Alfredo G. Rosario
Manila Times

Labor Secretary Arturo Brion rounded out one year of service as head of the Department of Labor and Employment last Monday, July 2, chalking up significant gains in the fields of labor relations, employment and workers protection.

His handling of labor affairs has been eventful and challenging. But it has also been highly rewarding not to himself but especially to the workers whose rights and interests he has sworn to uphold and protect.

True to his pledge at the beginning of his term, Brion has succeeded in drastically reducing the number of strikes and lockouts, creating an industrial climate conducive to social and economic growth.

Brion’s main emphasis in his hands-on management of DOLE has been on the attainment of industrial peace. To do this, he streamlined the agency’s dispute settlement machinery, resulting in a strike-free environment since last February.

First, he mobilized the two principal agencies involved in labor dispute settlement—the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), which he chairs, and the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB)—to clear their backlog of unresolved labor cases.

The revitalized NLRC under Chairman Gerardo Nograles responded by disposing of 42,155 cases, resulting in benefits amounting to P5.8 billion to a total of 53,941 workers.

To bring the NLRC closer to the people, Nograles created satellite offices to help 21 regional units in resolving pending labor disputes. By July 2008, Brion expects the NLRC to rid its backlog which has continued to prejudice thousands of worker-claimants.

At Brion’s prodding, the NCMB registered an 88 percent decrease in the number of pending cases through determined mediation efforts. Its campaign has been reinforced by the creation by the labor secretary of units for advanced intervention for dispute avoidance (AIDA) and his designation of regional officers as voluntary arbitrators to help in terminating labor cases.

Brion also achieved major improvements in local and overseas employment rates. Local employment rose 3.1 per cent in April, with agriculture, fishing and forestry registering the highest growth rates of 5.1 percent, with a total of 570,000 workers employed. This was followed by the service sector with 416,000 workers employed.

Wage and salary workers estimated at 689,200 rose by 2.4 percent. The unemployment rate fell to 7.4 percent compared to 8.2 per cent a year ago despite the surge of new graduates last April in search of jobs.

Overseas employment also rose by 7.5 percent based on the 2006 record of the hilippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), compared with that of the previous year. A total of 1,082,567 overseas Filipino workers found jobs last year as against 988,387 in 2005. New hires were placed at 317,650 in 2006 compared to 289,709 in 2005.

Female workers outnumbered the male three to one. Their remittances, estimated at $9.112 billion in 2006, have immensely helped shore up the national economy.

To enhance the well-being of domestic helpers who are the workers most vulnerable to employers’ abuse and exploitation, Brion issued a directive banning Filipino maids from deployment unless they are guaranteed a minimum wage of $400 and are not less than 23 years old.

The previous authorized pay for domestic helpers was $200, but Brion said this rate was based on living conditions in the 1970s and no longer feasible with the soaring prices of prime commodities today.

Brion’s policy also barred recruitment agencies from collecting placement fees from maid applicants. It required the assessment of workers’ skill by the Technical Education and Skill Development Authority (Tesda) to determine those who need training before deployment.

To further protect OFWs from exploitation, Brion banned their deployment to Lebanon and Nigeria where they are exposed not only to employers’ maltreatment but also to the risks of unstable peace and order conditions in those places.

The nurses’ exam leakage scandal took much of Brion’s time and attention in resolving the raging controversy it has spawned. To address the problem of US employability, he called for a retake of the exams by some 11,000 nurses affected by the leakage.

Last June 11, these nurses took a retake of the test at examination centers in Manila, Baguio City, Cebu City and Davao City, with representatives of the Commission on Graduates from Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) as keen observers.

The CGFNS, as part of its screening process, had warned it would not recommend the issuance of visas to nurses interested in working in US hospitals unless they went through a retake of the licensure examination.

One year of Brion’s service as labor chief has been marked with hard work and a great zeal for improving the plight of workers. We expect DOLE to continue surging forward under his just, wise and visionary leadership.