DOLE must be ready to help workers to be displaced by Hanjin bankruptcy
By AJ Siytangco
Published Jan 14, 2019 02:14 pm
By Vanne Elaine TerrazolaÂ
Senator Joel Villanueva urged the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to ensure that assistance would be available for the thousands of workers who could be displaced by the bankruptcy of the local affiliate of South Korean shipbuilding giant Hanjin.
Sen. Joel Villanueva
(Senate of the Philippines Facebook page / MANILA BULLETIN) Villanueva asked the DOLE to step in the crisis hounding Hanjin as he aired his concern on the possible effect of its bankruptcy to its some 23,000 workers. "We express serious concerns over the impact of Hanjin's bankruptcy to its 23,000 employees and their respective families," the chair of the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment, and Human Resources Development said in a statement over the weekend. "We hope that, at this point in time, DOLE has already convened an inter-agency task force and conducted a well-coordinated and immediate intervention for employment and livelihood assistance to the would-be displaced workers," he added. The senator said DOLE should be proactive and must now work on profiling the employees for job-matching, re-tooling and capacity building trainings. "Let us not wait for the workers and their families to starve before we roll-out government interventions. We have to be proactive," Villanueva said. At the same time, Villanueva called on the government to "continue to implement reforms that will make our country attractive to investors," such as the Build, Build, Build infrastructure program. He added that the country should not rely merely on business subsidies and must reduce the cost of doing business. "In that way, we can help our current investors, attract more investments, and create more jobs locally," Villanueva said. Last week, Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Co., the Philippine unit of South Korean shipbuilding giant filed for voluntary rehabilitation at the Olongapo City Regional Trial Court amid "heavy" financial losses and debts amounting to about $400 million from local banks. The company reported that it also had $900 million in debts with lenders in South Korea.
Sen. Joel Villanueva(Senate of the Philippines Facebook page / MANILA BULLETIN) Villanueva asked the DOLE to step in the crisis hounding Hanjin as he aired his concern on the possible effect of its bankruptcy to its some 23,000 workers. "We express serious concerns over the impact of Hanjin's bankruptcy to its 23,000 employees and their respective families," the chair of the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment, and Human Resources Development said in a statement over the weekend. "We hope that, at this point in time, DOLE has already convened an inter-agency task force and conducted a well-coordinated and immediate intervention for employment and livelihood assistance to the would-be displaced workers," he added. The senator said DOLE should be proactive and must now work on profiling the employees for job-matching, re-tooling and capacity building trainings. "Let us not wait for the workers and their families to starve before we roll-out government interventions. We have to be proactive," Villanueva said. At the same time, Villanueva called on the government to "continue to implement reforms that will make our country attractive to investors," such as the Build, Build, Build infrastructure program. He added that the country should not rely merely on business subsidies and must reduce the cost of doing business. "In that way, we can help our current investors, attract more investments, and create more jobs locally," Villanueva said. Last week, Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Co., the Philippine unit of South Korean shipbuilding giant filed for voluntary rehabilitation at the Olongapo City Regional Trial Court amid "heavy" financial losses and debts amounting to about $400 million from local banks. The company reported that it also had $900 million in debts with lenders in South Korea.