Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

A network of business process outsourcing (BPO) employees has filed a formal complaint against 30 call center firms based in Cebu province for violating labor and occupational safety laws during the 6.9-magnitude earthquake on Sept. 30.

BPO Industry Employees Network (BIEN) – Cebu lodged the complaint with the Department of Labor and Employment – Region 7 (DOLE – RO7) on Thursday.

‘BIEN-Cebu rejects this ‘business-as-usual’ approach of BPO companies and government neglect during this time of crisis. We call on all BPO workers to unite and fight back against this blatant disregard of workers’ rights,’ the group’s spokesperson John Kyle Enero said in a statement.

According to the group, they had received more than a hundred reports of agents being forced to report to work, despite their pleas to focus on their safety and their families in just two days.

Among these were agents who were allegedly forced back onto the production floor, and emergency exits were blocked in one company.

Another reported that they were offered double pay to continue working after the earthquake, disregarding safety concerns.

In another company, employees were ordered to resume work immediately after the quake, with some returning as early as 30 minutes post-event, without any safety memorandum or clearance.

The group received multiple incidents of employees insisting on not reporting to work were met with notices to explain, administrative sanctions, loss of attendance incentives and benefits, among many retaliatory actions.

There were also reports of verbal threats, and concerns were downplayed, treating the crisis as ‘business as usual.’

Employees who went home after the Sept. 30 earthquake were marked as unpaid, lost attendance bonuses, and were suspended from work. Workers who did not return the following day were marked as unauthorized absences.

Some employees were even forced to sign memos prohibiting them from speaking about the situation on social media.

The group urged DOLE to investigate the allegations and hold negligent employers accountable under Republic Act No. 11058, or the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Standards law, and related labor issuances.

When sought for comment, Labor and Employment Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma told the Inquirer that the agency is already investigating the case.

He said that the filing of complaint ‘is very welcome to enable the DOLE to establish the guilt and liability of employers being complained of.’

He added that, without preempting the outcome of the investigation, employers must not force their workers to report to work if the latter feel that their workplace is unsafe.

‘The company cannot just impose disciplinary action if the refusal or non- reporting is based on justifiable ground, i.e fear for their safety or health concerns,’ Laguesma said in a Viber message.

BIEN-Cebu also criticized the government for not declaring imminent danger in workplaces in the province, and instead passed the decision of how to handle the emergency situation to private companies.

‘This decision not only affects BPO workers at large, but the thousands of families and loved ones,’ Enero said.

‘If the government can suspend classes due to the need to inspect school buildings, they should also rightfully require BPO companies and their building administrators to provide a detailed inspection and safety report to ensure that resumption of work does not threaten worker safety,’ he added.

Meanwhile, Cebu City Vice Mayor Tommy Osmeña also urged employees who experienced the same workplace abuse to submit a report to him, by texting him at 09173299999 and providing all the details of the incident.

He assured complainants they should not fear retribution from their employers, as he would be the only one to read their text messages.

‘I need to be sure that this is true, but if this is true, we will do more than just file a complaint at DOLE,’ he said in his official Facebook account.

‘I will personally contact every known local and overseas client that the company has to tell them what kind of company they hired. We will hit them where it hurts,’ he added.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has reported to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that it flagged P125 million worth of suspected ‘ghost’ farm-to-market road (FMR) projects in Mindanao.

Although the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has marked the nine projects as completed, DA records showed that work on these has yet to begin, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said on Wednesday.

Citing the DA’s initial audit report submitted to the President, De Mesa said seven of the projects were in Davao Occidental, while the other two were in Lanao del Sur.

According to government records, three of the projects were completed in 2021 and two in 2022 during the Duterte administration, and four in 2023 under the term of Marcos.

The government has been wracked by allegations that senators, congressmen, and private contractors siphoned off funds for flood control projects in the past three years of the Marcos administration.

