The remote town of Sarangani in Davao del Sur has been dubbed Davao region’s last frontier. Nevertheless, the power of convergence defied its geographical distance

as the Department of Labor and Employment Regional Office No. 11 joins the roster of national government agencies (NGAs) bringing government services ‘within reach’ to the town’s fisherfolk through the ‘Serbisyo Caravan’.

The farthest municipality was the first stop of the region-wide Caravan during which the DOLE Davao region awarded P450,000 worth of livelihood assistance in the form of fishing gears and tools to 100 Sarangani fisherfolk.

In a report to Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz, DOLE RO11 Director Joffrey Suyao said the regional office’s active involvement in the region-wide Caravan demonstrates the DOLE’s and its partner agencies unified strategy in making services, particularly on livelihood opportunities, accessible to more disadvantaged workers in far-flung areas in the region.

“The Caravan provided a venue for the regional office to award over P3.1 million worth of livelihood assistance to 1,575 disadvantaged Dabawenyo workers,” he said.

The Serbisyo Caravan is a convergence effort of the Associat ion of Regional Executives of National A g e n c i e s ( A R E NA - X I ) composed of 45 national government and local agencies in the region. The Caravan is a one-stop-shop for government’s programs and services.

After Sarangani, the DOLE regional office joined the

Caravan in other four provinces in the region. In Governor Generoso, Davao Oriental, it awarded P400,000 financial grant for the fishing project of 100 fisherfolk and P169,285 worth of cosmetology starter kits for garments and bag making to 60 persons with disabilities. And in Mati City, Davao Oriental it granted P465,000 for the livelihood enhancement project of 222 fisherfolk.

The Caravan also graced the recent 12th Araw ng Digos, with the DOLE awarding P425,000 to 80 ambulant vendors for their food vending project.

In the last leg of the Caravan at Kapalong, Davao del Norte, the regional office went full-blast in extending its assistance to

workers by awarding over P1.2 million worth of livelihood projects. P602,000 worth of raw materials were granted for the banana chips production and peeling of 280 women workers, out-of-school-youth and farmers; P50,000 worth of starter kits on fashion jewelry making and tribal accessories making for 196 PWDs; P50,000 worth of cosmetology kits for 120 women and youth; P300,000 worth of negosyo

BEYOND BORDERS. The DOLE Regional Office No. 11 team headed by Regional Director Joffrey Suyao conquered the far-flung areas in Davao region to provide livelihood opportunities, hence making the DOLE’s programs within reach to more Dabawenyos.

Convergence in actionDOLE Region 11 brings P3.1-M worth of livelihood packages to workers in remote areas

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DOLE Good News

Readers’ queries, comments, and suggestions are welcome. Mail or fax them in, or call us at telephone numbers 527-3000 loc. 621. Our fax number is 527-3446. You may also visit our website: www.dole.gov.ph; or e-mail us at dole_lco@yahoo.com or laborcommunications@gmail.com.

The DOLE Good News is published by the Department of Labor and Employment, with editorial office at the Labor Communications Office, 6th Floor, DOLE Building, Intramuros, Manila. The views expressed herein are those of the writers and/or their sources and do not necessarily reflect those of the DOLE’s or the Philippine Government’s.

EditorNICON F. FAMERONAG

Director, LCO

Associate EditorKAREN R. SERRANO

Staff WritersJOSE C. DE LEON

MARK JAIME L. CERDENIAMA. VERONICA R. ALMAZORA

CELESTE T. MARINGHAZEL JOY T. GALAMAY

REVELITA F. LAXINA

Editorial AssistantsGIRLIE MARLYN E. ARCEMADELYN D. DOMETITA

Graphic ArtistGREGORIO I. GALMAN

PhotographerJOMAR S. LAGMAY

Circulation ManagerGIRLIE MARLYN E. ARCE

Contributing Regional Writers

GENEVIEVE S. TATAD - NCRGEORGE LUBIN, JR. - CAR

ARLY S. VALDEZ - Region 1REGINALD B. ESTIOCO - Region 2JEREMIAH M. BORJA - Region 3

