Govt to draft plans for assisting the unemployed

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañanag has ordered Cabinet officials to draw up plans to assist the thousands of Filipino workers expected to lose their jobs due to the worldwide downturn, including finding new opportunities overseas and using state funds to create livelihood programs. A hurdle, however, is that authorities are in the dark as to how many workers will be affected. Labor Secretary Marianito D. Roque wants troubled firms to come forward and notify the government before closing shop, laying off employees, or reducing work hours, to give the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) enough time to provide assistance and retraining. He gave assurances that companies in distress would not be revealed to the public. "In the past month we’ve had 15,000 workers retrenched. We call on companies to cooperate with us and provide advance notice of possible displacements and we are assuring them that we will not reveal which companies have trimmed down operations," he said. In addition to the 15,000 who lost their jobs, 19,000 workers have been affected by cost-cutting schemes like reduction of work hours and forced leaves from December to January 19, the Labor Department said. Last week, chip maker Intel Technology Philippines Inc. said it would be shutting down its Cavite plant this year, in the process laying off 1,800 workers. Electronics exporter Texas Instruments laid off 400 from in Baguio plant in December. Mr. Roque said the retrenchments did not mean the domestic economy was in trouble. This was in contrast to a statement yesterday by Executive Secretary Eduardo R. Ermita, who said the government now expects the country to bear the brunt of the crisis early this year. Contingency measures will be discussed in a Cabinet meeting tomorrow, he said. "We expect this global economic crisis might just hit us within this period," Mr. Ermita said. "All Cabinet members were told to take certain measures to absorb those people who will be losing jobs so they’ll be given alternative [livelihood]." The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), the country’s biggest labor federation, said waiting for companies to come forward won’t be enough. "More factory visits must be done by DoLE regional offices," TUCP secretary-general Ernesto F. Herrera said. Under the Labor Code, firms are required to provide the DoLE a written notice of impending layoffs at least one month ahead. However, there are no sanctions for failing to do so. Mr. Roque said most companies were afraid of the effect retrenchment plans would have on their investments. The Employer’s Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), meanwhile, claimed many firms remained upbeat and were looking for ways to avoid retrenchments. "In our surveys we saw that 50 percent of companies remain optimistic that the slowdown is not expected to reach rock-bottom ... there are already preparations being made so that there will be no need to retrench," said Romeo D. Garcia, research and advocacy manager of ECOP. The outgoing head of the Presidential Management Staff, Cerge M. Remonde, said the government was looking at other job markets abroad. "For instance, 5,000 Filipinos lost their jobs in Taiwan but 50,000 people are needed in the Middle East," he claimed. Apart from the Middle East, the government is also looking at job openings in New Zealand and Australia, Mr. Remonde said. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had said the latest job losses did not constitute a "crisis," citing various government programs aimed at providing jobs for retrenched workers. Malacañang last week announced the approval of a proposal to further beef up the government’s P300-billion economic stimulus plan by P30 billion to finance job-generation programs. - Emilia Narni J. David and B.S. Sto. Domingo, BusinessWorld