Relatively small

The allegations have led to the creation of an independent body to investigate the anomalies, triggered street protests, and prompted government scrutiny of infrastructure projects undertaken by the DPWH.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the flagged projects were relatively small and represented a mere 0.03 percent of the overall farm-to-market road projects.

Even so, Tiu Laurel said the DA would coordinate with Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon on the possible inspection of the suspected ghost projects.

‘So, in the whole scheme of things . It’s not that big. But it’s still alarming, right? Even if it’s small, why is there a ghost?’ Tiu Laurel told reporters.

‘Of course, I don’t want to step on the [toes] of Secretary Vince. But of course, they’re very busy. But if they ask us for assistance to look into it personally and visit those areas, although these are remote areas, we will do it,’ he added.

‘Small-time contractors’

Tiu Laurel earlier vowed to immediately suspend any personnel found guilty of engaging in ‘ghost’ FMR projects, although the DA’s initial findings showed that no official or employee was involved in any of these.

An audit conducted by the DA last month covered more than 4,700 FMR projects from 2020 to 2025 that De Mesa said were implemented by ‘very small’ local contractors.

The DA identifies and validates the FMRs, while the DPWH handles the commissioning, bidding, and construction of these projects.

This year, the government plans to build 131,000 kilometers of roads designed to link agricultural areas with markets. About 70,000 km of these projects were completed as of July, while 61,000 km have yet to be validated.

A network of business process outsourcing (BPO) employees has filed a formal complaint against 30 call center firms based in Cebu province for violating labor and occupational safety laws during the 6.9-magnitude earthquake on Sept. 30.

BPO Industry Employees Network (BIEN) – Cebu lodged the complaint with the Department of Labor and Employment – Region 7 (DOLE – RO7) on Thursday.

‘BIEN-Cebu rejects this ‘business-as-usual’ approach of BPO companies and government neglect during this time of crisis. We call on all BPO workers to unite and fight back against this blatant disregard of workers’ rights,’ the group’s spokesperson John Kyle Enero said in a statement.

According to the group, they had received more than a hundred reports of agents being forced to report to work, despite their pleas to focus on their safety and their families in just two days.

Among these were agents who were allegedly forced back onto the production floor, and emergency exits were blocked in one company.

Another reported that they were offered double pay to continue working after the earthquake, disregarding safety concerns.

In another company, employees were ordered to resume work immediately after the quake, with some returning as early as 30 minutes post-event, without any safety memorandum or clearance. The group received multiple incidents of employees insisting on not reporting to work were met with notices to explain, administrative sanctions, loss of attendance incentives and benefits, among many retaliatory actions.

There were also reports of verbal threats, and concerns were downplayed, treating the crisis as ‘business as usual.’

Employees who went home after the Sept. 30 earthquake were marked as unpaid, lost attendance bonuses, and were suspended from work. Workers who did not return the following day were marked as unauthorized absences.

Some employees were even forced to sign memos prohibiting them from speaking about the situation on social media.

The group urged DOLE to investigate the allegations and hold negligent employers accountable under Republic Act No. 11058, or the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Standards law, and related labor issuances. When sought for comment, Labor and Employment Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma told the Inquirer that the agency is already investigating the case.

He said that the filing of complaint ‘is very welcome to enable the DOLE to establish the guilt and liability of employers being complained of.’

He added that, without preempting the outcome of the investigation, employers must not force their workers to report to work if the latter feel that their workplace is unsafe.

‘The company cannot just impose disciplinary action if the refusal or non- reporting is based on justifiable ground, i.e fear for their safety or health concerns,’ Laguesma said in a Viber message.

BIEN-Cebu also criticized the government for not declaring imminent danger in workplaces in the province, and instead passed the decision of how to handle the emergency situation to private companies.

‘This decision not only affects BPO workers at large, but the thousands of families and loved ones,’ Enero said.

