Tambuling Batangas Publication July 24-31, 2018 Issue | Page 6

Labor...
colleagues, Erdy signed an open contract with his agency
when he started working for Monde Nissin. He took a two-
month leave after the death of one of his siblings followed
by his wife’s miscarriage. When he came back to work, he
was slapped with a termination notice.

Monde Nissin claimed that the company’s
contract with Bauer had ended but there are still employees
under the agency working in the factory, according to
Erdy.

“When the management found out we are
members of Monde Nissin-LIGA, they dismissed us,” he
said.

Under Article 281 of the Labor Code of the
Philippines, probationary employment should not exceed
six months. Many of dismissed Monde Nissin employees,
however, had been working in the factory for years.
Because they are not regularized, they left the company
with no benefits.

It was even a bigger challenge for breadwinners
like Erdy who had to bring his family to the province
where they will temporarily stay while he continues with
the protest. He has four children, all attending school.

“It’s hard. We have families to feed. Even though
we worked in the plant for years, we made just enough to
get by, we have no savings.”
Pending case

Monde Nissin also dismissed 10 employees
from the agency Hand Across the Sea (HATS) in 2017,
after which workers who had concerns decided to form
MNLA. According to MNLA spokesperson, Luis Dela
Paz, employees had always tried to communicate with
their agencies but were ignored every time.

“We experience the same thing under our agencies
so we decided to form an association,” said Luis, who had
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been working as a forklift operator for three years.

MNLA requested an inspection of the plant
which was granted by the Department of Labor and
Employment (DOLE). According to Luis, DOLE officers
were not allowed to inspect the whole factory during their
first visit on June 2017. Instead they were brought into the
management office and asked to return on another date.

“If they were to follow due process, they shouldn’t
have agreed with the management because it was an order,
with a specified date on it,” Luis pointed out.

When the DOLE inspectors came back a month
later, the management had ordered their agency-hired
contractual employees not to report that day or work a night
shift instead. Some workers like Luis were transferred to
a different task. The management had also handpicked
workers who were going to be interviewed and directed
them to the office instead of the inspectors going around
the plant, Luis recounted.
“We tried to talk to the inspectors because we were the
complainants but the management, the security, prevented
us from going near them,” he added.
Luis said the Monde Nissin management had taken all
those steps to hide the labor-only contracting that still
exists in the company.
Labor-only contracting is prohibited by Article 106 of
the Labor Code. It is defined as “an arrangement where
the contractor, who does not have substantial capital or
investment […] supplies workers to an employer and
the workers recruited are performing activities which are
directly related to the principal business of such employer.”

Article 106 allows job contracting wherein the
contractor is expected to have substantial capital and be
able to provide minimum wage, security of tenure, and
other benefits required by the law.

Labor groups such as Kilusang Mayo Uno,
however, have long been calling for the prohibition of all
Hulyo 25-31, 2018
forms of contractualization. The DOLE order 174 was also
heavily criticized by the labor sector for the same reason—
it only regulates job contracting instead of completely
banning it.

The workers waited for the inspection report
but nothing came until they made an appeal to DOLE’s
regional office. Because they did not like the results,
they applied for a re-inspection which the Monde Nissin
management did not anticipate. When the newly-formed
taskforce of DOLE officers came to inspect the factory
for the third time on December, they were barred from
entering the site. MNLA then filed a case before DOLE,
questioning this move by the management. According to
Luis, the case was granted but there has been no significant
progress since then.
More workers at risk of dismissal

While the case is still pending, Monde Nissin
proceeded to work with the agencies inside the plant
to make it appear like their contracts have ended and
conveniently dismiss employees like what they did with
HATS, Luis said.

“It’s illegal dismissal, what they did to workers
under Bauer and Sevenel. It is stated in the law that when
you have a pending case, you cannot simply fire workers
from unions and organizations because there is an issue to
be resolved,” he added.

Luis said that around 100 employees under
Toplis Solution Inc., the same contractor of protesting
Jollibee workers, were offered ‘regular positions’ by the
management. However, according to Toplis workers, they
were just asked to apply to another agency. Because of
this, it was expected by the workers that there will be
another batch of termination soon.

The workers protesting under MNLA are from
agencies Bauer, Sevenel, HATS, Lazaiga, and Toplis.
Rain or shine, ‘Shake Drill’ to push PRC urges youth to
through-MMDA
become lifesavers
Jerome Carlo R. Paunan
QUEZON CITY—The scheduled Metro Manila
Shake Drill this week will push through, rain or shine,
according to the Metro Manila Development Authority
(MMDA).

In a news conference, MMDA General Manager
Jojo Garcia said the Shake Drill will happen this week
amid the continued inclement weather brought by the
monsoon rain enhanced by tropical depression “Henry.”

