Why is government putting big employers down?
The mass media, both print and broadcast, these last few days headlined the list of 20 big companies tagged as alleged "labor-only contractors." With all due respect, the business community was bewildered, to say the least, and quite deeply concerned (putting it most diplomatically), on how the big business owners, investors, and entrepreneurs felt when their companies were named as alleged top violators of the law on outsourcing and contractualization. There is a law allowing it since 1974 under the Labor Code, even before. They have been practicing such flexible work arrangements under presidents Marcos, Cory, FVR, Erap, GMA, and PNoy. All of a sudden, they are being "demonized" as violators of labor laws. If President Duterte hates "endo" and "5-5-5" they are not practicing such nefarious schemes.
These employers feel bad these days because they have paid millions, even billions in taxes and customs duties, license fees, etc. They give jobs to millions of new entrants into the labor force, giving livelihood to unskilled, semi-skilled, and inexperienced workers, and saving them from the need to go abroad to find dangerous, difficult, dirty, deceptive, and degrading jobs as OFWs. The names of such big corporations as Jollibee, Dole Philippines, PLDT, PAL, Franklin Baker, and many others have been tarnished and the values of their stocks went down due to the somewhat undue publicity. And to think that their cases are still on appeal.
Tagging a company as a labor contractor just because a labor inspector visited the establishment for a few hours and interviewed a few workers informally is, to our mind, with all due respect, quite unfair to employers. Most especially when the compliance order has been appealed on time, the companies still enjoy the presumption of innocence, and the positive assumption of being compliant and adherent to the law. These companies and their legitimate service contractors remit millions to the SSS, Employees Compensation Commission, PhilHealth, PAG-IBIG, and BIR for all forms of taxes (that even increased due the TRAIN Law). How come these big contributors to the Philippine economy are being "demonized" as if they are the bad boys? Above all, they are paying minimum wages. They are not the problems, they are the solutions.
Why doesn't the government publish the names of the smugglers and the big-time tax evaders, the gambling lords and the drug lords, the leaders of carnapping syndicates, the prostitution rings, the traffickers in persons and the illegal recruiters whose deployed OFWs are being maltreated, killed, falsely accused of heinous crimes, and persecuted abroad? Why are the big companies who help fund the government and fuel the national economy being the ones ''persecuted'' through the mass media and the court of public opinion? Why are we putting the good boys down and just ignoring the bane of humanity and the real enemies of the people? Why are we not exposing the names of the terrorists, those who sow terror and ravage our environment like the illegal loggers and the illegal miners who rob the country of billions in gold in the Compostela Valley?
We have the highest respect for the president and the DOLE Secretary. They are both honorable and wellmeaning men. I love the DOLE, I spent 20 years of my career there, all the directors are my friends. But this is one thing I really cannot comprehend. Why are we hurting our friends and keeping mum on the shenanigans of the real rascals and scalawags in the labor constituencies? I am not accusing, I am only asking.
‘How come these big contributors to the Philippine economy are being "demonized" as if they are the bad boys?’