DULCE AMOR L. LEDESMA - Region 4A ANDREA JOY AGUTAYA - Region 4BRAYMOND P. ESCALANTE - Region 5

AMALIA N. JUDICPA - Region 6EFREN O. VITO - Region 7

VIRGILIO A. DOROJA, JR. - Region 8JAZMIN O. CINCO - Region 9

MILDRED E. DABLIO - Region 10JOCELYN C. FLORDELIS - Region 11

CHARMAINE DAWN L. SONSONA - Region 12FRANCIS Y. NAZARIO - Caraga

� August 2012

The last of the four Filipino domestic helpers employed by the household of the late Libyan leader Col. Muammar Qaddafi has finally come home.

Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz shared this good news after Philippine labor attache to Tripoli Nasser S. Mustafa reported that he had personally accompanied OFW Raquel Collantes to the Tripoli

Last Filipino domestic worker of Qaddafi household comes home

International Airport on 19 August, coincidentally Eid’l Ftr Day, to facilitate her repatriation to the Philippines.

“OFW Collantes is the last of the four Qaddafi household service workers who we searched for to be rescued at the height of the 2011 Libyan uprising,” Labatt Mustafa said in his report, coursed through DOLE Undersecretary Danilo P. Cruz, the employment cluster head and who supervises DOLE’s international operations.

The first two, Diane Jill Rivera and Mary Ann Ducos Almario, who were the subject of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office’s daring, but successful rescue on 19 September 2011, were personally escorted by Mustafa on 24 September 2011 when they were repatriated via Tunis, Tunisia.

The third Qaddafi household domestic worker, Zenaida Labuguen,

was repatriated on 6 January this year after staying at the Filipino Workers’ Resource Center for over a month. The IOM assisted the POLO in Labuguen’s repatriation.

“OFW Collantes traveled using her passport after I requested the Embassy to extend its validity. At first, we encountered difficulty in convincing Libyan immigration authorities to give her an exit visa due to her employer’s status. In the end, they gave her an exit visa after we complied with some requirements. This is due in no small measure to our good rapport and goodwill with the Libyan government,” Mustafa said.

“Finally, we can now close this high profile case involving the four OFWs,” Baldoz said, commending Mustafa for his effort as she welcomed home OFW Collantes, urging her to start a new life by exploring other employment or livelihood options through the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.

VERSEAS CORNER

DOLE Good News

�August2012

Th e D e p a r t m e n t o f Labor and Employment -National Capital Region,

through its CAMANAVA Field Office, implemented the Tulong Panghanapbuhay para sa Ating mga Disadvantaged Workers or TUPAD Project in four cities and six congressional districts in CAMANAVA (Caloocan, Malabon. Navotas, Valenzuela) which has been gravely hit by ‘Habagat’.

The release of over P3 million benefitted 2,059 workers in the area through the implementation of TUPAD project through small community work projects which include street sweeping, declogging of canals and esteros, beautification, and dengue prevention.

The DOLE shouldered the payment of wages to the workers while the local government units and offices of congressional representatives paid the cost of cleaning/declogging materials and tools needed in the community

In the aftermath of Habagat, DOLE’s TUPAD brings relief to workers in typhoon-hit areas

2,059 workers find hope in DOLE’s TUPAD Project in CAMANAVA

Region 3 is one of the regions hardest-hit by the floods spawned by the southwest monsoon (Habagat), the others being

the National Capital Region, Region 4-A, and parts of Region 1. The Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council declared that 1.51 million persons in 972 barangays in the region have been affected and these numbers are expected to rise.

Like in the NCR, the release of the P5.11 million for emergency employment in Central Luzon is under the DOLE’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay para sa Ating mga Disadvantaged Workers or TUPAD, to pay for the wages/labor costs of the 3,100 disadvantaged workers who will be hired clear debris; de-clog canals, sewers, drainage, and waterways clogged with garbage; and clean and repair public buildings and other infrastructure, like schoolhouses, barangay halls, public markets, roads, and bridges.

