Hiring contractual workers

A retired bishop says Filipinos have distorted the whole meaning of Christmas with our emphasis on consumerism. Now we associate Christmas with Santa Claus, gifts and food on the noche buena table.

Indeed when I go to the mall, all I see is Santa Claus. Where is Jesus Christ and the scene of the nativity?

The bishops should remind the faithful what Christmas is about.

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Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez has a solution to the festering problem at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. More than 400 Customs personnel have resorted to a work slowdown protesting the non-payment of their overtime charges and meal and transportation allowances.

In a radio interview, Alvarez said that he had secured an exemption from the Budget Department’s freeze on hiring so he could send 100 more people to the airport. These are supposed to attend to passengers after the usual eight-to-five working hours. In other words, these 100 new hires will be paid what is called “night differentials.”

I can understand the problem of Alvarez. The Board of Airline Representatives, which comprise all domestic and foreign airlines flying from and to NAIA, has stopped the decades-old practice of footing the overtime, meal and transportation bills of Customs personnel assigned to the airport. The airlines cite a Court of Appeals ruling to back their decision.

But how can 100 new recruits do the work of Customs examiners and appraisers? Such requires training and expertise. It takes at least six months to train people. Customs employees have been on the job for many years.

Besides, there’s a question of budgeting for the Customs recruits. It’s only Congress that can appropriate government funds. The Customs chief cannot by himself appropriate funds for employment unless he is authorized to do so.

Are we back to square one? A disaster, really, especially since we are now in the holiday season. As I said yesterday, President Aquino should step in and micro-manage this problem.

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A newspaper headline reads: “Malacañang stumbles again on amnesty proclamation”. So what else is new?

The Senate suspended the hearing on the presidential amnesty for the military rebels who staged a mutiny three times during the nine-year Arroyo administration. This was because after the severely flawed presidential amnesty was sent back to Malacañang for revision—principally because its validity lacked the concurrence of both chambers of Congress—those of “lesser legal minds” around the President submitted to the Senate the list of the beneficiaries, which included Senator Gregorio Honasan and some members of the Communist Party of the Philippines and New People’s Army.

My gulay, whoever made that blunder should be canned immediately and thrown to the Pasig River.

The Executive Secretary’s office gave a cop-out that the list came from the Department of Justice and the Department of National Defense That’s a lot of hogwash since the list was submitted by Malacañang. That means the “lesser legal minds” around the President did not scrutinize it.

If only for this, the President must now realize the need to improve his legal staff. They are a big embarrassment to the President, who does not need enemies!

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Before Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz meets the members of the Commission on Appointment, she should explain the efforts of her agency to deal with “contractualization,” which clearly violates all labor laws, but has been institutionalized during past administration.

“Contractualization” refers to the hiring of workers and laborers on merely a contractual basis—every five months, after which another batch of contractual workers take over the work and under the same conditions.

Labor law provides that only after an employee has worked for a year can he or she be considered permanent with all the benefits (like the 13th month pay, vacation and maternity leave, sick leave, bonuses, and above all, the right to join unions and to stage a strike).

If you wonder why there are less strikes lately, now you know. “Contractualization” is being practiced by shopping malls, department stores and the like. And you know what else? The ones hiring contractual workers are also the owner of these establishments. And if you are wondering why the Labor Department has not done anything to stop this unjust practice, know that taipans and tycoons have effective lobby groups protecting them.

It’s not just shopping establishments, either. Philippine Airlines, for example, has resorted to “contractualization” with the outsourcing of catering, portering, servicing. It brings down the cost, that’s for sure. But the practice clearly defies our labor laws.

Past labor secretaries have pretended that the problem does not exist. That’s why I hurl the challenge to the Aquino administration to do something about it, if the President is sincere in bringing about change.

In my list of graft-ridden and corrupt departments in the administration, Labor ranks high. As a lawyer myself, I know that many Labor officials are in the payroll of big law firms handling labor problems of big companies . That’s why in labor disputes, Labor has a clear bias for management at the expense of labor. Will this bias change under President Aquino? I wait with bated breath.

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Whenever names of those whose lives I somehow touched are mentioned, I get nostalgic.

They are ones I taught English, history and literature at the Ateneo de Manila University. They have been successful in politics and mostly in business, like Joseph Ejercito, Bobby Tañada, Tony Lopa, Susing Pineda, Vic Gomez, Tony Evangelista, Jesse Paredes, Ducky Paredes, Elpi Cuna, Jun Siazon, and many others whose names have escaped me. Blame it on old age.

Many others have also gone ahead of us —Jun Cruz, Paeng Buenaventura and others.

At the moment, it’s Bobby Ongpin who impresses me. I remember Bobby and his late brother, Jimmy, then in short pants ot the Loyola grounds when they were still in high school.

Bobby, who is known as RVO to his associates, now presides over a business empire whose portfolio includes high-end property, energy, brewery, communications, Internet gaming, Pagcor e-Games Cafe, hotels, resorts development and investments.

Ashmore Group, with US$41 billion in funds; Robert Kuok, Malaysia’s richest; and here at home, Ramon Ang of San Miguel, together with Iñigo Zobel and Butch Campos are his business partners.

Bobby always tells me that he is “bullish on the Philippines.” He certainly puts his money where his mouth is! –Emil Jurado, Manila Standard Today