DOLE to regularize 300,000 contractual workers in 2018

Silvestre Bello III

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is eyeing to regularize 300,000 contractual employees this year, Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Wednesday.

“We intend to regularize another 300,000 within the year,” Bello told Radyo Inquirer.

He boasted that under his term, DOLE has already regularized around 317,000 contractual workers.

“Sa totoo lang ‘yan ay number one achievement ng ating Pangulo in terms of his program against contractualization,” he said.

(To be honest, that’s number one achievement of President [Rodrigo Duterte] in terms of his program against contractualization.)

DOLE under Bello has been calling out companies that allegedly violate the labor code on regularization.

Of late, Bello directed the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) to regularize more than 7,000 workers.

READ: PLDT to require workers to re-apply – Bello

PLDT said it plans to ask its workers to re-apply before becoming regular employees, a move that Bello also criticized.   /kga