With the TUPAD implementation in Central Luzon, the DOLE has provided emergency employment to 3,100 workers in five of seven provinces in the region worst-affected by the floods, namely, Bataan, 500 workers; Bulacan, 1,000 workers; Pampanga, 800 workers; Tarlac, 300 workers; and Zambales, 500 workers.

works projects, including uniforms of workers, hats, and waste containers.

The Caloocan City government has completed the project in the 50 barangays both in the North and South Caloocan; Malabon has extended the

project to its 21 barangays, Navotas to its 14 barangays and Valenzuela City government has implemented the project in its 32 barangays. Typhoon-affected beneficiaries were identified and engaged in community work to help rehabilitate the affected areas.

In Central Luzon, DOLE’s emergency employment benefits 3,100 workers

SMILES AFTER THE STORM. 230 elementary students who are also children of disadvantaged workers affected by ‘Habagat’ get their share of assistance in the form of school supplies from the DOLE which the latter awarded in partnership with the Pampanga Tripartite Industrial Peace council and Pampanga PESO.

DOLE Good News

� August 2012

Department of Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz

announced that the Philippines has become the 30th Member-State of the International Labor Organization (ILO) to ratify the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), 2006.

“I am pleased to announce that no less than ILO Director-General Juan Somavia received the Philippines’s instrument of ratification of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006,” said Baldoz in a press statement she issued after receiving a report from Philippine Labor Attache to Geneva Manuel Imson about the matter.

“And as Director-General Somavia had observed, the Philippines is the 30th ILO member-State to ratify the MLC, 2006. He expressed his sincere thanks to the Government of the Philippines for this ratification,” Baldoz added.

In his report, Imson said Denis Y. Lepatan, Charge d’ Affaires, a.i, of

the Philippine Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, and himself made the deposit of the ratification instrument at the ILO, which Director General Somavia, together with ILO Executive Director Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry of the International Standards Department, received. Imson said Somavia also signed and issued the Certificate of Deposit of the instrument.

The provisions of the Convention state that the MLC, 2006 shall come into force 12 months after the date on which there have been registered ratifications by at least 30 Member-State with a total share in the world gross tonnage of ships of 33 per cent. Prior to last week’s Senate concurrence in the ratification of the MLC by President Benigno S. Aquino III, 29 ILO Member-States (representing 58.5 percent of the world’s gross tonnage of ships) had deposited their instruments of ratification with the ILO Director-General.

Dubbed as the “seafarers’ international bill of rights”, the MLC, 2006 is a single, coherent international instrument that consolidates and updates fundamental principles and labor standards for seafarers. For both seafarers and ship owners, the MLC provides the necessary balance between labor standards and regulation on the one hand, and the promotion of productivity and competitiveness on the other hand .

Around 300,000 overseas Filipino seafarers and 60,000 domestic seafarers stand to benefit from the MLC, 2006.

Once it enters into force, the MLC, 2006 will be the “fourth pillar” of the international regulatory regime for quality shipping, complementing the key Conventions of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), such as the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, as amended (SOLAS), International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping, 1978, as amended (STCW), and International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 73/78 (MARPOL).

“Our country’s ratification of MLC, 2006 highlights over a decade of involvement of the Philippine government, through the DOLE, in global maritime affairs that contributed to the adoption of the Convention in 2006. Thereafter, we pursued tripartite efforts through the DOLE-led Maritime Industry and Tripartite Council to address compliances and issues in Philippine maritime labor law and policy,” said Baldoz, who had earlier thanked President Aquino III and the Senate, particularly Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Sen. Loren Legarda, Chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, for the ratification of the MLC, 2006.

Finally, Secretary Baldoz said: “With the deposit of the Philippine ratification instrument of the MLC, 2006, the DOLE shall immediately call stakeholders to a series of meetings to finalize regulations and propose legislation to fulfil the promise of seafarer protection and competitiveness.”

