DOLE vows to enforce Endo policy in Palawan
The Department of Labor and Employment’s ( DOLE) local office will soon issue notices to business owners in the city and province to warn them that hiring employees under contracts have now been prohibited. DOLE MIMAROPA regional director Joel Gonzales said Thursday this is because the majority of employees in Palawan are still under contract with the business establishments that hired them. He stated that private businesses in Puerto Princesa and Palawan that will continue to practice labor contracting can be punished under the executive order (EO) that President Rodrigo Duterte had signed on Labor Day. “Dapat i-comply nila ‘yan, pero based naman sa survey namin karamihan ay willing na mag-comply sa order. Kulang lang talaga ang iba sa information kung bakit kailangan i-regularize ang kanilang mga manggagawa,” he said. He said they will conduct a dialogue with business owners and decision-makers on May 9 to explain what are the guidelines of the EO on end-of-contract or ENDO. Gonzales explained that employees should be regularized from the period they are hired, particularly when their skills are needed in the daily operations of the business that employed them. “First day pa lang dapat regular na lalo na kung ang function nila ay kailangan sa daily operation ng kompanya nila,” he said. DOLE MIMAROPA, he said, will also conduct an inspection of the companies to monitor their compliance. “We will issue a compliance order if we find out that they are violating,” Gonzales said. ENDO is the practice of some companies to hire employees for contracts lasting only six months. Currently, the counterpart bill to end ENDO is pending in the Senate after it was passed in the Lower House. Meanwhile, over 1,331 job seekers in the city and province lined up on May 1 in the Labor Day Jobs Fair implemented by the local DOLE office. Bernardo Toriano, DOLE MIMAROPA assistant regional director, said out of the total number of job applicants, 1,095 qualified — 957 for local and 138 for overseas. “Sampung porsyento sana ng total applicants ay mahire kaagad, matanggap agad at may assurance na may trabaho na kaagad,” he said. On their list, 55 local employers and two overseas companies participated in the jobs fair. Toriano also encouraged employers to consider hiring fresh college and K-12 graduates even if they do not have work experiences. “Sana i-consider nila ang walang mga experience kasi hindi talaga ‘yan magkakaexperience kung hindi nila tatanggapin at kung ang hahanapin nila palagi ay may mga experience na,” he said. In MIMAROPA Region, he said the current unemployment rate is estimated to be 5.5 percent which is higher than the standard rate of two percent.