Hustisya para sa mga manggagawang biktima ng pagguho ng gusali

 

Photo from Bureau of Fire Protection Central Luzon

Kinokondena ng Partido Manggagawa sa Central Luzon ang naganap na trahedya ng pagguho ng itinatayong gusali sa bahagi sa Pampanga kung saan dalawa na ang kumpirmadong patay.

 

Ayon sa huling mga ulat, 26 pa lamang sa mahigit 40 katao na pinaniniwalang na-trap sa gumuhong gusali ang na-rescue. 

 

“Malinaw na may pananagutan dito ang may-ari, kontraktor, DOLE, at maging ang lokal na pamahalaan, dahil ito ay malinaw na kapalpakan, bukod sa kapabayaan sa occupational health and safety (OSH) standard na dapat pinaiiral sa lahat ng workplace, lalo na sa construction sites,” pahayag ni Ver Estorosas, tagapangulo ng Partido Manggagawa sa Bulacan. 

 

Pangunahin aniyang layunin ng OSH law na pigilan ang workplace accidents sa manggagawa kaya nangangahulugan ito ng regular na inspeksyon lalo na mga construction sites.

 

Dapat magkatulong ang DOLE at LGUs sa enforcement ng OSHS standards sa kanilang nasasakupan dahil ang aksidente ay palaging risko sa construction sites. 

 

“Pero kung parehong natutulog sa pansitan, ang kapahamakan ng manggagawa ay palaging naisusugal,” dagdag pa ni Estorosas.

 

Nananawagan din ang PM sa mabilisang imbestigasyon sa naging sanhi ng aksidente, gayundin sa agarang medikasyon at kompensasyon para sa mga biktima. 

 

Nangangamba rin ang grupo na kung walang SSS coverage ang construction workers dito, na siyang kalakaran sa industriya, hindi sila masasaklaw ng benepisyo ng Workmen’s Compensation Act. 

 

“Ang kawalan ng SSS at iba pang benipisyo ng manggagawa sa konstruksyon ay dagdag na pananagutan sa batas ng mga employer,” diin ni Estorosas.

PRESS STATEMENT

Partido Manggagawa-Bulacan

25 May 2026

Justice, labor enforcement reforms demanded in wake of Kentex factory fire

Photo from Phil Daily Inquirer

Press Release

May 15, 2015

The militant Partido Manggagawa (PM) called for stronger labor enforcement and labor inspection in response to the deadly fire at the Kentex factory in Valenzuela that has already claimed the lives of 72 people. Members of PM together with the labor coalition Nagkaisa trooped to the Kentex factory today to demand immediate justice and labor reforms.

"Heads must roll and justice must be served for the needless deaths and injuries to workers,” insisted Renato Magtubo, PM chairperson.

PM lambasted employers for cutting corners in occupational safety in order to raise profits and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for the lax implementation of labor and safety standards. The deaths of Kentex workers comes on top of the loss of lives in several construction sites amidst the current real estate boom. “While capitalists were scrimping on protection for workers and DOLE was sleeping on its job of enforcement, workers are dying in the workplace,” Magtubo elaborated.

He averred that “Accidents are not acts of divine providence that can be dismissed as unavoidable. Instead, accidents are the result of unsafe acts and therefore preventable by strict enforcement of occupational safety and health and labor standards.”

“We propose that the DOLE deputize labor leaders as labor inspectors. In so doing the number of inspectors and inspections can be increased several fold overnight, enforcement can be strengthened immediately, and workers lives and limbs can be saved,” Magtubo recommended.

He noted that the DOLE’s “Labor Laws Compliance System” (LLCS) inaugurated in 2013 and the hike in the number of labor inspectors to almost 600 is still not working. An audit by the International Labor Organization in 2009 revealed that with only 193 labor inspectors to inspect 784,000 companies, an establishment gets inspected only once every 16 years.

“A big loophole in the so-called LLCS is the focus on ‘voluntary compliance’ and ‘self-assessment’ by employers. Voluntary compliance and self-assessment means that the government is asking the wolf to guard the sheep. No wonder the sheep get slaughtered,” Magtubo criticized.

