Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III overturned an order issued by a regional director suspending construction of the entire Skyway extension while a safety inspection is underway following the Nov. 21 accident that killed one person and injured six others.
In an order released Tuesday afternoon, Bello directed project contractor EEI Corp. and sub-contractors to stop work only in the Muntinlupa construction site where the accident took place.
The labor chief set aside the supplemental work stoppage order issued by Department of Labor and Employment-National Capital Region (Dole-NCR) Director Sarah Mirasol on Monday covering the entire Skyway project.
Bello maintained Mirasol’s first order to halt construction only in the “affected area of the construction site.”
“This Office recognizes the utmost national importance underlying the Skyway extension project,” Bello said in his order.
He added that “the suspension of [the] project in the unaffected areas will cause prejudice to the employees… whose livelihood heavily depends on the project’s continued operation.”
The order quoted EEI Corp.’s position in a letter to the Dole on Nov. 23 that “considering the progress of the ongoing works, immediate stoppage of all works in the entire Skyway Extension Project would present further risk and additional peril on the works.”
EEI Corp. told Dole that “the incident is an isolated case and that the company has strict safety protocols in place.”
Dole-NCR held a hearing on Tuesday with the Skyway contractor and sub-contractors to decide whether to lift the work stoppage order while labor inspectors assess workplace safety.Last Saturday, a crane tilted and fell on a steel girder or beam, which fell and crushed vehicles along Muntinlupa’s East Service Road, leaving one person dead and six injured.
Bello said he has not received a report from concerned Dole officials, which he said needs to issue an order.
“I was expecting the report yesterday (Monday). I’m not aware of any stoppage order issued by any of our underlings, by our regional director of NCR or by the executive director of the Occupational Safety and Health Center,” Bello said in a television interview.
On Monday, Dole released a copy of the two work stoppage orders issued that day by NCR Director Mirasol against the Skyway extension contractor and sub-contractors.
The first order suspended construction only in the Muntinlupa portion where the accident took place, while the Dole investigates possible violations of occupational safety and health standards.
She issued a second order that stopped work in the entire Skyway extension project “in view of the gravity of the presumptive negligence of the contractor.”