“Rain or shine, the Shake Drill will proceed,”
said Garcia.
According to the MMDA official, staging the Shake
Drill on a rainy day would give the agency and the
Metro Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management
Council (MMDRRC) a chance to prepare for worst-case
scenarios.

“We can do the shake drill the easiest way
possible but what if an earthquake happens on a critical
time? This way we can prepare for the worst case
possible,” he said.
Garcia also warned that the shake drill could cause
traffic gridlock in the metropolis.

“We are anticipating that the drill will affect the
flow of traffic in the metropolis,” said Garcia.

The shake drill will involve staging of different
scenarios, conducted by local government units, private
institutions, schools and establishments, in different
parts of the metropolis.

“Once they hear the alarm, motorists who would
EXTRA JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT WITH SALE
Notice is hereby given that the estate of the late PONCIANO
ISLES who died on July 23, 1993 Leaving a parcel of land
covered by TRANSFER CERTIFICATE OF TITLE No. (T-
9512) T-12215 situated in Mun. of Calamba, Laguna, has been
extrajudicially settled by their heirs, as per Doc. No. 1765;
Page No. 18; Book No. 10; Series of 2013; Notary Public Atty.
GREGORIO E. MAUNAHAN
Tambuling Batangas
July 18, 25 & August 01, 2018
like to participate in the drill can stop for a minute,”
said Garcia.

Amid the inconvenience that the activity may
bring, Garcia stressed it aims to promote a culture of
preparedness among the public for a major earthquake.

“We are doing this to prepare everyone to
minimize damage that earthquake may cause. When the
Big One happens, we must be prepared,” said Garcia.

He also urged the public to use the hash tag
#MMShakeDrill on the day of the drill.

“We are calling on the public to participate to
prepare them for disasters,” said Garcia.

The fourth Metro Manila Shake Drill aims
to sustain and improve the public’s awareness and
consciousness towards a 7.2 magnitude earthquake.

“We want to do a shake drill in a more realistic
environment,” said Garcia.

Telecommunication networks will broadcast
the drill through emergency cell broadcast and SMS
messages to its subscribers on the actual day.

Companies, churches, schools, and institutions
are urged to sound their own alerts or bells while radio
stations will air an alert to signal the start of the drill.

The MMDA will come into play by mobilizing
personnel to designated emergency operations centers
in four quadrants in the metropolis. (PIA-NCR)
Bata...
mula sa pahina 8...
sayaw na ito, “kaya binabati ko ang Batangas City
dahil sa tagumpay ng Sublian Festival na patuloy na
kinikilala ng National Commission for Culture and
the Arts at iba pang cultural organizations”.

Ang mga nanalo ay ang mga sumusunod:
Elementary- 1st place,Saint Bridget College,
Batangas City; 2nd ang Kalasti (Sinala Elem. School)
at 3rd ang SBCA PAO Siklab; Junior high/senior
high at college level- 1st, Batangas State University
(Diwayanis Dance Theatre), 2nd, Batangas National
High School at 3rd ang Marian Learning Center &
Science High School; Community level, champion
ang BSU Diwayanis Dance Theatre, 2nd ang
Diwayanis Alumni at 3rd ang Sta Teresa College
Community Group. (PIO Batangas City)
Susan G. De Leon
QUEZON CITY--The Philippine Red Cross (PRC)
urged youth to get involved in becoming lifesavers.

Relative to this, the PRC has formally signed
agreements with the Department of Education (DepEd)
and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED)
to have teachers and the youth involved in becoming
lifesavers and leaders.

PRC Chairman Richard Gordon said the
partnerships will help more individuals to prepare for
and respond to disaster.

“This is a strong partnership between PRC and
the education sector. Aside from educating the youth on
the techniques of how to respond during disasters, we are
also passing onto them the values of humanitarianism
and volunteerism,” Gordon said during the ceremonial
signing of the Memoranda of Agreement (MOA) with
DepEd and CHED.

Under the MOA, PRC trains Red Cross Youth
(RCY) advisers from DepEd and CHED schools to form
a pool of trainers who will eventually educate students
on first aid and disaster resilience, as well as raise
awareness on PRC’s activities through RCY councils and
Red Cross 143, the arm of community-based volunteers.

Prior to the formal signing, PRC has already
trained 1,094 Deped advisers from Camarines Norte,
Cebu, La Union, Pasay, Quezon City, and North
Cotabato, as well as 295 advisers from universities and
colleges in various provinces.

The partnership will be integrated in the
implementing rules and regulation of the Republic
Act 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary
Education Act of 2017.

“The involvement of PRC will enhance the
act’s Return Service System, which encourages student
to give back to the community through volunteerism,”
CHED Officer-in-Charge Chairman Prospero De Vera
said (PIA-NCR).