Wednesday, September 19, 2007 7 English tutorial schools defy labor laws By Rimaliza Opiña
SEVEN English tutorial schools in Baguio City were found violating local labor laws as of the July 2007 inspection of the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole).
Cases for violation of labor laws are also pending before the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), said Dole Regional Director Ana Dione. She begged off from naming these schools.
There are 55 English tutorial schools in the city, 37 of them accredited by the Technical Education Skills and Development Authority (Tesda) and 31 inspected by the labor department.
Violations committed include underpayment of tutors and administrative staff, failure to pay government contributions like SSS, Pag-Ibig, Philhealth and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the absence of policies on human immunodeficiency virus-Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV-Aids) and against the use of illegal drugs.
The Dole prescribes a minimum rate of P60 per hour or P240 for a four-hour tutorial session and P235 for an eight-hour office work. Beyond the prescribed workload, an employee should be given additional pay, Dione said.
The seven schools were found paying tutors P50 to P55 per hour and P150 for administrative staff.
But it remains unclear which agency of the government should close down tutorial schools that are found violating labor laws and the law that prohibit foreign nationals from owning properties in the Philippines.
Dione said violation of labor laws is not an enough basis to order closure. She said the Dole's role is to impose compliance.
Anton Prieto, alien control officer of the Bureau of Immigration in Baguio, said immigration officers could arrest students without study permits.
And despite insinuation of Baguio Councilor Fred Bagbagen, chairman of the City Council committee on education, that foreign nationals use Filipino dummies to acquire property and operate a business here, Prieto said for tutorial schools, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) allows foreign nationals to sit as a member of a board although the school would still have to be administered or managed by Filipinos.
In colleges and universities where there is a mixture of Filipino and foreign nationals, the Commission on Higher Education (Ched) prescribes that these schools should be accredited by the immigration bureau, that members of the faculty and administrative staff must be composed of Filipinos and the population of foreign nationals enrolled should not comprise more than 1/3 of the total student population.
