested
strategies of 24/7 conciliation and team/
buddy conciliation have been effective in diffusing
tensions between labor and management, preventing
what could have been debilitating strikes in many
companies.”
– NCMB Executive Director Reynaldo R. Ubaldo
1st Quarter 2013:
industrial peace
situation remains
peaceful and stable
N
CMB Executive Director
Reynaldo R. Ubaldo has
reported that the entire country
was strike-free for the first three months
of 2013.
In his report to Labor Secretary
Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz, Director
Ubaldo said that it was the second year
in a row that no strike occurred during
the first quarter.
“We did this through the provision
of timely, efficient, and effective
conciliation-mediation services to
parties involved in potential or brewing
labor disputes,” he said.
“Our time-tested strategies of
24/7 conciliation and team/buddy
conciliation have been effective in
diffusing tensions between labor and
management, preventing what could
have been debilitating strikes in many
companies,” Ubaldo said further.
Team conciliation and 24/7 scheme
in attending to conciliation-mediation
cases are being implemented by the
NCMB to effectively manage labor
disputes and minimize, if not prevent
losses to the workers, to the company,
and to the economy.
March 2013
Under the 24/7 scheme, conciliatormediators are on call 24 hours a day,
seven days a week to ensure quick
response to clients’ requests for
assistance and to make sure that labor
disputes are attended to, with the
purpose of bringing about early and
amicable settlement.
Team, or buddy, conciliation is a
scheme or strategy anchored on the
principle “Two heads are better than
one”. It involves partnering of two to
three conciliators whose combined
efforts and expertise are expected to
facilitate settlement of critical and
difficult cases.
“Threats of a strike also declined
considerably, as notices of strike filed by
unions continue to follow a downward
trend,” Director Ubaldo disclosed further.
He said that NCMB regional branches
received 36 notices of strike during the
quarter, 14% fewer than the 42 cases
docketed during the same period last
year.
There is a slight increase in workers
involved in new notices of strike,
though, hinting that bigger companies
are the targets of fresh strike threats.
Some 5,334 workers are involved in
the 36 NS cases received during the
first quarter of 2013, 2% more than the
5,230 workers involved in the 42 cases
docketed in similar period in 2012.
Independent unions account for close
to half – 17 cases or 47% – of the 36
new notices filed during the quarter.
Others were filed by affiliated unions
and federations.
In 2012, all the three strikes were
declared by unions allied with NAFLUKMU. Of the 33 notices of strike
pending as of 31 March 2013, ten cases
were filed by unions allied with either
KMU or NAFLU.
“We continue to exert efforts to
maintain the current state of labor
relations in the country, so disruptions
in the industrial front do not get in the
way of the administration’s efforts to
secure a better life for our people, most
especially the private sector workers
who comprise a large segment of our
population,” Ubaldo said.
Secretary
Baldoz
commended
NCMB for its efforts and said that “
win- win” strategy through conciliation
and settlement is the best.
DOLE Good News
L
abor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda
Dimapilis-Baldoz commended the DOLE
Regional Office No. 6 for successfully
resolving the retirement benefit claim of a rice
mill worker in only about three hours through the
Single Entry Approach (SEnA) 30-day conciliationmediation mechanism.
Citing the report of DOLE Region 6 Director
Ponciano Ligutom, Baldoz said the SEnA
settlement involved Angelo Alog, a worker at the
Midway Rice Mill, Jaro, Iloilo, who received his
P200,000 retirement benefits after he requested the
assistance of the DOLE regional office. Alog, of
Brgy. Sambag, Jaro, retired from his job at the rice
mill when he turned 60 last 9 February 2013.
After a week, he went to his employer, Andrew
Lim Sui, to get his retirement benefits but was
instructed to go to his employer’s accountant.
Manong Angel, as Alog is fondly called, expected
he would receive over a hundred thousand pesos,
having worked for the rice mill for more than 30
years. However, to his surprise, the accountant
pegged his retirement benefit to only P82,000.
Alog did not accept the money. On 18 February,
he went to the DOLE Iloilo-Guimaras Field Office
to request for assistance. Angelo Bedia, the SEnA
Desk Officer (SEADO) attended to Manong Angel’s
request. He explained the SEnA to the worker, how
it works, and assisted him in accomplishing the
request for assistance form. He also immediately
called Lim Sui to a conference.
At around 2:00 P.M. that same day, Lim Sui
appeared before the SEADO. Bedia explained
to the employer the provisions of the retirement
law. Lim Sui understood the explanation so that
when he was presented the computation of Alog’s
retirement benefit of P200,000, he immediately
agreed to pay.
At noon the following day, Manong Angel
received a check for P200,000 in front of the desk
officer.
