Inspection program nets DOLE 58 more trafficked workers
Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda D. Baldoz yesterday announced that the Department of Labor and Employment has rescued 58 more workers who were illegally recruited, trafficked, placed to an unlicensed recruitment agency, and forced to work in unsafe conditions as a result of its intensified campaign against illegal recruitment, trafficking in persons, and child labor.
This has brought to 64 the number of workers rescued by the Department since August 4, when six workers were rescued by the DOLE regional office No. 9 from a canning factory in Zamboanga City.
The rescue was brought about by the no nonsense implementation by the DOLE of its Labor Enforcement and Action Program, or LEAP, designed to pursue an intensive inspection strategy of establishments nationwide to ensure compliance with core labor standards.
The LEAP is in pursuit of President Aquino’s 22-point agenda on labor and employment, one of which is promoting the constitutionally protected rights of workers. Under the LEAP, the DOLE targets a 70 percent compliance rate by some 70,000 establishments by November through the enforcement of core labor standards, such as the minimum wage; 13th month, holiday, premium, overtime, and night differential pay; and leave and other benefits, such as SSS, Pag-IBIG and Phil-health contributions.
Citing a report from regional director Ponciano Ligutom, DOLE Secretary Rosalinda D. Baldoz said that on August 5, the Regional Inter-agency Coalition Against Trafficking (RIACAT) composed of representatives of the Philippine National Police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, Department of Justice, Department of Social Welfare and Development, and the non-government organization Visayan Forum again entered the compound of the Northwest Manpower Services in Barangay Ayala in Zamboanga City and rescued 58 workers, one of whom, named Rannie Dolina, was sick with pneumonia.
The 57 rescued workers were temporarily housed at the DSWD, Visayan Forum and DOLE dormitories, while Dolina was brought to the Zamboanga City Medical Center for treatment.
It can be recalled that on July 28, eight (8) workers were recruited by an agent from Tacloban City and brought to Zamboanga City where they were turned over to Northwest Manpower Services. The manpower agency in turn supplied them to a canning factory in the city.
After a tip from the DOLE Regional Office No. 8 in Tacloban, the DOLE Regional Office No. 9 in Zamboanga conducted an inspection and as a result, rescued six of the eight victims of human trafficking.
“We have already helped 17 of the 58 workers file complaint affidavits against Northwest Manpower Services and Aquatic Food Manufacturing Corporation, the canning factory, before a fiscal in Zamboanga City,” Baldoz said.
“We also have sent home to Tacloban most of the workers,” she added.
Baldoz further reported that the DOLE, in cooperation with the inter-agency coalition, was able to secure the help of the Leyte provincial government to secure boat tickets for 48 of the workers. On the other hand, An Waray Party-list representative Bembem Noel sponsored the tickets of 16 of the rescued workers. The Leyte provincial government, Baldoz said, sent five social workers to assist the workers.
“Our regional office also negotiated for a 20 percent discount on the bus fares of the workers from Zamboanga City to Butuan City where they will board the ferry for Leyte. The office also enlisted the help of a lawyer for the filing of the appropriate cases in court. All throughout the ordeal of the workers, the DOLE provided the necessary support and assistance,” Baldoz said.
The DOLE has reactivated in all provinces of the region the Inter-agency Task Forces on Anti-Illegal Recruitment, Trafficking in Persons and Child Labor, ordering the task forces to conduct surveillance in all piers, bus terminals, and other entry and exit points in coordination with local authorities. It has also convened the RIACAT, which is now mapping out strategies on how to combat better the menace of illegal recruitment, trafficking in persons and child labor. Furthermore, the DOLE had issued an advisory to all employers warning them not to engage nor enter into contract with contractors of subcontractors who are not registered with the DOLE.
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