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Saturday, November 05, 2005
PPA-10 at a loss over minors' entry
By Lizanilla J. Amarga
DESPITE beefing up their security measures due to terrorist threats, the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) here could not fully explain how several minors happen to be inside the Macabalan port and doing what labor union calls "hazardous work" for Oroport Cargohandling Services Inc. (Oroport).
This developed as City Hall labor committee vice-chairman Edgar Cabanlas said he has yet to receive a copy of any complaint regarding Oroport indirectly hiring minors to do some of its job contracts.
PPA-CDO information officer Gladeys Jill Santos-Cua and PPA-CDO police station chief Reginaldo Peñano told reporters they have tightened their security measures around the port area due to reports of possible terrorist attacks.
They also apologized over the action of their security guards to deny entry to media practitioners to the port area.
"They were just following orders," Santos-Cua said.
However, Peñano admitted they could not fully elaborate how minors gained entry to the port area and were working on what Phase II Port Workers Union Association of Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (PPWU-ALU-TUCP) calls as hazardous work.
"There is only one point of entry. Perhaps it was not noticed by the port guards or when they went in, it was just their names that were noted and it was not observed that they were still minors," said Peñano.
PPA head office finance and administration assistant Manager Aida Dizon explained that women and child trafficking, including child labor, is not exactly part of their mandate.
Dizon, however, said they are looking into orienting their people in all ports to be able to handle such situations.
Meanwhile, Cabanlas told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro that he is willing to look into reports of child labor at the Macabalan port.
"So that we can ascertain whether it was true and if it is then we can find out how such a thing happened. But I have yet to receive a copy of their complaint," insisted Cabanlas.
Minors with ages ranging from 12 to 17 were indirectly hired by Oroport to work on some cargo and packing contracts at the Macabalan Port here.
Oroport management spokesman Noel Tan earlier admitted there were minors working for them.
But he was quick to say that they had nothing to do with minors being hired to be part of Oroport job contracts.
"It is not OroPort management that is hiring these children but the contractors who engage in package services," pointed out Tan.
He added that whenever there were minors, they always ask for their "cedulas" or identification cards to verify ages.
In a separate interview, Oroport lawyer Armand Kho also denied that Oroport management is now resorting to child labor.
But PPWU-ALU-TUCP has asked the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) to investigate this violation of labor laws.
According to the group, they have evidence complete with photos and video footages and other documents to report this labor violation among other proper authorities.
PPWU-ALU-TUCP believes that Oroport has resorted to hiring children as they have now "constructively dismissed" several legitimate "pakyaw" cargohandlers who are sympathetic to their cause to initiate a labor strike.
PPWU is an affiliate of ALU-TUCP with some 298 workers of the total 400 OroPort workers. PPWU-ALU-TUCP is accusing Oroport management of unfair labor practice, which is why they would be holding a strike.
(November 5, 2005 issue)
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