DFA asked Filipinos in Yemen to restrict their movements

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)  asked Filipinos in Yemen to restrict their movements to only those which are absolutely essential and also to voluntarily depart the country in view of the ongoing tensions in the country.

"We are hopeful that the political situation will stabilize. Nonetheless, precautionary measures necessary to assure the safety of our Filipinos in Yemen," Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael E. Seguis said in a press conference.

He also said that the DFA raised the alert level in Yemen from alert level 1 (heightened alertness) to alert level 2 (restriction of movements), upon the recommendation of the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, which covers the said country.

The situation in Yemen has also led other countries to adopt travel advisories in Yemen, including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany and Indonesia.

"We ask them to adopt the following measures: actively monitor ongoing developments; keep their communications lines open with the Embassy in Riyadh and their designated community coordinators; inform the Embassy or Filipino community coordinators assigned to their area of their whereabouts; keep an emergency bag ready which contains clothing, water, canned goods and medicine good for two weeks, for themselves and for their family members, and; have important documents such as passports and money ready and at hand," Undersecretary Seguis added.

He also stated that there is yet no need to raise the level to alert level 3 (voluntary repatriation), where the DFA will make available facilities for their repatriation.

Undersecretary Seguis also assured the public that the Embassy's contingency plan in Yemen is updated and in place, and proactive measures are undertaken, including the conduct of meetings with the Filipino community leaders and members to brief them of the contingency plans.

"An advanced team from the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh is also in place in the capital Sanaa, and additional officers and staff from the Embassy and the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah are on standby in case more personnel are needed," he said. 

SSS opens P500-M emergency loan window for displaced workers

Upon the direction of the President, the Social SecuritySystem (SSS) has set aside P500 million for emergency loans of up toP15,000 for workers who lost their jobs since the start of the yeardue to the global financial crisis, a top official said.

SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Romulo Neri said thefunds were sourced from the Employees’ Compensation (EC) program,which the pension fund administers with its counterpart in the publicsector, the Government Service Insurance System.

The state-run agency had already exceeded the limit set by theSSS charter, which limits short and medium term loans to members to nomore than 10 percent of its investment reserve fund. The SSS had tolook for other sources of funding.

“Practically all SSS annual contribution collections go tocovering the regular disbursements for members’ benefits,” he said.

Neri said borrowers would be given a 12-month grace periodbefore paying their amortization, which would be remitted to the SSSin 24 monthly installments. Members must be in good standing and havepaid at least twelve contributions before the month of separation fromemployment to qualify for the loan.

Members must present a certification from their former employervalidated by the Regional Director of the Department of Labor andEmployment covering the company as proof of separation from employment.

“The loan would be based on the members’ highest monthlysalary credit for the past six months before they were laid off,” Nerisaid, adding that the maximum loanable amount was set at P15,000 toallow more displaced workers to avail of the emergency loans.

The SSS administers the regular Social Security program, whichgrants sickness, maternity, disability, retirement and death benefitsto members, and the EC program, which provides additional compensationto employees with work-related injuries, sicknesses and death.

ExcelAsia sites ramp up client recruitment with 1,500 trainees a month

Adds value-added services to deliver HR solutions

In a recently concluded process outsourcing (BPO) talent development survey released by the Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPA/P), 82% of industry executives project positive growth rate in jobs, with at least 16% expecting an increase of 51-100% in labor requirements for 2009.

Leading HR solutions innovator, ExcelAsia, is already feeling this projected growth rate of BPO jobs. From training 700 trainees a month, the company is now training approximately 1,500 trainees in all of its ExcelAsia sites located in Alabang, Makati, Cebu, and Bacolod. A new Eastwood site is also expected to be ready by April or May of this year.

With around 50% of their clients coming from the BPO industry, ExcelAsia is expecting its business to grow even more in the coming months. To keep up with these developments, the company continues to train and equip people for a career in the outsourcing industry. “Our hit rates show that upon completion of our training programs, 80% of those trainees successfully get hired,” ExcelAsia President Rita Trillo-Ugarte said.

According to Trillo-Ugarte, ExcelAsia has been devising innovative ways to make sure they reach out to a wider pool of applicants and generate more job opportunities, especially among those who have been laid off. Along with these developments, ExcelAsia has experienced a remarkable increase in both the voice and non-voice requirements of their client companies. Even the financial and technical support requirements of these BPO clients are growing fast, according to Trillo-Ugarte.

