PLDT says claim that executives own labor-contracting firms ‘baseless, fabricated’

PLDT, Inc. (PLDT) said comments attributed to the labor secretary regarding the telco’s executives owning a number of laboronly contracting companies are false and misleading.

In a statement on Thursday, PLDT said “These allegations are baseless and fabricated.”

“Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III has been quoted by some news organizations as saying that he has sought the help of the Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC) and the National Bureau of Investigation ( NBI) to look into allegations that ‘ many’ of the 38 service contractors recently sanctioned by the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) for engaging in labor-only contracting for PLDT are either owned or managed by ‘ high ranking’ officials of PLDT,” PLDT said.

“The service contractors engaged by PLDT are bona fide corporations properly registered with the DoLE and the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission). They are legitimately providing services to many other companies aside from PLDT. None of these is owned or managed by PLDT officials,” PLDT said in its statement.

It added, “PLDT welcomes an investigation into this allegation as the Company has nothing to hide.”

The Labor department issued a clarifcation that its order to PLDT to regularize more than 7,000 employees is final and executory.

Hastings Holdings, Inc. — a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc. — maintains interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group which it controls. —