MANILA, Nov. 22 (PNA) — The government aims to end the labor contractualization and the highly controversial end-of-contract or endo scheme by the end of 2017 based on President Rodrigo Duterte’s instruction, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello III said.
“So ‘yun ang mandato namin sa department and we have been trying our best to achieve the order of our President and that is zero to ‘endo’ and zero to illegal, illegitimate contractual arrangement,” Bello said in a briefing in Malacañang on Tuesday.
The Labor department’s efforts have been doing good so far, he said, noting the DOLE was able to prioritize the regularization of not less 25,000 contractual workers two weeks ago.
While the number is significant, DOLE will continue to work hard so that more contractual workers could get regular status, he said.
The government agency has done a smooth repatriation of 3,000 stranded overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) out of 11,000 in Saudi Arabia since the Duterte administration assumed office last June 30.
“So, probably doon sa naiwan na mga 8,000, siguro mga 2,000 na lang ang uuwi dahil nakahanap sila ng bagong trabaho,†he said.
Bello also relayed how the President cares for OFWs, adding the Chief Executive doesn’t want to see them lining up to get requirements from different government agencies.
DOLE has put up a one-stop shop where OFWs could secure their requirements.
Bello said they gathered together 16 government agencies that usually cater to the needs of OFWs under one house and these include the Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), Social Security System, Pag-IBIG Fund, National Bureau of Investigation, and Bureau of Immigration.
To date, DOLE’s one-stop shop has served 416,000 OFWs both returning and outgoing, Bello said.
The Cabinet official said they have duplicated one-stop shops in Pampanga, Puerto Princesa, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo. The agency will also put up one in Davao City.
“We will put one-stop shop in all the regions,†he said.
Meanwhile, Presidential Communications Office Assistant Secretary Marie Banaag thanked all those who accompanied the President in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Peru which yielded positive results.
The Palace official also expressed appreciation to countries that shared their knowledge on technology and climate change mitigation, among others.
“And we would like to appreciate of course, ‘yung countries like Russia, China, and Vietnam for sharing kung ano man ‘yung alam nila sa teknolohiya, sa bagong teknolohiya on climate change mitigation at iba pang mga bagay na may concern ang ating bansa,” Banaag said. (PNA)