To consistently meet the labor requirements during crucial ramp-up periods, the company conducts all-day job fairs every Monday in all of its sites nationwide. Thus, ExcelAsia also hopes to reach out to displaced employees whose technical skills will prove to be an asset in the BPO sector.

“ExcelAsia holds job fairs every Monday in all of its sites nationwide. Applicants are welcome to pass by with their updated resumes. Then and there they will know if they are fit for our offered job vacancies,” Trillo-Ugarte said.

“What makes it better is that nobody goes home empty-handed. Should they not qualify at the time of their application, we will send them to our free call center training program. After completing our training, we will send them out for client endorsement,” Trillo-Ugarte added. As an affiliated partner of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) since 2005, ExcelAsia offers one to two-weeks skills training entirely free.


The company also released its own online recruitment portal—ExcelAsiaJOBS—where jobseekers can create an account to access the latest job vacancies offered by ExcelAsia. On top of this, it continues to offer its dedicated sites strategy in which an account manager is delegated together with a team of recruitment specialists to offer HR solutions for specific clients.

Key agri-based industries jointly tackle solutions to global financial crisis in DOLE-led Mindanao summit

The common fight to push back and mitigate the effects of the global financial crisis (GFC) has been brought to priority areas of the country particularly among vulnerable sectors in the agri-based industries with the Multi-Sectoral Conference for Global Financial Crisis-Affected Workers in Selected Agri-Based Industries convening Friday in Davao City.

Labor Secretary Marianito D. Roque was joined by 3+ Social Partners (labor, management, government and other sectors) at the Apo View Hotel where about 120 participants gathered.

Following his message opening the conference, two major business leaders in the south provided a vital local perspective in the joint efforts against the GFC, in the persons of Vic Lao, chair of the Mindanao Business Council who tackled, The Global Financial Crisis’ Impact On Mindanao Economy: A Mindanaon’s Perspective,” and Simeon Marfori II, president of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who dwelt on “Finding our Strengths and Taking Advantage of New Opportunities in These Challenging Times.”

A workshop proper subsequently focused on the issues and responses to GFC-issues affecting workers and business in the country’s Rubber, Coconut, Abaca, Tuna/Sardines, and Banana Industries.

At the culmination of the event today (February 14), the sectors will join hands and close ranks, as they earlier did on the national level in Malacañang, in facing together, addressing and supporting the need for uninterrupted growth of business and job loss prevention and preservation in crucial agri-based industries of the country, along with the application of appropriate safety net measures as necessary for affected workers and industries.

“Indeed, these are job-generating industries,” Roque said, “in which the Mindanao region happen to have a major role, thus indicating the timeliness and importance of the current conference on GFC-affected workers in the selected agri-based industries.”

Aside from the signing of a joint communiqué by the participants, beneficiaries of the TUPAD (Tulong Panghanapbuhay Para Sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers, one of DOLE’s two enrolled programs in the Comprehensive Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program of President Arroyo) will receive their checks for their coconut rehabilitation-cum-abaca projects from the Secretary of Labor and Employment, to be witnessed by Governor Corazon Malanyaon of Davao Oriental. Beneficiaries are coconut farmers in the municipalities of Manay, Caraga, Tarragona and Governor Generoso, all in Davao Oriental.

Roque, prior to branching out the GFC efforts regionally, had earlier spurred the successful Summit themed, “Joining Hands against the GFC” wherein the 3+ social partners together presented to President Macapagal Arroyo a joint Communique of support to continued business growth, safety net measures and assistance to GFC-affected workers and industries. Ahead of the Summit in Malacañang, the Labor Chief initiated the first national Multi-Sectoral Conference on the GFC wherein the social partners jointly participated in workshops to the necessary GFC measures.

DOLE cites 3+ Social Partners for Joining Hands Against Global Financial Crisis

Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque, has cited the social partners for affirming their support to continuing business growth and the need to preserve jobs and sustain opportunities during the recent multi-sectoral job summit in Malacañan.

The Labor and Employment Chief particularly cited the top leaders representing the labor, management, government and other sectors (or the 3+ Social Partners) of the country for signing in the joint Communique, affirming their support to safety net measures and livelihood assistance in support of affected workers, the facilitation of up to 1.4 million in job opportunities, emphasizing the need to allocate at least 1.5% of the estimated P1.4 trillion 2009 operating budget of the Philippines’ government agencies in the fight to mitigate and push back the global crisis' effects.

