Page 4 - Hello Philippines November 2015 'B' issue

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FACT-CHECK
DcoOnLtrEa,cntiontgHsecrhreemraela–wla, tOeKsdenlaabtoorr’-sosnolyn
MANILA – The son of the late Sen.
Ernesto “Boy” Herrera on Wednesday
clarified that the Department of
Labor and Employment (DOLE),
not his father, allowed companies to
circumvent mandatory regularization
by using labor-only contracting
agencies which impose five-month
contracts.
In his response during the eulogy for provision that was eventually included
the late lawmaker who died last Oct.
29, Ernesto C. Herrera II said the truth
is, there was no contractualization
law authored by his father that allows
labor-only contracting.
“He would never have done so. You
will never find a contractualization law rights and privileges of a regular
in the Senate archives,” the younger
Herrera said.
Herrera said that the said scheme
is one of the things for which his
father has been unjustly attacked for
supposedly authoring.
Villar backs govt plan to import
1-M MT of rice next year
BATAC CITY - The chairperson of
the Senate committee on agriculture
and food has backed the national
government’s plan to import one
million metric tons of rice next year
to fill the gap left by the devastation
from recent Typhoon Lando.
Traditionally, said Senator Cynthia
Villar, the government imported
rice every year because the total
production of farmers could not
cover the needs of consumers.
“The government is adding the
500,000 metric tons (MT) of rice
that has already been secured for
next year because of the expected
reduction of rice production of the
farmers this year, after Typhoon
Lando destroyed the matured rice
crop ready for harvest in the rice
granary provinces in Luzon such as
Nueva Ecija, Isabela, Pangsinan and
the Ilocos provinces.”
“Sadly, a lie, if repeatedoftenenough companies to circumvent the measure
could often and quite unfortunately be
accepted as fact,” Herrera said.
He said “what Boy Herrera
authored was a bill that provided
for the mandatory regularization
of employees who have rendered
six months of continuous service, a
in the Revised Labor Code.”
Under this provision, the younger
Herrera said, a worker may undergo a
probationary period not to exceed six
months and one day; thereafter the
worker must be entitled to all benefits,
employee.
“That is the provision of the bill he in legislation and outside the Senate
authored and it actually strengthens
security of tenure,” Herrera said.
The young Herrera said that
unfortunately, DOLE issued a
department order that allowed
Villar made the remarks at a recent
visit to Ilocos Norte province.
She said the country needed
to import more rice next year to
anticipate the predicted ill effects of
the El Niño phenomenon that is seen to
lead to a low production of rice owing
to the scarcity of water for irrigation. province has sufficient rice supply, as
Veralow DG. De Vera, Assistant
Provincial Manager of the National
Food Authority (NFA) in Ilocos Norte,
said Friday that the present local
allocation of rice in the province was
sufficient until the lean month period
in 2016.
“As of this time, we have 60,000
bags of imported rice stored in our
warehouses in Dingras and in Laoag
City; and we have another 12,235 bags
of local palay in our warehouses; plus
we are expecting the arrival of another
10,000 bags of imported rice to the
province next month,” De Vera said.
BUSINESS & FINANCE
his father authored by using labor-only
contracting agencies imposing five-
months contract.
“It is unfair to blame
contractualization on my Dad…it was
totally a misguided opinion, twisted
truth and it’s downright unfair,”
Herrera said.
Herrera said that his father was a
longtime trade unionist, the secretary-
general of the Trade Union Congress
of the Philippines (TUCP), and its
president at the time of his death.
“He was elected for two terms in the
Senate on the strength of his advocacy
for workers’ rights. His track record
proves he practiced what he preached,”
Herrera asserted.
He added that in all four decades
he had been involved in politics as
legislator and as a workers’ advocate,
Senator Herrera always worked
to restore the innate dignity of the
common Filipino workers.
“He did not merely seek to make
better laws and policies, he sought to
make lives better,” Herrera said.
“If there’s anything my dad loved
about being a senator it was what
opportunity to help make a difference
to make politics work for the people,
especially for the Filipino workers,”
Ernest Herrera said.
