20 PERCENT HIRING REQUIREMENT Teno tells private sector to comply with law

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio warned yesterday that the government will take action against companies found violating a Department of Labor and Immigration regulation that requires private firms to have at least 20 percent local residents in their work force

Likewise, he disclosed that DOLI is monitoring them whether they comply with the law in an apparent attempt to dismiss allegations that the government has been lax in enforcing such regulation.

“We are keeping track of the requirement that they have to make at least 20 percent of the employment (available to locals),” Tenorio told reporters in an interview.

Informed that some companies have resorted to some scheme in order to meet the requirement, the chief executive issued a stern warning that his administration will not tolerate these violations.

“We have to take some actions. I don’t appreciate those kind of things. We don’t condone those kind of things,” Tenorio said. “We want to make sure that they meet the requirement of the law.”

In the meantime, a committee comprised of several government officials met yesterday at the Office of the Governor to come up with a plan that will strengthen efforts to place locals in jobs in the private sector as well as in the government.

Although he was not in the meeting, Tenorio said the discussion was aimed at “(coming) up with suggestions as to what will be the best thing for us to do.”

Division of Employment Services Director Alfred Pangelinan and Job Training and Partnership Director Felix Nogis also attended yesterday’s meeting — the first time they had a face-to-face encounter following their word war waged in the media over the issue.

But the governor downplayed the reconciliation that occurred between two, saying that although “they settled the misunderstanding,” it was not the focus of the discussion.

Pangelinan and Nogis, who both appeared relax, refused to talk to reporters after emerging from the meeting.

Earlier, the JTPA head has accused the department and other government agencies of neglecting to monitor whether the private sector complies with the 20 percent local hiring requirement.

But the criticism triggered strong reaction from Pangelinan, whose division is responsible for placing and prioritizing resident workers in private sector jobs available in the market.

He said his office has put in place a new system to ensure efficient delivery of public service, noting it has assisted more than 500 locals to get a job in various companies during the first months of this year alone amid the economic slowdown, up from just 93 a few months ago.

Pangelinan lashed out at Nogis’ accusations as nothing but publicity stunt.