The global economic crisis is starting to hit Central Luzon as major locators inside Luisita Industrial Park and Clark Freeport Zone (CFZ) are sounding off scheduled lay-offs early this year. Talks have it that six locators inside CFZ will cut down labor force soon although the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) has yet to issue official statement on this. But workers at the Fontana Leisure Estate inside Clark are already complaining of the delayed salaries since December last year.
According to an informant, at least 1,000 Fontana employees working under RG Placement Services Inc. based in Quezon City have yet to receive their salaries for December 11, December 30, 2008 and January 15, 2009.
“Simula pa po nung December hindi pa nila kami pinapasahod. Marami po kami, mga isanglibo. Sa Manila po naka-base yung agency namin. Ang sinasabing dahilan bakit di kami pinapasahod hindi raw nagbabayad sa kanila ang Fontana,” the worker said.
Although the agency has a direct responsibility to pay the workers on time, the issue on the alleged delinquency of Fontana on its accounts could have had a relative effect to the agency’s capability to pay the workers. The question here is whether Fontana is affected by the current economic crisis and could be experiencing financial woes or it simply has management problems. Either way, the workers must be paid on time.
However, other informants said even suppliers of Fontana are allegedly having a hard time getting paid on time, especially food and beverages (FB) and construction suppliers.
And worse, there are several complaints on the management policies and questionable labor practices. Take for example the case of a friend, Japs Viray, former head of Fontana public relations department. He was sacked without due process. He was told about his termination a day before his last official duty. Beat that. Only Fontana does that. I believe Viray is preparing charges of anti-labor practices against the management headed by Matthew Lai.
On top of these issues, there is an ongoing scare inside the leisure estate after the late chef of Fontana, a Mexican-Canadian national, allegedly committed inside Fontana’s Convention Center building last December 23. Twenty five-year old Elisa Loyo Gutierrez was found inside the building last December 26. Anyone can search the world wide web on this case to get more details. Just google Loyo’s full name and several sites will appear. Some informants inside Fontana said Loyo was asking for a holiday off with the management but it was disapproved. They added that she was very depressed on the last day she was seen alive. Although her family believes otherwise. They think there had been a foul play.
At present, NBI has taken over the investigation from Interpol as the family of Loyo believes that there could be a foul play on the reported suicide. The Canadian and Mexican governments are allegedly pressuring our government to act fast on Loyo’s case.
Whatever is the real deal on Loyo’s case is up to the authorities. The point here is that on top of Fonatana’s alleged anti-labor practices, there are also violent incidents that are being kept from the local community.
Another case is the alleged shooting between Chinese nationals at the Fontana villas just this month. There was no report about this incident at all in the local police. Whatever is happening inside Fontana must be investigated by the government. First, the workers’ complaints and second the proper reporting and coordination with the police on several incidents inside the leisure estate.
On another note, workers at the International Wiring System (IWS) inside Luisita Industrial Park are facing a bleaker situation as the company reportedly started decreasing its operations. Regular employees are allegedly asked to work only 10 days in a month as part of IWS’s cost-cutting measures. It was also said that IWS will lay-off about 6,000 workers starting next month until the end of June.
The continuing drop on employment is evident around the country as well as abroad. We are bracing for bigger problems because the more people being laid off, the more families are being deprived of adequate food, shelter and other basic needs. The Philippine government, both national and local should start looking into the labor patterns considering that no less than labor Secretary Mariano Roque recently admitted that 15,000 workers around the country were added to the list of unemployed early this year.
The government must create jobs and livelihood for the people. We should not encourage our people to work abroad because of this crisis. Instead, the government should create a task force or a special multi-sectoral body to seriously address this growing concern on unemployment.
According to an informant, at least 1,000 Fontana employees working under RG Placement Services Inc. based in Quezon City have yet to receive their salaries for December 11, December 30, 2008 and January 15, 2009.
“Simula pa po nung December hindi pa nila kami pinapasahod. Marami po kami, mga isanglibo. Sa Manila po naka-base yung agency namin. Ang sinasabing dahilan bakit di kami pinapasahod hindi raw nagbabayad sa kanila ang Fontana,” the worker said.
Although the agency has a direct responsibility to pay the workers on time, the issue on the alleged delinquency of Fontana on its accounts could have had a relative effect to the agency’s capability to pay the workers. The question here is whether Fontana is affected by the current economic crisis and could be experiencing financial woes or it simply has management problems. Either way, the workers must be paid on time.
However, other informants said even suppliers of Fontana are allegedly having a hard time getting paid on time, especially food and beverages (FB) and construction suppliers.
And worse, there are several complaints on the management policies and questionable labor practices. Take for example the case of a friend, Japs Viray, former head of Fontana public relations department. He was sacked without due process. He was told about his termination a day before his last official duty. Beat that. Only Fontana does that. I believe Viray is preparing charges of anti-labor practices against the management headed by Matthew Lai.
On top of these issues, there is an ongoing scare inside the leisure estate after the late chef of Fontana, a Mexican-Canadian national, allegedly committed inside Fontana’s Convention Center building last December 23. Twenty five-year old Elisa Loyo Gutierrez was found inside the building last December 26. Anyone can search the world wide web on this case to get more details. Just google Loyo’s full name and several sites will appear. Some informants inside Fontana said Loyo was asking for a holiday off with the management but it was disapproved. They added that she was very depressed on the last day she was seen alive. Although her family believes otherwise. They think there had been a foul play.
At present, NBI has taken over the investigation from Interpol as the family of Loyo believes that there could be a foul play on the reported suicide. The Canadian and Mexican governments are allegedly pressuring our government to act fast on Loyo’s case.
Whatever is the real deal on Loyo’s case is up to the authorities. The point here is that on top of Fonatana’s alleged anti-labor practices, there are also violent incidents that are being kept from the local community.
Another case is the alleged shooting between Chinese nationals at the Fontana villas just this month. There was no report about this incident at all in the local police. Whatever is happening inside Fontana must be investigated by the government. First, the workers’ complaints and second the proper reporting and coordination with the police on several incidents inside the leisure estate.
On another note, workers at the International Wiring System (IWS) inside Luisita Industrial Park are facing a bleaker situation as the company reportedly started decreasing its operations. Regular employees are allegedly asked to work only 10 days in a month as part of IWS’s cost-cutting measures. It was also said that IWS will lay-off about 6,000 workers starting next month until the end of June.
The continuing drop on employment is evident around the country as well as abroad. We are bracing for bigger problems because the more people being laid off, the more families are being deprived of adequate food, shelter and other basic needs. The Philippine government, both national and local should start looking into the labor patterns considering that no less than labor Secretary Mariano Roque recently admitted that 15,000 workers around the country were added to the list of unemployed early this year.
The government must create jobs and livelihood for the people. We should not encourage our people to work abroad because of this crisis. Instead, the government should create a task force or a special multi-sectoral body to seriously address this growing concern on unemployment.
