Palace lauds ILO for $1-M grant to Phl

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang yesterday lauded the International Labor Organization (ILO) for giving the Philippines a $1-million technical assistance grant to be able to comply with the new system on labor laws.

Quoting Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz of the Department of Labor and Employment, Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. of the Presidential Communications Operations Office said this is a “welcome gift as it will boost the implementation of DOLE’s labor laws compliance system (LLCS).”

Washington had earlier announced the award of the technical assistance grant to Manila.

President Aquino had endorsed 372 new plantilla positions for labor laws compliance officers who will be equipped with electronic gadgets to boost their capacity to enforce labor laws, Coloma said.

 “As of November 2014, a total of 69,749 establishments all over the country or 90 percent of the targeted establishments of 70,766 have been covered under the labor laws compliance system,” he said.

 “Of this number, 60,479 establishments covering 333,136 workers have received benefits amounting to P69.425 million from plant-level restitution,” Coloma said over dzRB.

The new labor law system was initiated by Baldoz in 2013.

The LLCS is a combination of developmental and regulatory approaches in the enforcement of labor laws and social legislation.

“This new labor laws compliance system encourages voluntary compliance with all labor laws, including safety and health regulations, and fosters labor-management cooperation through social dialogue,” Baldoz said.

“With the system, DOLE is no longer feared, unlike in the previous labor enforcement system where business owners regard the agency’s corps of labor inspectors as ‘police officers’ looking for violations,” she added.