It’s official: Philippines 30th ILO Member-State to ratify MLC, 2006; Director General Somavia accepts ratification instrument

SOMAVIALEGARDABALDOZ

“With the deposit of the Philippine ratification instrument of the MLC, 2006, the DOLE shall immediately call stakeholders to a series of meetings to finalize regulations and propose legislation to fulfil the promise of seafarer protection and competitiveness.”

— Secretary Baldoz

DOLE Good News

�August 2012

Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz expressed heartfelt gratitude to the

Senate of the Philippines for concurring to the ratification of the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Maritime Labor Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006), saying the concurrence moves the country alongside other countries of the world promoting the interest, ensuring the safety, and enhancing the welfare of seafarers.

“Through its affirmative vote concurring to the ratification by President Benigno S. Aquino III of the MLC, 2006, the Senate brings our country to an era of quality shipping and strengthened protection of our seafarers. The paramount goal of our ratification of the Convention is ensuring decent work for our seafarers,” said Baldoz, who particularly cited Senator Loren Legarda, Chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, for shepherding the smooth sailing of the process of concurrence in the Upper Chamber.

“Our ratification of the MLC, 2006 defines the support of the Philippine government to further improve the country’s maritime industry,” she added.

Baldoz said the MLC, 2006 will provide comprehensive rights and protection at work for 1.2 million seafarers worldwide, including nearly 400,000 Filipino seafarers who account for an estimated 30 percent of the seafarers in the global shipping fleet today.

“The Philippines, considered as a major supplier of maritime labor to global shipping, will definitely benefit from this Convention,” remarked Baldoz, explaining that the country has taken a leadership role in the crafting of the MLC, 2006 by its active participation in the work of the ILO’s Preparatory Technical Maritime Committee. Secretary Baldoz, herself, as former administrator of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, was chosen as chairperson of one of three ILO technical committees assigned to consolidate the international maritime instruments into “one” maritime labor convention.

Baldoz: Ratification of MLC, 2006 ensures protection of rights and welfare of Filipino seafarers

The MLC, 2006, dubbed as the bill of rights of seafarers, is a global instrument adopted by the ILO on 23 February 2006 to provide for the rights and protection of seafarers. It sets comprehensive minimum requirements for seafarers to be employed on a ship as well as the standards and conditions of their employment, hours of work/rest, accommodation, recreational facilities, food and catering, health protection, medical care, welfare and social security protection. It also establishes a compliance and enforcement mechanism based on inspection and certification of the seafarers’ working and living conditions.

Once it enters into force, the MLC, 2006 will be the “fourth pillar” of the international regulatory regime for

quality shipping, complementing the key Conventions of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), such as the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, as amended (SOLAS), International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification

and Watchkeeping, 1978, as amended (STCW) and International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 73/78 (MARPOL).

Between 1920 and 1996, a total of 39 Conventions, 29 Recommendations and one Protocol concerning seafarers have been adopted by the ILO. These have been consolidated into one milestone Convention, the MLC, 2006.

The MLC, 2006 aims to be globally applicable, easily understandable, readily updatable, and uniformly enforced.

“The importance of the Convention to the global maritime industry is obvious. Once enforced, the rights of seafarers and all parties concerned are guaranteed. The Convention aims to achieve both decent

work for seafarers and secure the economic interest in fair competition of quality ship owners. That, in itself, is a major contribution to global economic

growth,” said Baldoz.Under the MLC, 2006, ships

of ratifying countries that provide decent conditions of work for seafarers will have protection against unfair competition from substandard ships and benefit from a system of certification, avoiding or reducing the likelihood of lengthy delays related to inspections in foreign ports.

The Philippines is the 30th country to ratify the MLC, 2006. The first is Singapore. Countries which have already ratified the MLC, 2006 are Cyprus, Liberia, Marshall Islands, Bahamas, Panama, Norway, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Spain, Croatia, Bulgaria, Canada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Switzerland, Gabon, Benin, Denmark, Latvia, Antigua and Barbuda, Luxembourg, Kir ibat i , Netherlands, Austral ia, Tuvalu, Saint Kitts and Togo,

Poland, and Sweden.Countries that have ratified the

Convention will require ship owners to put the standards in place before allowing seafarers onboard ships. They have the right to inspect vessels for compliance

“Through its affirmative vote concurring to the ratification by President Benigno S. Aquino III of the MLC, 2006, the Senate brings our country to an era of quality shipping and strengthened protection of our seafarers. The paramount goal of our ratification of the Convention is ensuring decent work for our seafarers.”

