TACLOBAN CITY- The regional office of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said that more than 2,000 private workers have been regularized since the start of the year.
The 2,048 regularized workers represents 22.75 percent of the 9,000 workers that they hope to be given regular positions at their respective establishments for this year.
Last year, 1,753 workers from 124 establishments across the region became regular workers.
As regularized workers, they have now security of tenure and avail other benefits like the mandatory government benefits and contributions and 13th month pay.
The campaign of the DOLE is part of the program of the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte to end the ‘endo’ or end of contract practice of private establishments in the country.
Amado Ildefenso Roa, senior labor employment officer, said that they hope to achieve their target of 9,000 workers to become regulars by this year.
Roa said that of the 2,048 regularized workers as of April of this year, more than half of them or 1,480 were workers of the Energy Development Corporation (EDC) and Pasar (Philippines Associated Smelting and Refining Corp.).
EDC, located in Ormoc City, and Pasar located inside the Leyte Industrial Development Estate (LIDE), an economic zone located in Isabel town, Leyte, are two of the region’s biggest industries.
Roa, however, could not say as how many workers from EDC and LIDE, have been regularized.
Aside from EDC and Pasar, the regularized 2,048 workers were from over 50 establishments like hotels, restaurants, and shopping malls in the region.
“We are just glad that our business owners here are open to regularize their workers. But our campaign will still continue,” Roa said.
It was learned from him that the 9,000 targeted workers for the year was given by their central office.(JOEY A. GABIETA)
