BMP in Cebu staged protest vs D.O. 174

DOLE-7 Director Elias Cayanong invites Teody Navea, the chairperson of BMP for a short dialogue inside his office but refuses the invitation (CDN PHOTO/ JUNJIE MENDOZA)

Over 50 members of the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) held a rally outside the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE-7) office on Friday morning.

BMP members called for the scrapping of DOLE’s Department Order (D.O.) 174.

D.O. 174, signed by Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello last month, prohibits labor-only contracting and several other contractual arrangements.

But BMP said D.O. 174 only worsened the labor contractualization in the country, or the so-called end of contract scheme (Endo), since still allows estalishments to employ workers through agencies.

The protest rally was led by Teody Navea, the chairperson of BMP.

Navea who was invited by DOLE-7 Director Elias Cayanong for a short dialogue inside his office but he refused the invitation.

Since Navea refused Cayanong’s invitation, Cayanong asked the militant group members to take shelter near the building as they were exposed to the sun.

“We don’t have a problem with the regional office since they are just following directives from central office. Our concern is (addressed to) the national office,” Navea said.

The BMP also called For the resignation of Bello for signing D.O. 174 in March.