DOLE empowering Bicol barangays

By Danny O. Calleja

LEGAZPI CITY – Within a period of three months from June to August this year, the regional office for Bicol here of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will see to it that all the region’s 3,482 barangays are empowered with the capability to respond to community based labor and employment concerns.

DOLE regional director Nathaniel Lacambra on Thursday said that within this inclusive period, his office, along with all the agency’s field units in the six provinces of Bicol, will hold the Barangay Empowerment Training (BET) that will be participated in by barangay chairmen, councilmen and Sangguniang Kabataan officials.

Lacambra said these participants will be divided into 11 batches for the training sessions to be held in selected sites most accessible to and convenient for them.

The training will be a learning venue for the participants to be empowered with the knowledge on varied issues and concerns surrounding the labor sector.

It will also develop into these barangay leaders the advocacy being advanced by the DOLE for the protection of laborers, without antagonizing the employers, he said.

Included in the topics to be tackled and information to be imparted in the training sessions are on the Integrated Livelihood Program of the DOLE, livelihood program of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration for OFWs, gender and development programs, child labor, illegal recruitment and human trafficking and basic labor laws.

Likewise, the DOLE, being tasked to spearhead the advocacy towards the implementation of the newly-approved Domestic Workers Act or the Batas Kasambahay under Republic Act No. 10361, will also rally barangay officials into the success of its enforcement.

Lacambra said barangay officials have an important role to play in its enforcement as it bestows upon them the responsibilities of maintaining the registry of domestic workers in their respective jurisdictions and in rescuing kasambahays who are victims of employer abuse.

Under Rule IX, Sec. 2 of the Act’s Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR), the punong barangay -- together with Social Security System, Pag-IBIG and PhilHealth representatives -- shall conduct a common registration of all Kasambahay nationwide.

The startup registration shall be held in a city or municipal hall or plaza, organized by the city or municipal mayor, during the celebration of Labor Day on May 1.

RULE X, Sec. 1 of the IRR says “Any abused or exploited Kasambahay shall be immediately rescued by a municipal or city social welfare officer or social welfare officer from the Department of Social Welfare and Development in coordination with the concerned barangay officials.

In child labor, Lacambra said barangay officials and community heads should actively participate in government programs against the employment of minors in hazardous occupations and monitor the status of the child laborers.

A survey by the National Statistics Office (NSO) has indicated that some 300,000 children in Bicol have been engaged in hazardous work like mining and fishing.