He added that “The DOLE has again been caught sleeping on the job. DOLE must review contractors and their principals for compliance not just with safety regulations but labor standards such as payment of minimum wages and benefits, observance of working hours and remittance of social security among others. Contractual workers are among the most overworked yet underpaid of employees since they are unorganized.”

News reports have cited survivors as saying that agency workers at Kentex had below minimum wages, were not given hazard pay and social security contributions were not remitted.

PM challenges PNoy to protect labor rights at Hanjin

Press Release

June 20, 2011

The militant labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) challenged President Benigno Aquino III to uphold and protect workers rights at the giant Hanjin shipyard in Subic, Zambales as complaints mounted of violations of labor and safety standards. Dozens of members of PM and the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) joined the Church-Labor Conference, an alliance of labor and religious organizations that is co-chaired by Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, in a rally this morning at Mendiola in Manila.

“The Hanjin shipyard is a graveyard of workers. While capitalists are scrimping on protection for workers and the government is sleeping on its job of enforcement, workers are dying in the workplace. Hanjin’s crooked path must be set straight by PNoy. Instead of beating war drums over the Spratlys it is better that PNoy wage war for workers rights at Subic,” insisted Renato Magtubo, PM chair.

On July 3 the groups leading today’s rally will hold a “Caravan for Decent Jobs and Humane Working Conditions.” The caravan will proceed from Manila to Subic in order to highlight the dire plight of contractual workers especially in Hanjin.

“PALEA supports our brothers in Hanjin who are seeking the redress of the same grievances as Philippine Airlines employees, which is contractualization and union busting. From airlines to shipyards, contractualization is wrecking havoc on the working and living conditions of workers. Ang laban ng manggagawa ng Hanjin ay laban ng PALEA,” exclaimed Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and PM vice chair.

PM also called for stronger labor enforcement and labor inspection reforms by the government in response to at least 26 deaths at the Hanjin shipyard and the rampant contractualization at the shipyard. “Accidents are not acts of divine providence that can be dismissed as unavoidable. Instead accidents are the result of unsafe acts and therefore preventable by strict enforcement of occupational safety and health and labor standards,” Magtubo claimed.

He added that “PNoy’s government must review Hanjin and its contractors for compliance not just with safety regulations but labor standards such as payment of minimum wages and benefits, observance of working hours and remittance of social security among others. Construction workers are among the most overworked yet underpaid of employees since they are generally unorganized.” Some 21,000 laborers work in the Hanjin shipyard but just a few hundred are claimed by the giant multinational as its employees since the all almost are hired by 19 subcontractors.

Labor party calls for labor enforcement reforms as another worker dies in Hanjin shipyard

Press Release

April 14, 2011

The militant labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) called for stronger labor enforcement and labor inspection reforms in response to the death of another worker last Monday at the Hanjin shipyard in Subic. “The Hanjin shipyard is a graveyard of workers. While capitalists were scrimping on protection for workers and the Labor Department was sleeping on its job of enforcement, workers are dying in the workplace,” insisted Renato Magtubo, PM chair.

Alvin Dalunag, 31 years old, died while working as welder inside the Hanjin compound. He was the 25th reported workplace death in Hanjin since it began operations in 2006. PM lambasted the Korean-owned ship construction giant for cutting corners in occupational safety in order to raise profits and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for the lax implementation of labor and safety standards.

He claimed that “Accidents are not acts of divine providence that can be dismissed as unavoidable. Instead accidents are the result of unsafe acts and therefore preventable by strict enforcement of occupational safety and health and labor standards.”

“Under the regime of the DOLE’s self-assessment program, the number of labor inspectors have shrunk from around 240 to just 190 and the number of establishments inspected plummeted from 26,000 in 2004 to just 6,000 last year. Self-assessment means that the government is asking the wolf to guard the sheep. No wonder the sheep get slaughtered,” Magtubo criticized.

He recommended that “We propose that the DOLE deputize labor leaders as labor inspectors. In so doing the number of inspectors and inspections can be increase several fold overnight, enforcement can be strengthened immediately, and workers lives and limbs can be saved.”