Specifically, the 3+ social partners affirmed livelihood assistance in support of affected local and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) through the following projects of key government agencies: P402 million under the DOLE’s Integrated Livelihood Program, and P50 million under its Reintegration Program along with a P1 billion Loan Portfolio under the DOLE-Overseas Workers Welfare Administration’s Filipino Expatriate Livelihood Support Fund; complemented by the Land Bank of the Philippines’ P1 billion “LBP Negosyo Program for Global Financial Crisis Affected Workers” and the Development Bank of the Philippines Livelihood Program; and P1.38 billion under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Livelihood Investment for displaced workers in the uplands.

They also backed a target of up to 1.4 million in both local job opportunities through various government and private sector initiatives, along with overseas jobs.

These include around 23,550 jobs under the DOLE’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD) and Integrated Services for Livelihood Advancement of Fisher Folks (ISLA) programs; along with 35,000 Jobs for Bantay-Gubat and other DENR projects for the upland displaced workers; 36,500 jobs from the Farm-to-Market Road Projects, 81,134 from Irrigation Projects, 10,400 from Organic Fertilizer Production Project, and 3,645 from the Goat Dispersal Project all of the Department of Agriculture; 27,222 jobs from the Out-of-School Youth (OYSTER) Program –Roadside Maintenance along with 506,082 other jobs from the Department of Public Works and Highways; 100,000 jobs from the Repair of Classrooms and School Buildings of the Department of Education and State Universities and Colleges (SUCs); and 1,022 jobs from the Laguna Water Lily Development of the Department of Trade and Industry.

On top of the government job targets, the sectors also supported the creation of some 80,000 to 100,000 job opportunities among the member firms of the crucial Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) and other jobs expected to be created in industries of the country which remain buoyant, like food manufacturing, tourism, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare.

Along with local jobs, they also backed the DOLE’s efforts, hand-in-hand with the country’s recruitment, manning industry and trade unions, to fill up 400,000 opportunities based on the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration’s (POEA) registered active job orders from abroad.

The 3+ social partners also jointly supported the fast and efficient access of displaced workers to local government unit (LGU)-based One-Stop Worker Assistance Centers in strategic municipalities/cities as well as in the Philippine Export Zone Authority (PEZA), alongside the vigorous pursuit of public-private sector partnerships to facilitate placement/training and retooling of affected workers.

Roque, in particular, thanked some 138 top labor, business, government and other leaders who converged in the successful summit in Malacañang, for affirming their support as one to the country’s efforts against the global crisis -- including the representatives of more than 20 major labor groups, local and foreign business chambers, top corporations and banks, the academe, along with the country’s legislative branch, key officials of various Departments and agencies, other sectors.

They included Federation of Free Workers national president Attorney Allan S. Montaño, Tony Asper and other key FFW labor leaders; Trade Union Congress of the Philippines-AWATU national president Temistocles Dejon, Jr. and other key TUCP labor leaders; Associated and Marine Officers’ and Seamen’s Union of the Philippines (AMOSUP) president Gregorio Oca, Jr.; Trade Union of the Philippines and Allied Services (TUPAS) secretary general Vladimir R. Tupaz, National Labor Union (NLU) president Dave Diwa, Philippine Government Employees Association (PGEA) president Esperanza A. Ocampo; Congressman Magtanggol Gunigundo who is the Chair of the House Committee on Labor; Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc. president John K. Tan and other FFCCCII officials; Employers Confederation of the Philippines chair Attorney Miguel B. Varela, ECOP president Edgardo Lacson, ECOP/ASPROE governor Rene E. Cristobal and other key leaders of both the ECOP and Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (PCCI); key representatives of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (AMCHAM); Japanese Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines president Toshifumi Inami; key representatives of the Korean Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines; Indian Chamber of Commerce president Ram Sitaldas; key persons from the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI); top corporate leaders from the SM Shoemart, San Miguel Corporation (SMC); Yazaki-Torres Manufacturing; EEI Corporation; Land Bank of the Philippines, Banco De Oro, Bank of the Philippine Islands, the Development Bank of the Philippines, Philippine National Bank; academic leaders from schools such as De La Salle University (DLSU), Far Eastern University (FEU), and Centro Escolar University (CEU); key government officials representing major government Departments and agencies; and others.

