Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III has dared a labor group spokesperson to visit his office and personally see his list of regularized employees, after the spokesperson had accused Bello of misinforming President Rodrigo Duterte on the number of contractual employees who have been regularized across the country.
Bello said Alan Tanjusay, spokesperson of the Associated Labor Unions – Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) is welcome to visit his office and verify the figures.
It was Tanjusay who had alleged that Bello misinformed the President that 300,000 workers in the private sector were regularized.
“If he wants to see kung sino ‘yung mga naregularize namin, he is free to see me in the office,” Bello told ABS-CBN News Channel on Wednesday.
Tanjusay has argued that figure representing the number of regularized employees as cited by the President in his State of the Nation Address, referred to workers who were regularized by their manpower agencies and not by their principal employers.
Bello, however belied Tanjusay’s allegation.
“Peke daw (It’s allegedly fake), which is not true. I will present to him the 300,000 kung kailangan (if needed),” he stressed.
READ: Bello denies misleading Duterte, chides labor group spokesperson
The labor secretary also clarified that what the President meant when he urged Congress to stop labor contractualization was to stop all illegal forms of contractual arrangement.
Bello however said the President’s order to end contractualization has certain exceptions, such as project-based and seasonal employees, or those hired for special occasions. /muf