— Secretary Baldoz

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DOLE Good News

� August 2012

Strengthening the fight towards an ‘illegal-recruitment- and human trafficking-free country’, Labor

and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz has urged greater synergized work from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and local government units (LGUs) in reviving and intensifying the anti-illegal recruitment (AIR) and anti-human trafficking campaign towards workers’ protection across the regions.

“Cascading the AIR campaign of the POEA to the grassroots has been our strategy to provide both workers and agencies at the local level the legal assistance and counseling they need regarding unauthorized recruitment activities nationwide. Hence, we continue to forge more ties with our local partners as we double our efforts to eliminate all forms of illegalities and irregularities in the country’s recruitment system,” Baldoz said.

“With the AIR campaign, we recognize the significant role LGUs play as vanguards of workers’ protection. By educating our local leaders on laws regarding illegal recruitment and human trafficking, we make them as our partners in preventing hiring and recruitment of victims at the grassroots level,” she added.

Baldoz announced the call citing the recent Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the DOLE and the municipalities of Kabacan and Magpet to solidify the Anti-illegal Recruitment (AIR) campaign in North Cotabato.

“The agreements signed in Kabacan and Magpet bring our list of illegal recruitment-free municipalities in the country to 83 in the first half of 2012,” Baldoz said.

The report from DOLE Regional Office No. 12 Director Chona Mantilla said the DOLE, through the North Cotabato Field Office, inked the pact with Kabacan Mayor George Tan and

DOLE, POEA ‘on-AIR’ in the regions as the battle against illegal recruitment continues

Magpet Mayor Efren Pinol to provide their constituents accessible and lawful overseas employment programs and servicesand to warn them to shun unscrupulous individuals engaged in illegal and predatory activities, including fixers, scammers, and traffickers.

The accord also covers the extensive dissemination of the POEA’s “Ten Commandments to Avoid Illegal Recruitment” and the provision of legal and socio-psychological counseling and assistance to victims, in partnership with the provincial Parish Pastoral Council and Philippine National Police.

“The MOA signified the commitment of both local leaders and their constituents to promote and strengthen public awareness about illegal recruitment and human trafficking and their implications,” Mantilla said, adding that the agreement shall effect the enactment of ordinances or issuances in stamping out illegal and predatory activities towards workers’ protection in their respective localities.

To sustain the AIR campaign, the MOA sought to educate barangay leaders and members with relevant anti-illegal recruitment laws.

“These local leaders are the frontliners and sentinels in the delivery of programs services in their areas and this put them in a unique position as our partners in the fight against illegal recruitment and human trafficking,” Mantilla said.

Pitching on collaborative action to curb illegal recruitment and human trafficking activities, Baldoz stressed the importance of concerted regional efforts in bringing down to the community level and expand the reach of the government’s AIR campaign.

“As we bring the AIR fight to the grassroots, I call on our local chief executives and other local partners to really help out in delivering anti-illegal recruitment and anti-trafficking services in the regions,” said Baldoz.

The government’s AIR campaign translates into action the strategy to expand social protection for Filipino migrant workers as spelt out in the Labor and Employment Plan 2011-2016 and President Benigno S. Aquino III’s 22-point Labor and Employment Agenda, which calls for an all-out war against unscrupulous individuals engaged in illegal and predatory activities, including fixers, scammers, and traffickers.

“Always conscious of our mandate under RA 9208, the DOLE continues without let-up in the strict implementation of the law and its rules and regulations relative to the employment of persons locally and overseas, as well as in the monitoring, documentation, and reporting of cases of trafficking in persons, especially women and children, involving employers and recruiters,” Baldoz explained.

Mayor Pinol of Magpet signs the MOA against illegal recruitment.

