The labor department defended on Monday its decision to recall the labor attaché in Hong Kong amid allegations of favoritism in the accreditation of recruitment agencies.
In an ambush interview, Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello II confirmed he issued the recall order for Jalilo dela Torre based on the recommendation of the team he sent to Hong Kong to probe the complaints filed against the labor attaché.
Dela Torre underwent an investigation after he allegedly abused his discretion by accrediting only recruiters whom he allegedly favored.
“Their recommendation is for me to recall him so he can explain and answer the charges against him. This is not a penalty,” Bello stated.
Bello issued the remark after 89 overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in Hong Kong released a joint statement during the weekend throwing their support behind dela Torre and to oppose his recall.
Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Training Institute head Susan Ople, for her part, said she concurs with the joint statement stating the immediate recall order is uncalled for.
“The traditional way would be for the DOLE [Department of Labor and Employment] central office to ask the person concerned to reply to whoever is complaining against him or her first,” Ople said.
“Because the perception, once you recall someone, there is already an impression that he had failed in his job,” she added.
For her part, Philippine Association of Service Exporters Inc. President Elsa U. Villa said she believes the complaint against dela Torre is unlikely based from his track record.
“He has worked in several other posts before. And never was his name associated with corruption and with negligence. He always went the extra mile in protecting our workers,” Villa said.
She noted this was the first time recruitment agencies rallied in support of a labor attaché.
“This is rare because recruitment agencies and labor attaches are usually at odds. This is one labat [or labor attaché] who has served well, and we don’t want to lose because good public servants like him are very rare,” Villa added.
Among the achievements of dela Torre, she said, was exposing to Hong Kong authorities the Russian syndicates victimizing migrant workers and pushing for the banning of window cleaning for foreign household-service workers in Hong Kong.
Ople held a news conference to express their support for dela Torre without the labor attache’s knowledge.
“We intentionally left him [dela Torre] out of the loop because we want to show that if there is a good man or person…they will be affirmed by OFW advocates,” Ople said.
Ople and Villa said they hope Bello will consider their testimonies before he makes a decision on dela Torre’s case.
Bello said he respects the position of migrant stakeholders on the issue, but he maintained his recall order will still take effect.
“If we will reconsider, all the labor attachés that will be recalled might do the same thing…[we] have to respect our disciplinary procedures,” Bello said.
The labor chief, however, clarified dela Torre will remain the labor attaché in Hong Kong unless it is proven he committed irregularities in the performance of his duties.