Crackdown set vs. abusive agencies
President Rodrigo Duterte (Photo from KR Guda/Pinoy Weekly)
YOUR days are numbered.
Incoming Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the Duterte administration will crack down on abusive recruitment agencies that prey on overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
Bello, who was chosen by incoming President Rodrigo Duterte to lead the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), said he will order not just an investigation of recruitment agencies that demand illegal placement fees but also a crackdown on illegal recruitment agencies.
“We will probe not just those asking for illegal placement fees but on illegal recruitment agencies too,” Bello told Hong Kong News.
Bello, a former Justice secretary, said he will also conduct a performance audit about the country’s labor attaches to find out if they are doing their jobs in helping distressed OFWs.
“Initially, we will conduct a performance audit on all labor attaches as well as the arbiters of the National Labor Relations Commission,” said Bello.
“We will also conduct periodic consultations with OFWs in their places of assignment. If we really consider our OFWs as our modern day heroes, then we should do everything to serve and protect them,” he added.
Duterte earlier named Bello as his chief negotiator for the peace process with communist rebels, a post he previously held during the Ramos administration.
Duterte, however, decided that Bello will head the DOLE while serving as a “consultant” to the peace process.
The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines and the Kilusang Mayo Uno welcomed Duterte’s announcement that Bello will be his labor chief.
“He (Bello) is acceptable. As a lawyer, he would be well versed with the labor laws and international conventions. He proved his worth during the previous peace talks. I hope he would be more inclined to side with labor, who are in the exploited side,” said KMU chairman Elmer Labog said.
Labog also expressed hope that ending contractualization, a campaign promise of Duterte, will finally become a policy with Bello at the helm of the labor department.
The TUCP said that it had worked with Bello on important labor issues in Congress, where he was a representative of the 1BAP party-list.
Bello dropped his re-election bid to join Duterte’s presidential campaign.
“He knows and he has worked with us on important labor and workers issue in previous Congresses,” said TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay.
“We hope we can get something done for the immediate relief of workers,” Tanjusay added.
The other members of Duterte’s Cabinet include Salvador Medialdea, Duterte’s personal lawyer, who will serve as his Executive Secretary.
Former Armed Forces chief of staff retired Gen. Hermogenes Esperon will serve as National Security Adviser.
Ernesto Pernia of the University of the hilippines School of Economics will head the National Economic Development Authority.
Former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Perfecto Yasay Jr. will serve as acting Foreign Affairs secretary.
Duterte’s law school fraternity brother and chief legal counsel, Vitaliano Aguirre II, will serve as Justice Secretary.