DOLE Good News

�August 2012

Baldoz lauds LGU of Quezon, Bukidnon for establishing child labor monitoring system in sugarcane farms

Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis commended the local government of Quezon,

Bukidnon, led by Mayor Gregorio LL. Gue, as well as five of the town’s barangays, for partnering with the DOLE and the International Labor Organization (ILO) in the establishment of a Child Labor Monitoring System that could help push back the incidence of child labor in the municipality, notably those working in the sugarcane farms.

The five barangays belong to the initial list of 89 barangays nationwide that have been identified by the DOLE to have high incidence of child labor and are targeted to be declared child labor-free under the DOLE’s Campaign for Child Labor-Free Barangays (CCLFBs).

Baldoz, who was joined during the visit by DOLE Undersecretary Lourdes M. Trasmonte, said the DOLE is taking a leading role in the fight against child labor, but it alone cannot succeed

Masbate City Mayor Socrates M. Tuason led city and barangay officials in pledging

to keep the city’s child laborers in school as they expressed support to the DOLE’s campaign for child labor-free barangays.

Mayor Tuason, the chiefs of the city’s five barangays identified with high incidence of child labor, namely, Barangays Bagumbayan, Nursery, Bapor, Tugbo, and Pating, Masbate City school principals and teachers, the Masbate City chief of police, representative of the AKO Bikol Partylist, and private sector partners, namely, ABS-CBN Bantay Bata 163 and Filminera Resources, joined Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz, DOLE Undersecretary Lourdes M. Trasmonte, DOLE Regional Office No. 5 Director Nathaniel Lacambra, and program and local coordinators of the International Labor Organization in the launching of the DOLE’s Campaign for Child Labor-Free Barangays, held at the Dona Maria Auditorium, Jose Zurbito Sr. Elementary School, Masbate City.

“As a barangay captain, I pledge my commitment to do everything in

Masbate City, barangay officials pledge to keep child laborers in school in support of DOLE’s campaign for child labor-free barangays

my power and ability to provide for the needs of my constituents so they will be able to keep their children in school, and not send them to work,” said Punong Barangay Amy Valencia of Brgy. Tugbo, who spoke on behalf of the barangay chiefs.

Barangays Bagumbayan, Nursery, Bapor, Tugbo, and Pating, all in Masbate City, are among the 89 barangays

without the convergent efforts of its tripartite and social partners.

“Our strategy is to bring down to the barangay level the fight against child labor so you can join us, and share what we have, including resources, to help our children make a better future and their parents earn income so they will not send their children to work. This MOA establishing this CLMS is part of our Campaign for Child-Labor Free Barangays,” she said.

The MOA calls for the DOLE to develop the tools for the CLMS, conduct anti-child labor orientation, seminars, training, or workshops for partners and

stakeholders, and develop a mechanism that complements the CLMS so that areas outside the sugarcane farms of Quezon are also monitored for child labor incidence.

DOLE Regional Office No. 10 Director Johnson Canete said the MOA also tasks the municipal government and the five barangays to maintain records of working children in their respective jurisdiction and to work with the District Tripartite Councils (DTCs) in the sugar industry, through the crop inspectors of the sugar planters’ associations, in monitoring the incidence of child labor in the sugarcane farms.

nationwide initially listed in the DOLE’s Campaign for Child Labor-Free Barangays for 2012.

One of the highlights of the launching was the signing by the stakeholders of a Commitment to Action for Child Labor-Free Barangays in Masbate, a document which details the roles and responsibilities of the various stakeholders in the implementation of the Philippine Program Against Child Labor (PPACL).

With their principals and teachers, the child laborers also pledged to continue their schooling, while the parents, joined by DOLE officials, pledged to support the education of the children who, the DOLE has documented, were mostly engaged in street vending, portering, garbage collecting, and household work.