Magtubo added that “DOLE must review Hanjin and its contractors for compliance not just with safety regulations but labor standards such as payment of minimum wages and benefits, observance of working hours and remittance of social security among others. Construction workers are among the most overworked yet underpaid of employees since they are generally unorganized.”

“The DOLE has again been caught sleeping on the job as in the case of the Eton construction accidents,” Magtubo said.

Labor group asks union officers to be deputized as labor inspectors

Press Release
January 29, 2011

The labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) called on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to deputize union presidents and officers as labor inspectors in order to strengthen the enforcement of labor standards and safety rules. The recommendation came in response to preliminary reports that Eton and its contractors at the construction site in Greenbelt, Makati were guilty of numerous violations from underpayment of wages to non-remittance of SSS deductions aside from unsafe working conditions.

Judy Ann Miranda, PM secretary-general, said that “From 240 labor inspectors, the DOLE now just has some 190 to cover around 800,000 establishments nationwide. This number can easily be increased several fold by deputizing union officers as labor inspectors. Even if just 10% of the 17,000 local union presidents are accredited, this is about 10 times the present number of inspectors.”

PM insists that by deputizing labor leaders, the number of inspections can be multiplied overnight, enforcement can be strengthened immediately, and workers lives and limbs can be saved as a result.

The group is also critical of the DOLE’s “Labor Standards Enforcement Framework” which allows establishments with more than 200 workers to undergo voluntary self-assessment. PM reveals that under the self-assessment program, the number of establishments inspected plummeted from 26,000 when it started in 2004 to just 6,000 last year.

Miranda likened the situation to “The shepherd asked the wolf to tend the sheep and as a result the sheep are eaten alive.”

She reiterated the call that justice must be served the ten construction workers who died at the Eton site. “Aside from the responsibility of the principal employer Eton and its subcontractors to the laborers who were killed, the government must make policy changes regarding enforcement of labor standards and occupational health and safety so that the workers have not died in vain,” she stated.

The group explained that DOLE already allows local government units to undertake technical inspections in order to complement its efforts and so there is no reason not to mobilize workers groups in labor enforcement. “All the DOLE has to do is train union president and officers in the labor inspection and enforcement process and then accredit them appropriately,” Miranda added.

In wake of Eton construction accident: Labor group calls for labor enforcement reforms

Press Release
January 28, 2011

The militant labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) called for stronger labor enforcement and labor inspection reforms in response to the accident at the Eton construction yesterday that claimed the lives of 10 workers and injured one. “This is a workplace massacre that is worse than the Makati terrorist bus bombing. Heads must roll and justice must be served for the needless deaths of 10 workers,” insisted Renato Magtubo, PM chair.

PM lambasted employers for cutting corners in occupational safety in order to raise profits and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for the lax implementation of labor and safety standards. “While capitalists were scrimping on protection for workers and DOLE was sleeping on its job of enforcement, workers are dying in the workplace,” Magtubo elaborated.

He claimed that “Accidents are not acts of divine providence that can be dismissed as unavoidable. Instead accidents are the result of unsafe acts and therefore preventable by strict enforcement of occupational safety and health and labor standards.”

“Under the regime of the DOLE’s self-assessment program, the number of labor inspectors have shrunk from around 240 to less than 200 and the number of establishments inspected plummeted from 60,000 in 2003 to just 6,000 last year. Self-assessment means that the government is asking the wolf to guard the sheep. No wonder the sheep get slaughtered,” Magtubo criticized.

He recommended that “We propose that the DOLE deputize labor leaders as labor inspectors. In so doing the number of inspectors and inspections can be increase several fold overnight, enforcement can be strengthened immediately, and workers lives and limbs can be saved.”

Magtubo added that “DOLE must review Eton and its contractors for compliance not just with safety regulations but labor standards such as payment of minimum wages and benefits, observance of working hours and remittance of social security among others. Construction workers are among the most overworked yet underpaid of employees since they are generally unorganized.”

“The DOLE has again been caught sleeping on the job as in the case of the nurses charged by exorbitant on-the-job fees. This abusive practice could have been deterred if the DOLE had inspected hospitals and fined them appropriately,” Magtubo said.