“Nagapasalamat guid ako sa DOLE kay nahibalu-an
ko na ang akon kinamatarong. Tama guid ang desisyon
ko nga magpangayo bulig diri, nahibalu-an ko ang
nagakadapat ko nga batunon,” (I thank the DOLE
because through it I knew my rights. I made the
right decision of seeking its help for I was informed
of the exact amount I that should receive.)
Manong Angel was very happy when he received
the check. He was glad that he solicited the
assistance of the DOLE; without it, he could not
have received his entire retirement benefits.
He shared that his peers who retired earlier
received a lesser amount.
After he got his retirement check, Manong Angel
said he will advise his other co-workers who are
about to retire to seek the help of DOLE so that
they, too, will receive the exact amount of their
benefits fast without going through a litigious and
confrontational process.
In Iloilo, DOLE resolves
worker’s retirement
benefit claim in 3 hours
through SEnA
“Nagapasalamat guid ako sa DOLE kay nahibaluan ko na ang akon kinamatarong. Tama guid ang
desisyon ko nga magpangayo bulig diri, nahibaluan ko ang nagakadapat ko nga batunon,” (I thank
the DOLE because through it I knew my rights.
I made the right decision of seeking its help for I
was informed of the exact amount I that should
receive.)
– Angelo Alog, a 60-year old retired worker from Iloilo City
March 2013
DOLE Good News
I
n the Municipality of Balungao in
Pangasinan, tupig has been known
to be one of the town’s best native
delicacy. Such homegrown product
not only tickles the tastes of Filipinos,
but also the tourists who visit the great
attractions of the North.
The booming venture of tupig
production inspired the 25 members
of the Tupig Makers Association of
Balungao (TMAB) to turn their simple
homespun trade into a community
enterprise.
In 2009, the DOLE Regional Office
No. 1, together with the local government
of Balungao as the accredited co-partner,
awarded a total of P144,300 to the group
as they jumpstart their tupig-making
livelihood.
The 25 TMAB members underwent
project management training, simple
bookkeeping/financial
management
and values orientation. The LGU of
Balungao also provided the tupig-makers
with technical and marketing assistance.
Tupig-maker Marites Camba recounts
that producing 500 to 1,000 pieces of
tupig daily would mean a take home pay
of P500.
But Marites and the rest of the
members of TMAB did not stop in
dreaming big for their chosen livelihood
venture. The DOLE Regional Office
shared their aspiration of making tupig
as a world-class product.
Creating a ripple effect to ensure the
sustainability of tupig production, the
DOLE awarded P498,069 financial grant
for the Tupig Livelihood Enhancement
and Integrated Agricultural Production,
which benefitted 100 persons, including
the 25 members of TMAB.
The assistance also benefitted 35 rice
farmers, 25 banana planters, and 25
charcoal makers as the DOLE supported
the allied livelihood activities related to
tupig-making such as the production of
glutinous rice and banana and charcoal
briquetting.
“Through the DOLE’s Integrated
Livelihood
Program-Community
Enterprise Development, we envision a
more sustainable community enterprise
through the infusion of more funds
and services in the local industry,
thereby assisting individual workers
and community groups in developing
livelihood activities right in the
communities” DOLE Regional Office
No. 1 Director Grace Ursua said.
“Convergence is the key. Through
the DOLE’s convergence with other
partner agencies, we move in providing
more worker-groups with productivity
improvement services to enhance the
enterprises’
competitiveness,”
she
added.
The DILP is one of the DOLE’s
program enrolled under the government’s
Community-Based
Employment
Program (CBEP) which aims to
generate sustainable local enterprises
towards increased self-employment and
productivity across the regions.
Making tupig a world-class delicacy,
Pangasinan tupig-makers reveal the secret
to a successful community enterprise
LOCAL TASTE AT WORLDCLASS LEVEL. Tupig-maker
Marites Camba has been one
of the proud locals of Balungao
in Pangasinan, who continues
to turn their homespun trade
into a growing community
enterprise.
March 2013
The DILP is designed to organize
and focus services delivery of various
government agencies and private
organizations to achieve a systematic
and rational convergence of such services
and assistance to the community.
The convergence of DOLE and
the Municipal Agriculture Office of
Balungao paved the way for sound
agricultural practices in glutinous rice
production.
The Department of Trade and
Industry introduced the beneficiaries
to product quality and competitiveness,
packaging and labeling, marketing and
linking assistance through trade fairs.
Technology for better productivity
alongside
with
environmental
consciousness was also instilled among the
beneficiaries of the charcoal briquetting
project through the assistance of the
Department of Science and Technology.
Access to social protection schemes
was also afforded the beneficiaries
through the Social Security System and
PhilHealth.
Through the power of convergence,
the project underwent full-blown
transformation in terms of tools, product
quality and competitiveness, productivity
and returns/profits.
