Villanueva calls for DOLE intervention to ensure help for Hanjin workers

Senator Joel Villanueva. Photo from his Facebook page

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Joel Villanueva has urged the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to ensure immediate interventions for 23,000 employees who will be affected by the bankruptcy of the local shipbuilding unit of Korean conglomerate Hanjin.

“We express serious concerns over the impact of Hanjin’s bankruptcy to its 23,000 employees and their respective families,” Villanueva, chair of the Senate committee on labor, employment, and human resources development, said in a statement on Friday.

“We hope that at this point in time, the Department of Labor and Employment has already convened an inter-agency task force and conducted a well-coordinated and immediate intervention for employment and livelihood assistance to the would-be displaced workers,” he said.

READ: Local banks grapple with biggest default in PH corporate history

Villanueva said the DOLE should ensure that profiling for job-matching, re-tooling, and capacity building trainings are already in place, as he said the agency should be proactive in dealing with the effects of the bankruptcy to Filipino workers.

“Let us not wait for the workers and their families to starve before we roll out government interventions. We have to be proactive,” he said.

The senator also urged the continuation of reforms that will make the country more attractive to investors, as he also said the “Build, Build, Build” program, if appropriately implemented, should improve infrastructure in the country.

“We must not rely on business subsidies alone. We must reduce the cost of doing business,” he said.

According to Villanueva, this would help current investors in doing business, attract more investments, and create more jobs locally. /jpv