‘If the government can suspend classes due to the need to inspect school buildings, they should also rightfully require BPO companies and their building administrators to provide a detailed inspection and safety report to ensure that resumption of work does not threaten worker safety,’ he added.

Meanwhile, Cebu City Vice Mayor Tommy Osmeña also urged employees who experienced the same workplace abuse to submit a report to him, by texting him at 09173299999 and providing all the details of the incident.

He assured complainants they should not fear retribution from their employers, as he would be the only one to read their text messages.

‘I need to be sure that this is true, but if this is true, we will do more than just file a complaint at DOLE,’ he said in his official Facebook account.

The government has not yet made any contingency plan in the event that arrest warrants are issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against allies of former President Rodrigo Duterte, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said on Thursday.

‘We have yet to talk about it. I do not think they want to leave the country. We will cross the bridge when we get there,’ Remulla told reporters.

Remulla made the statement after former senator Antonio Trillanes IV revealed that arrests warrants against Senators Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa and Christopher ‘Bong’ Go may be issued early next year.

Trillanes recently returned to the country from The Hague after attending the 10th Seminar on Cooperation last September 16 to 18 at the ICC.

He is among the first to initiate the case for crimes against humanity against the former President.

The 80-year-old Duterte is currently in ICC custody after he was arrested in Manila last March on charges of crimes against humanity stemming from the brutal crackdown on illegal drugs.

The government said more than 6 000 people were killed in Duterte’s anti-drug war , though local and international human rights groups have a higher figure.

RJ Abarrientos and Ange Kouame joined Quentin Millora-Brown as new additions to the Gilas Pilipinas pool of coach Tim Cone.

The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas made the announcement on Tuesday as the pool was expanded to a total of 16 for the 2027 Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers, which start late next month. Gilas will be facing Guam twice in the first window of the first qualification phase.

Kai Sotto is also part of the pool, and could likely see action for the November window if he fully recovers from an ACL injury.

Cone has retained the 12 players he had during the Fiba Asia Cup in Saudi Arabia, namely naturalized player Justin Brownlee, Dwight Ramos, Kevin Quiambao, AJ Edu, June Mar Fajardo, Scottie Thompson, Chris Newsome, CJ Perez, Calvin Oftana, Japeth Aguilar, Jamie Malonzo and Carl Tamayo. Millora-Brown was confirmed by Cone to be available for his Gilas debut after his appeal to be a local player was approved by Fiba.

Kouame will be a second option as naturalized player in case Brownlee isn’t available, while Abarrientos was among those cut from the Asia Cup pool.

Gilas will have a longer preparation for the upcoming window after the PBA decided not to hold games in the Philippine Cup for the period of Nov. 17 to Dec. 4.

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) said it would provide emergency loans to members and pensioners in Cebu, after a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck the province this week, damaging buildings and disrupting daily life.

The GSIS Emergency Loan Program will be opened to qualified members and pensioners residing or working in Cebu, the pension fund said. Eligible members and pensioners may borrow up to P40,000 if they have an existing emergency loan, or up to P20,000 if they have no outstanding balance.

The loan is payable in 36 months at an interest rate of 6 percent per annum, with the first monthly amortization due after three months.

Loan proceeds will be credited electronically through the borrowers’ ATM cards, ensuring fast and safe release of funds.

Members may apply via the GSIS Touch mobile app, GSIS Wireless Automated Processing System kiosks, or through the GSIS e-service portals.

Romeo Migabon survived ‘Yolanda’ in 2013 but may now have to deal yet again with losing his home, one that was built for the victims of the supertyphoon.

Migabon looked despondently at his house, or what was left of it, after the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck Cebu province on Tuesday night.

But the Bogo City resident said he was still grateful to see all his family members merely sustaining injuries during the quake.

‘We can’t do anything about it; I’m just thankful we only got wounded. We can probably recover from this,’ said Migabon, one of the hundreds of villagers at Barangay Pulambato who were rendered homeless.

