THE Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) 7 has given Dante Marino Construction until June 22 to correct all the deficiencies in the construction of Robinson’s Galleria Cebu as condition to lift the stoppage order against the firm.
Dole 7 Director Exequiel Sarcauga said Dante Marino Construction is a subcontractor of Manolith Construction and Development Corp., the general contractor of Robinson’s Galeria Cebu located at the North Reclamation Area, Cebu City, considered as one of the biggest construction projects in Region 7 now.
Sarcauga said there are three violations committed by Dante Marino.
First is the use of monkey ladders with no certificate of structural analysis that these are within the standard to prevent accident.
Second, the hiring of a 16-year old worker, which is prohibited under the anti-child labor law.
Third, the lack of license of Dante Marino from the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB).
Inspection
All the violations were discovered during inspection and on-the-spot interview conducted by Labor Laws Compliance Officers (LLCOs) who recommended the issuance of the stoppage order, while the deficiencies will be corrected.
“The safety of the workers is a must. If they can remove the imminent danger situation, then we will lift the stoppage order,” said Sarcauga, adding that even if the work was ordered stopped, the construction companies are obliged to pay the salaries of all its workers.
But the Dole 7 director said that Robinson’s owners are not liable for the working standard deficiencies.
Sarcauga clarified that only the work of Dante Marino is stopped, but Manolith Construction will continue to work on areas not covered by the subcontractor.
“As much as possible, we don’t want to disturb the on-going construction of Robinson’s Galleria Cebu because that is business. However, we are mandated by law to protect the workers,” Sarcauga said.
Not affected
Floramie A. Vega, group property manager of Robinson’s, said they are not affected by the stoppage order of Dole against Dante Marino because Manolith Construction is continuously working.
Vega said the stoppage order is a problem of the subcontractor and not of Robinson’s.
Christian Gutierez of Dante Marino and Manolith Construction did not answer calls and text messages from Sun.Star Cebu for his comment.
Sarcauga said the minor was not allowed to continue working to avoid future untoward incident, but referred to the convergence team to find out why the boy was employed instead of going to school.
Department Order (DO) 65-04, Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 9231, amending RA 7610, as amended, prohibits the hiring of minors as workers where they are exposed to imminent danger.
Sarcaurga said they have the Inter-agency Convergence Program composed of Dole, Department of Health (DOH), Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Department of Justice (DOJ), which implement HELP-ME.
He said HELP-ME means Help Education, Livelihood and Prosecution-Monitoring and Evaluation.
“Let’s just say what we can do to help the boy so he can go back to school,” Sarcauga said.