DOLE rectifies Displacements in Laguna

The Department of Labor and Employment today said only 312 workers from the automotive and electronics sectors at the Laguna Technopark in Laguna province lost their jobs due primarily to the global financial crisis contrary to an earlier news report alleging that about 35,000 automotive and electronics workers from the Laguna Technopark have been displaced.
This developed as a One Stop Shop Service Caravan at the Cultural and Convention Center in General Trias, Cavite held Thursday, Jan. 22, to kick off this year’s nationwide program aimed at bringing employment and livelihood opportunities and other services to the grassroots, particularly to workers adversely affected by the financial crisis.
Citing a report from the DOLE Regional Office in Calamba, Laguna (DOLE RO IV-A), Sec. Marianito D. Roque said there were no actual displacements of such magnitude (35,000) even as displacements and slowdown of company operations occurred in Laguna and other provinces in the Calabarzon.
Retrenchment reports filed by affected firms with DOLE RO IV-A, he said, showed that a total of 10,344 workers in Calabarzon were displaced from October 2008 to January 19, 2009. Of the total, about 1,511 displaced workers were from Laguna 343 of whom were automotive and electronics workers. Out of the latter, 312 workers came from the Laguna Technopark.
In response to the global crisis, Roque said the DOLE has strengthened the Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs) in all its regional offices to facilitate its delivery of assistance and services to the affected workers.
Among other tasks, the QRTs conduct profiling of the displaced workers to determine their skills and assistance that may be extended them. Assistance includes helping them find another job locally or overseas. They may also be assisted in setting up income generating projects. PGMA training for work scholarships shall also be granted to workers who want to train in appropriate skills.
To bring the DOLE services closer to the affected workers including those from overseas, Roque said that a series of Serbisyo Caravans shall also be conducted this year at the municipal, city, and provincial levels in coordination with Public Employment Service Offices (PESOs), employers, and recruitment agencies.
In Calabarzon, the Caravans shall be held at the following: Gen. Trias, Cavite (Jan. 22); Calamba City (Jan. 31); Taytay, Rizal (Feb. 6); Quezon Province (Feb. 6); and Batangas City (Feb.12).
Roque cited the Caravan held at Gen. Trias Cavite which was participated in by local employers and recruitment agencies offering thousands of local and overseas jobs to jobseekers including those who lost their jobs due to the financial crisis.
The Labor and Employment Secretary noted that despite the crisis, there are still hundreds of thousands of overseas jobs that are available for Filipino workers. These jobs are found mostly in countries that have not so much been affected by the financial crisis such as those in the Middle East and in emerging markets in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Bulgaria.
Local employment, on the other hand, shall come from industries that rely mainly on domestic consumption, which shall be complemented with pump-priming projects of the government, Roque said.
Aside from employment facilitation and livelihood services, the Caravan shall also provide pre-employment services to the new entrants to the labor force. Personnel from the Social Security System (SSS), National Bureau of Investigation, PhilHealth, and the National Statistics Office shall be at the Caravan for workers seeking their services.

Libel Case Vs Wesleyan U Prof Dropped

Prof. Corazon Gonzales seeks reinstatement in school owned by the United Methodist Church

