Villanueva urges swift action on layoff of 400 Apo Cement workers

Senator Joel Villanueva asked the Department of Labor and Employment and Department of Environment and Natural Resources to swiftly act on the layoff of 400 workers at the Apo Cement Corporation.

“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 is prevented and government assistance is on-time,” Villanueva, chairman of Senate committee on labor, said in a statement on Thursday.

He added that the government agencies must “coordinate in the implementation of their respective mandates and programs.”

Apo Cement Corporation, the second largest cement producer in the country, said last Tuesday that they would lay off up to 30 percent of their regular employees and decrease their contractual workers up to 40 percent, a report from the Cebu Daily News stated.

The layoff will take effect on Dec. 13 and will last for at least six months. This means the workers may not have jobs during the Christmas and New Year season.

“Just allowing the layoff to happen is an insensitive move especially now that Christmas season is fast approaching,” the senator said.

Villanueva also called on DOLE to ensure that Apo Cement will “recall its affected employees” as they resume normal operations.

The decision on the temporary layoff stemmed from the suspension of quarry operations of Apo Land and Quarry Corp. (ALQC), Apo Cement’s raw material supplier, after the landslide in Barangay Tinaan, City of Naga last Sept. 20. /ee

READ: DENR to investigate cause of Naga landslide