DOLE orders verification of foreign nationals’ employment
MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has deployed labor inspectors to scrutinize establishments employing foreign nationals, and verify the legitimacy of their employment.
In an Administrative Order, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III ordered 404 Labor and Employment Officers (LEOs) from 16 regions to conduct verification inspection until the second week of December this year.
Bello also directed regional directors to authorize the verification/inspection of identified establishments and workplaces.
The order came amid the slew of reported arrests of aliens illegally working in the country.
Last month, government agents nabbed 542 illegally working foreigners, mostly Chinese and male, in one of the biggest mass arrests this year. The aliens were allegedly engaged in offshore telecommunications investment fraud in China.
More recently, 36 Japanese teenagers supposedly engaged in telecom fraud were nabbed by Immigration agents.
READ: 36 Japanese nationals linked to telco scam arrested
READ: 542 illegally working aliens arrested
In Luzon, 135 labor inspectors were deployed in the National Capital Region, 12 in the Cordillera Administrative Region, nine in the Ilocos region, 42 in the Cagayan Valley region, 37 in the Central Luzon region, 34 in Calabarzon, 12 in Mimaropa, and 12 in the Bicol region.
Meanwhile, 11 LEOs will conduct the inspection in Western Visayas, 23 LEOs in Central Visayas, and 12 LEOs in Eastern Visayas.
In Mindanao, 12 labor inspectors were given authority to conduct verification inspection in the Zamboanga Peninsula region, 20 in the Northern Mindanao region, 12 in Davao region, 11 in SOCCSKSARGEN, and 10 in Caraga.
In a statement, DOLE said the inspectors are tasked to ascertain the legitimacy of the company as shown by the business permit and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registration and verify the roster of local employees and the foreign national/s actually working at the time of inspection.
The inspectors will also check the list of Alien Employment Permit applicants if there are any, and the company representative should certify that they are indeed hiring the foreign nationals.
The labor inspectors will then submit their reports to the Dole regional director a day after the conduct of verification inspection.