Celebration of his life. Meanwhile,
also in his response to various eulogies, believe fate brought him here…he was
the young Herrera thanked former and
current members of the Senate, whom
He said the current prices of NFA rice
in the public markets in the province
are P27.00 per kilogram for the regular
– milled rice; and P32.00 per kilogram
for the well-milled rice.
For her part, Ilocos Norte Governor
Imee Marcos reiterated that the
the local farmers have been tripling
their rice production annually - with
33 percent of production allocated for
local consumption while the 66 percent
is exported to Metro Manila and other
provinces.
“However, our problem now is
we might not be reaching the 66
percent surplus rice production in the
province this year and we will not be
able to export rice to Manila because
we are expecting the lowering of rice
production due to the effect of climate
change,” Marcos explained.
Earlier, Socioeconomic Planning
November 2015 / Fortnightly – No. 22 • UK & Europe Edition
his father worked and interacted with
during his term as legislator, fellow
advocate and friend, in their thoughtful
celebration of his life.
Among those who attended
the eulogy were former Senators
Heherzon Alvarez, Joey Lina, Ernesto
Maceda, Wigberto “Bobby” Tanada,
Rene Saguisag, Ramon Magsaysay,
Nikki Coseteng, Santanina Rasul and
Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr., and
incumbent Senators Juan Edgardo
“Sonny” Angara, Nancy Binay,
Gregorio Honasan and Cynthia Villar.
Senators Edgardo J. Angara (read by
his son, Sonny), Alvarez, Lina, Maceda,
Loren Legarda and Vicente “Tito” Sotto
III delivered their individual eulogies
for the founding member of the TUCP.
“We thanked you for all the kindness
and comfort you extended to our
family during the past days. We thank
you for all your help in providing our
family with a thoughtful celebration of
his life,” Herrera said.
A doting lolo. Herrera also praised
his father for not only being a labor
leader, senator, writer, and teacher, he as “Batman and Robin” when they
was many things to many people but
beyond that, “to us he was a good father reporters, which became the practice
first and foremost, a loving husband, a
doting lolo, a very supportive uncle, he held every Wednesday,” Herrera said.
was the pillar of our entire family.”
The late senator was barely out of
his 30s when he was asked by then
President Cory Aquino to run on her
senatorial slate. “He was hardly known
outside the labor movement but I
InterAksyon.com file photo of rice stocks at an NFA warehouse.
Secretary Arsenio Balisacan clarified
that the country was still looking to
import more rice to brace for what has
been forecast as the worst El Niño to
hit the country, starting October 2015
until May 2016.
Balisacan gave assurances that the
government would not import so much
rice to avoid an “oversupply”.
Last September, the country
secured 750,000 MT of rice imports for
destined to serve, it was his calling.”
Authored landmark laws. The
elder Herrera was elected in the 8th
and 9th Congress and as partylist
representative of TUCP in the Lower
House.
Among the bills Herrera helped
enact as landmark laws are the 1995
Migrant Workers Act, the Paternity
Leave Act, the creation of Technical
Education and Skills Development
Authority (TESDA). He founded the
Citizens DrugWatch Foundation.
‘Batman and Robin’ now in heaven.
The younger Herrera recalled that
when his father was elected in the
9th Congress, he worked closely with
the late Foreign Affairs Secretary
Blas F. Ople, the father of senatorial
candidate, Susan “Toots” Ople, in
enacting laws for workers and the
general population. She was one of the
first to pay tribute to Senator Herrera,
her first boss, when word of his death
went out last week.
“Back then, it was a novelty known
started weekly gatherings with Senate
with almost every senator, which was
He said that both Batman and Robin
are no longer in the Senate, “but I know
they are having a happy reunion in
heaven, having coffee, sharing stories,
debating and laughing as they used
to and who knows, maybe arguing
about some current issues.” n Ernie Reyes /
InterAksyon.com / November 5, 2015 / 12:51 am
P14.87- billion through a new state-
to-state procurement with Thailand
and Vietnam.
The arrival of the first 125,000
MT in the country is expected this
November; another 125,000 MT is
set to be delivered by the end of
December.
The remaining 500,000 MT will
arrive in 2016. n PNA / November 14, 2015
/ 10:10 pm