Their houses at Pulambato were part of the resettlement projects for Yolanda victims in the city.

Elsewhere in Bogo, responders as of this writing were trying to reach at least three bodies from the collapsed Condor Pension House in Barangay Gairan.

Erwin Castañeda of the local fire department identified the three victims as receptionists Mercedita Balleta and Gemma Gilig, and Gemma’s 4-year-old son.

‘We can see them from under the rubble, but they [are] covered by debris and we can’t get near,’ Castañeda told the Inquirer when contacted on the phone around 6 p.m.

Most of the confirmed quake fatalities in Cebu as of press time were in Bogo City (30), followed by the towns of San Remigio (22), Medellin (10), Tabogon (5), and one each in Sogod and Tabuelan, according to the Office of Civil Defense.

Many of the victims were crushed to death as they slept.

The local government of Zamboanga City sent off a 19-member team for a humanitarian mission to quake-hit Cebu on Wednesday.

Zamboanga City Mayor Khymer Olaso said the team was composed of personnel from the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO), the City Health Office, and the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDP), to provide medical assistance and help in the relief, search, and rescue operations in the province.

The team left Zamboanga City on Wednesday evening and expected to arrive in Cebu on Thursday, bringing along 1,000 sacks of rice, 1,000 boxes of canned goods, and 1,000 jerry cans with water.

A 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck Cebu province around 10 p.m. on September 30, killing more than 70 people, mostly from badly-hit Bogo City.

In Pagadian City, Mayor Samuel Co is still coordinating with the Cebu local government to determine the unmet immediate needs of the people not covered by the assistance that has been pouring into the province.

Co, who also serves as vice president for Mindanao in the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP), said that he is coordinating with members to send more assistance to Cebu.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday personally visited victims of the devastating 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Cebu province to oversee relief efforts and extend immediate assistance to affected residents.

President Marcos arrived in Bogo City, the epicenter of the Sept. 30 powerful earthquake, where he inspected some of the badly damaged structures and interacted with victims.

The President, along with local officials of Cebu province led by Governor Pamela Baricuatro, inspected the collapsed housing units at SM Cares Village in Barangay Polambato, which was established by SM Supermalls in November 2014 as a relocation site for survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda.

Reports indicate that eight bodies have been recovered from collapsed houses in the area.

Marcos afterwards visited the Archdiocesan Shrine and Parish Church of St. Vicente Ferrer in Barangay Bungtod, as the church sustained heavy damage during the earthquake.

The President then went to the City of Bogo Science and Arts Academy in Barangay Cogon, a public school heavily damaged during the earthquake.

He also inspected the Cebu Provincial Hospital in Barangay Taytayan, where he assured patients of immediate relief assistance. The hospital staff have put up makeshift wards at the parking lot to attend to the influx of patients.

The President gave instructions on relief operations to the Cabinet officials who accompanied him, including Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian, Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sonny Angara, Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Cristina Frasco, and Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Teodoro Herbosa.

According to the latest report of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the death toll of the earthquake has climbed to 72, of which 30 were from Bogo.

At least 294 are reported injured, all in the Central Visayas region.

The NDRRMC has yet to determine damage to infrastructure and agriculture as of this posting.

Boxes of alleged smuggled cigarettes valued at P9.5 million were confiscated by authorities in Maguindanao del Norte, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said.

The products were seized after the Datu Odin Sinsuat municipal police flagged a white closed van and a gas tanker at a checkpoint in Barangay Poblacion early Thursday morning, the PNP detailed in a statement.

‘The operation led to the confiscation of 266 boxes of smuggled cigarettes. marked ‘for export only.’ It also resulted in the arrest of two male suspects, aged 22 and 26, who attempted to transport the contraband,’ the police said.

The PNP did not identify the two suspects arrested.

However, it did state that the suspects were taken into custody by the municipal police to face charges for violating Republic Act No. 10863, also known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.