CABANATUAN CITY--Prof. Corazon Gonzales has urged the bishops of the United Methodist Church to reinstate her to her former post at the Wesleyan University Philippines here after the Cabanatuan City Prosecutor's Office dismissed the libel complaint filed against her by WUP president Guillermo Maglaya.
Gonzales was also ordered reinstated by the Department of Labor and Employment after finding there was no basis for the cancellation of the registration of the labor union that she leads.
The professor made the appeal to the UMC as the church prepares to hold its General Conference at the Central United Methodist Church at T. M. Kalaw Street, Manila.
In her plea, Gonzales stressed that the dismissals of the cases filed against her by Maglaya conclusively proves that she had done nothing to warrant her ouster from the post that she held at the WUP for more than two decades.
Former UMC person-in-mission Reynaldo C. Lopez also appealed to the three UMC bishops to restore Gonzales to her post last May 7, 2008 in a "Request for Prayer" that he issued and questioned why Bishop Solito K. Tuquero "had been blind, deaf and mute on this important justice issue in his Episcopal area.
"Bishop Solito K. Tuquero must hear the cries and groaning of the people under the rule of an Evil Pharaoh at Wesleyan University," Lopez added.
The same message became the basis the filing of another libel complaint by Maglaya against Lopez.
In dismissing the libel charge leveled against her Maglaya, assistant city prosecutor Francisco Macaraig said in his resolution that the Maglaya complained failed miserably to prove that all four requirements for libel case are present to warrant the prosecution of Gonzales.
Maglaya's beef centered on the alleged scurrilous document that made the rounds of WUP which charged the university president with condoning overpriced contracts, securing honoraria from the WUP hospital, securing loans and transferring university accounts to a bank in which a relative is a manager and for terrorizing the faculty and staff.
While the prosecutor agreed that some of the allegations were, indeed, scurrilous, the fact remains that the same were contained in a document that arose in the light of an existing labor dispute and the controversy attending the dismissal of Gonzales.
Macaraig said that for the libel case to be pursued, four elements must be satisfied: Imputation or contemptuous act or condition; existence of malice, in law and in fact; publication of the imputation, and; identity of the person defamed.
"While it can be admitted that no less than three of the above elements may have been present in the premises relative to the present complaint, however, there is one important element that is, to our unbiased mind, is surely lacking. This is none other than the fact that there is publication of the libelous imputation," he added.
Macaraig stressed that nowhere in the complaint was it proven that Gonzales caused the publication of the document,which was sealed when it was sent to Maglaya for him to read.
"There is no considered act of publication even if a certain Joel Piring, an employee or staff of the Office of the President of WUP, was able to open a sealed envelope and thereupon read the contents of the same... the said event is to be considered partly coincidental. Whoever is the author of the said poison letter must be the same person who mailed the same poison letter," he added.
The intention of the sender was simply for Maglaya to read the contents and stressed that the objective was for him to read the letter "and not for anybody else."
"In the absence of corroborating testimonies of other independent witnesses who would grreatly help in establishing that, indeed, the author of the letter is the herein respondent, we cannot, therefore, accept hook, line and sinker, so to speak, the lone testimony of Rein Natividad (who was told to reproduce copies of the same)," Macaraig added.
He noted that even if Gonzales and Maglaya were at loggerheads, still there was no proof that she authored the letter. Worse, it was incredible for her to entrust the reproduction of poison letter to Natividad, a janitor, who was not even a member of the union.
The dismissal of the complaint was made by Macaraig last June while the junking of the complaint for the cancellation of the registration of the WUP union was signed by Nathaniel Lacambra of the DoLE-Region 3 in San Fernando City, Pampanga, last July 4.
In spite of the dismissals of these two complaints, Maglaya has not budged an inch to reinstate Gonzales, in spite of the order of the DoLE.
The WUP community, comprised of university officials, faculty, staff, students and even their parents have signed a petition urging Maglaya to reinstate Gonzales but the more than 50 pages of signatures have not compelled him to do as what the DoLE had directed him to do.

More Workers Hired Than Laid Off in Metro Manila

Despite the economic slowdown brought about by the unabated increases in food and fuel prices and the U.S.-led global recession, more workers were hired than terminated in top corporations in Metro Manila in the first quarter of 2008, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said.

Citing a survey of the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics, Labor Secretary Marianito D. Roque said that amidst the economic slowdown, labor turnover in large enterprises in Metro Manila continued to be on the uptrend as newly employed workers in these enterprises outnumbered those who were terminated or laid off during this year’s first three months.

Roque said the First Quarter 2008 Labor Turnover Survey of BLES monitored the employment expansion or contraction in 688 establishments randomly selected from among the top 3,300 corporations in Metro Manila.

He said the survey showed that accession rate or additions to employment in the covered establishments was at 12.23 percent which outpaced separation rate or termination of employment at 7.46 percent indicating a net turnover or employment growth rate of 4.76 percent.

In nominal terms, Roque said the net addition to the enterprises’ workforce was about 48 workers per 1,000 employed workers during the quarter. This occurred as 122 workers were hired per 1,000 employed as against 75 workers separated per 1,000 employed.

Roque added that accession was primarily attributed to replacement of separated workers and job quitters at 7.88 percent, adding that only 4.35 percent was due to expansion of business activities.

He noted that accession due business expansion, albeit small, still occurred despite difficult times. “This is remarkable as it underscored the economy’s resiliency and capability to expand in the midst critical situations like increases in fuel prices,” Roque said.

The survey also showed that the highest accession rate at 23.69 percent was recorded in real estate, renting and business activities with the booming business process outsourcing sector accounting for most of the hiring. Construction likewise yielded a high accession rate at 20.08 percent followed by mining and quarrying (14.98 percent), hotels and restaurants (14.24 percent) and wholesale and retail trade (10.82 percent).

On the other hand, the lowest accession rates were observed in agriculture, hunting and forestry (3.39 percent); electricity, gas and water supply (1.87 percent); and private education services (1.66 percent).