3,500 regularized

Tadeco leads regularization of workers

Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) 11 reported on Tuesday, Oct. 25, that some 3,500 Davao Region workers have been regularized as of October this year under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Dole 11 Regional Direc- tor Joffrey M. Suyao told reporters the figure reflects the willingness of Dabawenyos to heed the President’s call to end illegal contractualization, commonly referred to as Endo from "end of contract".

“Most of the newly regularized workers here are from Tagum Agricultural Development Company, Inc. (Tadeco), majority are banana workers, agriculture workers,” he said at the sidelines of the 10th Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (DCCCII) General Membership Meeting at the Royal Mandaya Hotel, Davao City.

He added that this is a result of companies who voluntarily regularized their workers and reported it to the regional offices of Dole.

Labor and employment Undersecretary Dominador Say, who served as the speaker of the general meeting, urged companies to do the same.

“We call all companies to regularize their workers voluntarily, they should not wait for us to take action, para di na magkagulo,” Say said.

Earlier this month, Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III reported that some 16,000 workers have been regularized since the present administration intensified its campaign against Endo.

Bello estimated that the 16,000 figure represents about 10 to 15 percent of the total number of irregular workers.

Of the figure, over 7,000 workers are from Mindanao.

“We are on track on our target of cutting down Endo-related cases by 50 percent by the end of 2016 and eliminate it by 2017,” Say added.

In an earlier report, DoleDavao crafted the Regional Action Plan for the Effective Implementation and Enforcement of Worker's Rights to Security of Tenure last August pursuant to the issued Department Order 162, series of 2016, which suspended the registration of new applicants as contractors and subcontractors in support to the continued effort of the Duterte administration to end labor-only contracting (LOC) scheme. ASP (For full story visit www. sunstar.com.ph/davao/)