From the open grill on which they
used to cook the tupig, their cooking
equipment now has a roof and a
stainless steel body with glass display
compartment.
Even the native delicacy itself has been
“dignified” with its appealing packaging
and labeling, a total make-over from
the usual old newspaper which was
traditionally used as wrapper.
Marites shares that she and her
colleagues have also diversified the
flavors of the tupigs. Consumers can
now select among peanut, cheese, and
the original young coconut flavor.
“Now, our tupig is marketed not only
in the country, but reaches as far as
HongKong, Singapore, Spain, Canada,
and the US,” Marites said.
With their improved and increased
tupig production, Marites proudly
remarks that TMAB’s production has
increased to 1,500-3000 pieces daily.
Consequently, each member’s income
doubled, making it decent enough for a
family’s daily subsistence.
For Marites, her income from tupigmaking allowed her to send one of her
child to college and two to high school.
DOLE Good News
PH-GERMANY SIGN
RECRUITMENT ACCORD.
Philippine Overseas
Employment Administrator
Hans Leo J. Cacdac
(seated, left) and Federal
Employment Agency/
International Placement
Services Director Monika
Varnhagen sign the
“Agreement Concerning
the Placement of Filipino
Health Professionals in
Employment Positions in
the Federal Republic of
Germany”. Witnessing the
historical signing, which
was held recently at the
DOLE conference room
in Intramuros, Manila, are
Labor and Employment
Secretary Rosalinda
Dimapilis-Baldoz (standing,
left) and German Labor
Minister Ursula von der
Leyen.
DOLE welcomes labor agreement
with Germany on health care professionals
L
abor and Employment Secretary
Rosalinda
Dimapilis-Baldoz,
German Minister of Labor and
Social Affairs Dr. Ursula Von Der Leyen,
German Ambassador to the Philippines
Dr. Joachim Heidorn, and Philippine
Ambassador to Germany Ma. Cleofe
Natividad witnessed the signing of the
“Agreement Concerning the Placement
of Filipino Health Care Professionals
in Employment Positions in the Federal
Republic of Germany” between the
Philippine Overseas Employment
Administration (POEA) headed by
Administrator Hans Leo J. Cacdac
and the German Federal Employment
Agency (Bundesagentur fur Arbeit,
or BA) headed by Director Monika
Varnhagen in a simple ceremony at the
DOLE in Intramuros, Manila.
The agreement paves the way for
the opening of the German health
care sector for Filipino healthcare
professionals, including nurses.
Baldoz, after the agreement’s
signing, hailed the quick and successful
conclusion of the initiative as “a
beginning of a stronger relationship
between the Philippines and Germany
in the field of labor and employment”.
The bilateral labor agreement covers
the following areas of cooperation
between the two countries: (a) regulation
on the deployment of Filipino health
care professionals; (b) preservation,
promotion, and development of
Filipino workers’ welfare; (c) exchange
of ideas and information with the
aim of improving amd simplifying
job placement procedures; and (d)
other relevant technical and HRD
cooperation and continuing studies in
labor and employment.
Under
the
agreement,
each
party undertakes to ensure that the
recruitment and deployment of
Filipino health care professionals are
in accordance with existing laws of
each country; that Filipino health
care professionals to be deployed have
appropriate employment contracts;
and that they are provided with
proper briefing or orientation before
departure.
The agreement provides that Filipino
health care professionals may not be
employed in Germany under working
conditions less favorable than those for
comparable German workers. They
will also have compulsory insurance
in the German social security system,
such as health and long-term care
insurance, pension, accident, and
unemployment insurance. German
employers must also provide them
adequate accommodation.
“There will be a standard bilingual
labor employment contract to be used
for the placement of Filipino health
care professionals. Both parties will
exert efforts to ensure observance of the
workers’ rights,” Baldoz elaborated.
She further explained that both
parties to the agreement will explore
projects to sustain and promote HRD
in the Philippines.
“While the bilateral labor agreement
establishes the conditions for the
recruitment and employment of
Filipino health care professionals,
including nurses, to Germany to
address the shortage of health care
workers in that country, the provisions
on recognition of qualifications and
mechanisms to ensure the sustainability
of trained and qualified health care
professionals in the Philippines
through HRD cooperation are very
important given the concerns of the
Philippine health sector on their active
migration,” Baldoz emphasized.
“We have to ensure that the migration
of our workers takes place under an
ethical recruitment framework that
benefits the sending and receiving
country,” she further said.
March 2013
First in DOLE History: Public to be consulted
online in crafting Rules and Regulations
on Kasambahay Law
T
he Department of Labor and
Employment (DOLE) has
again turned to the online
gateway to solicit public involvement
in the crafting of policy, this time, to ask
public comments on the government
draft of the Implementing Rules and
Regulations (IRR) on the recently
enacted landmark law, Republic Act
10361, or ‘An Act Instituting Policies
for the Protection and Welfare of
Domestic Workers’.
