Raffy Tulfo flags inaccurate Dole inspections on ‘5-5-5’ jobs

MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Raffy Tulfo criticized on Wednesday the inaccuracy of the Department of Labor and Employment’s (Dole) inspections in detecting “5-5-5” working schemes, which refers to service contracting that lasts only five months to prevent regularization at the sixth month of employment.

Tulfo presided over the Senate Labor, Employment, and Human Resources Development Committee hearing on the ban on short-term contracting, noting that companies pass inspections despite workers’ plight.

“The problem with you Dole people, is that you don’t inspect. Even if you inspect, you turn a blind eye. When you leave the compound, you carry an envelope. What you do is, when you’re there, you talk to HR, you talk to management. Why not talk to the workers instead?” he said in Filipino.

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Dole Undersecretary Benedicto Ernesto Bitonio earlier explained that the “555” working scheme has been prohibited and that Dole conducts inspections to ensure these practices no longer exist.

However, Tulfo insisted that the inspections are useless because Dole inspectors ignore violations that go unpunished.

He shared that he himself went to a company that had passed a Dole inspection a month prior, but he observed improper working conditions, such as a lack of ventilation and proper working gear, among others.

When asked how Dole could remedy such situations, Bitonio expressed hope that workers could assist Dole in flagging violating companies.

“We ask our workers to cooperate with us if there are such violations so that we can take appropriate action,” he said in Filipino.

In response, Tulfo explained that workers who go straight to Dole risk losing their jobs, and it should instead be Dole that properly ensures that no violations exist inside the companies.

“Are you kidding me, or are you serious? Why would they do that? They’ve done that but what happened when the company came back to them, they were fired, because from the get-go the Dole… right from the inspection, they didn’t do the work,” Tulfo said in Filipino.

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The senator then suggested that Dole inspectors themselves be investigated to determine if they are properly doing their jobs. He also proposed follow-up inspections of companies.

Bitonio said there are follow-up inspections, but admitted that these must be strengthened.

Under Dole’s Department Order No. 174, series of 2017, labor-only contracting is “totally prohibited.” It defines labor-only contracting as follows:

• The contractor or subcontractor does not have substantial capital
• The contractor or subcontractor does not have investments such as tools, equipment, machinery, supervision, or work premises
• The contractor or subcontractor’s employees are performing activities directly related to the main business operations
• The contractor or subcontractor does not have the right to control the performance of the employee’s work

The department order also flags as illicit contracting or subcontracting for a shorter term than that of a service agreement, such as that applied in the “5-5-5” working scheme. /mcm