Baldoz, Mayor Tuason, and the other city and DOLE officials also distributed educational supplies and medicines to 43 child laborers, donated by Filminera Resources Corporation and the ABS- CBN Bantay Bata 163. To enable the parents of the child laborers to earn extra income so that they will no longer require their children to work, Secretary Baldoz led the DOLE and its partners in distributing DOLE Kabuhayan sa Kariton (DKSK) livelihood assistance packages to the 24 parents.

Masbate City Mayor Socrates M. Tuason shakes hands with Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz as DOLE Regional Office No. 5 Director Nathaniel V. Lacambra looks on. The occasion was the launching of the DOLE’s Child Labor-Free Barangay Campaign in Masbate City.

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Filipino professionals who wish to renew their Professional Regulation Commission (PRC)

identification cards will now be able to file their applications for ID renewal and to claim these IDs at the malls, at their own time, and at their own convenience, sans the hassle of long queues.

This was the assurance of Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz after she announced yesterday the simultaneous opening of the PRC’s I.D. Renewal Centers in 13 malls in Metro Manila and in nearby provinces.

The project is a public-private partnership between the SM Mart, Inc., and the Bureau of the Treasury.

The 13 PRC ID Renewal Centers are located at the SM Mall of Asia, SM Novaliches, SM Marikina, SM Masinag, SM Manila, SM Quiapo, SM Harrison Plaza, SM Sta. Mesa, and SM Sucat, all in Metro Manila, and at the four provincial malls of SM in Bacoor and Dasmariñas in Cavite; in Calamba, Laguna; and in Lipa City, Batangas.

“The DOLE and all its offices, including the PRC, have always been looking for ways to improve their services to the public. Now, with the PRC’s ID renewal system at the malls, Filipino professionals can already renew their PR IDs without waiting in long queues,” said Baldoz.

The renewal centers are open seven days a week during mall hours, said PRC Chairman Teresita Manzala. Upon application of I.D. renewal, the PRC I.D. will be available after seven working days.

Manzala said the ID renewal system at the malls comes right after the

PRC IDs can now be renewed at the malls — Baldoz

to-go for 99 youth and workers in the Island Garden City of Samal; P120,000 livelihood grant for the native chicken raising and ice cream making project of 60 informal sector workers; and P100,000 worth of materials and ingredients for banana flour delicacies making for 97 women and farmers.

Baldoz lauded the synergized effort, saying that the rest of the16 DOLE regional offices should continue their proactive participation in convergent programs with local government units and partner agencies to further solidify the shared commitment to ensure the viability and sustainability of the DOLE’s programs and services in addressing the issues of poverty alleviation and job generation at the local level.

“This unprecedented convergence of the DOLE with other government agencies will ensure the success of projects, maximize the use of limited government funds, and impact more clearly on the lives of our people in terms of sustainable incomes,” Baldoz said.

“This also means faster implementation of programs and efficient and effective delivery of services to more workers even those in the remote areas. With convergence, we are translating into action our mantra to enable the people to feel the DOLE,” she ended.

successful deployment of the PRC’s Online Application System (OAS) for the board examinations.

“This manifests the Commission’s commitment to fully computerize its frontline operations for the convenience of transacting professionals,” she explained.

Secretary Baldoz said that the e-service provided by the PRC will definitely help all Filipino professionals to renew their licenses on time.

The PRC ID Renewal Center at the Malls is another milestone under the e-Services projects of the Commission. “Under this public-private partnership, the PRC is extending its services even during weekends and after government office hours,” said Baldoz.

“The PRC wants to make things easier for all the busy Filipino professionals, so instead of going and lining up at the PRC Central Office, they can renew their ID by going to the malls,” said Manzala.

DOLE Region 11 . . .From page 1

before port calls are allowed. The Convention gives these countries the right to deny ships that are not compliant from sailing onwards. This applies to ships regardless whether the countries they are registered in have ratified the Convention or not.

The Philippines deployed 343,587 seafarers in 2011, a number that ushered in $4.3 billion in remittances. From 2008 to 2010, the number of Filipino seafarers being deployed overseas increased by an average of 16 percent a year, while in the domestic front, another 40,000 seafarers are employed in local shipping fleets.

Ratification of MLC, 2006 . . . From page 5