Yesterday, Labor and Employment
Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz
directed the Labor Communications
Office, in cooperation with the
DOLE’s
Bureau
of
Working
Conditions and the Planning Service,
to post at the DOLE official website,
www.dole.gov.ph, the government’s
draft of the IRR, saying this will help
the DOLE raise awareness, solicit
inputs faster, and make transparent
the crafting of the IRR.
“The online posting of the IRR on
the Batas Kasambahay will provide
the general public a venue to study
the IRR and make comment/s or
suggestion/s on its final version. It
will give Filipino netizens a channel
to express their views on the landmark
document after years of legislative
struggle,” Baldoz said.
“This is part of our strategy to raise
the level of public knowledge on the
salient provisions of the law which
aims to provide adequate welfare
and social protection to our Filipino
household service workers,” she
added.
Baldoz emphasized that the DOLE’s
online solicitation of comments on the
IRR is in addition to the nationwide
face-to-face,
group
consultations with all
relevant stakeholders
scheduled for the whole
month of April.
“We have decided to
upload the draft IRR
in the Internet to get
as many comments as
possible, because even
some DOLE officials
and employees and
members of the media
have raised questions on
the Batas Kasambahay which need to
be addressed and clarified,” the labor
and employment chief explained.
The Batas Kasambahay section
at the DOLE’s website features the
simplified Q and A, both in English
and Tagalog version, to ensure that
awareness about R.A. No. 10361 will
reach and be understood by a wider
audience.
The section even provides a
‘freedom wall’ where the public can
leave their queries, comments, and
other significant suggestions and
inputs regarding the IRR draft on
the Department’s designated e-mail
addresses.
“We want the public and our
partners to get involved in shaping
the implementing rules of this social
legislation. By doing so, we hope to
solicit not only valuable inputs, but
also support, which will make the
law’s implementation effective and
smooth.
Last January 18, President Benigno
Aquino III signed into law the
Kasambahay Bill which has been the
most fitting gift that the government
has given to over 2.9 million Filipino
domestic helpers.
The
Batas
Kasambahay
institutionalizes the provision
of a comprehensive package of
benefits to Filipino household
service workers, including their
entitlement to 13th month pay;
service incentive leaves; and social
welfare benefits such as SSS, PAGIBIG, and PhilHealth.
The law fulfills the country’s
obligation to enact a national
legislation in compliance with the
International
Labor
Organization’s (ILO)
adoption of Convention
189 which sets new
international standards
for the protection of
household helpers.
“Be updated and
know the latest on the
Batas
Kasambahay.
Visit
the
DOLE’s
website and check out
our Batas Kasambahay
section,” Baldoz said.
Nego-Kart project . . .
(from page 1)
Baldoz emphasized that the theme
of the Women’s Month celebration,
“Kababaihan, Gabay sa Pagtahak sa
Tuwid na Daan,” corresponds to the
DOLE’s thrust of providing equal
opportunities to help disadvantaged
women workers move out from
unemployment to productive jobs and
livelihood undertakings.
The DOLE’s Nego-Kart has
provided vending carts, working
capitals, and accessory livelihood
tools to beneficiaries to boost their
existing livelihood into profitable and
sustainable business to make their
income level at par with that of the
minimum wage earners.
“Given such state of ownership
with new vending carts, the DOLE
empowers more workers in the informal
sector to peddle towards prosperity
with upgraded and diversified products
and services, and market these to
more buyers or customers. With their
carts now registered under their LGU,
they now have the full support of our
local government towards increased
mobility and productivity,” Baldoz
explained.
With a new and packed Nego-Kart,
Juliet now sells more food items,
which increased her sales to P1,000
daily. Earning above the minimum
wage and enjoying the perks of her
social benefits, Juliet now enjoys selfsufficiency as her growing vending
business has increased her income to
be at par with, if not over, that of a
minimum wage earner.
With increased earnings, the
empowered mother has been able to
save up for her children’s education.
She even bought some household
appliances such as a flat screen TV out
of her small vending business.
Juleit thanked the DOLE for the
opportunity.
“Maraming maraming salamat po kay
Kalihim Baldoz at Director Agravante,
sampu ng kanilang mga kasamahan
sa Department of Labor and
Employment, sa pagbibigay pansin at
tulong sa tulad naming mga mahihirap.
Sana po, ang iba pang street vendors na
tulad ko ay mabigyan din ng pagkakataon
na umunlad din sa buhay sa tulong at
gabay ng DOLE,” said Abad.
Persistently peddling anew from one
street to another, Juliet now continues
to tread a dignified life towards a
brighter future in the streets.