DENR, DOLE told: Prevent lay off of APO workers

CEBU, Philippines — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) should act fast and coordinate so that the layoff of around 400 employees of Apo Cement Corporation will be stopped.

Senator Joel Villanueva, chairman of the committee on labor and employment, in a statement, said that just allowing the layoff to happen is an insensitive move especially now that Christmas season is fast approaching.

Villanueva said that the temporary layoff is brought by the suspension of quarry operations of its main raw supplier, Apo Land and Quarry Corporation, due to the temporary cancellation of the firm's Environmental Compliance Certificate following the landslide incident at one of its tenement sites in Barangay Tinaan, City of Naga in September.

More than 70 people were dead and several missing due to such incident that also left hundreds of families homeless.

"The DOLE and the DENR should coordinate in the implementation of their respective mandates and programs," the senator said.

"DOLE must also ensure that Apo Cement Corporation will recall the affected employees once they resume normal operations," Villanueva further said.

To recall, over 300 landslide victims in the City of Naga, Cebu have started working at the designated evacuation centers as the labor department in Region 7 rolled out its Emergency Employment Program in the area.

Each beneficiary would be paid P386 per day for one month, which is the duration of their emergency employment.

The DOLE’s Emergency Employment Program or Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers is only one of the two components of the DOLE Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Programs. (FREEMAN)