3 Koreans Placed On Hdo List For Economic Sabotage

[Mr Lee]

This should encourage more foreign businesses, NOT. I have to wonder how the Philippines is ever to grow if they keep charging foreigners instead of trying to work out issues which might be perfectly normal back in their own countries to do. It seems that in the PHL you do not have to do anything actually wrong to end up in trouble and then not permitted to even leave the country.A travel ban has been issued by the Department of Justice (DoJ) against three South Koreans who have been charged with syndicated and large-scale illegal recruitment involving economic sabotage by a Filipino manpower agency.The hold departure orders (HDOs) signed by Chief State Counsel Ricardo Paras III by authority of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima were against Kyung Chull Park, Boem Hee Kee and Hae Lyong Kim — all officers of a Korean electronics multinational company in Taguig City.The HDOs on Park, Kee and Kim are enforceable for five years or until after the resolution of the charges filed against them by Temps and Staffers Inc. (TSI), a Filipino manpower agency based in Quezon City.At the same time, the DoJ issued watch list orders (WLOs) against 13 Filipinos who are either officers or employees of Samsung Electronics Philippines Corp. (Sepco). The WLOs are enforceable for six months unless sooner terminated.The order dated Dec. 6, 2010 identified those under the WLO as Glen Martin Glinoga, lawyer Gabriel Sto. Domingo Matriano, Mary Anne Porto Felipe, Benjamin Jimenez, Sherilyn Tan, Nelso Louie Solero Listom, Teresa Angela Salvallon, Gerald Randolf Duremdes, Ricky de Guzman, Noel Dajao, Elaine Ubalde Matito, Jerick Paloma and Maybelle Doloran.They were also charged with syndicated and large-scale illegal recruitment involving economic sabotage under Article 34(d), in relation to Articles 38(b) and 39(a) and (d) of the Labor Code as amended.In its complaint, the TSI accused the Samsung Philippines executives of unlawfully pirating around 700 of its employees who were deployed in all Samsung dealers across the country.The local manpower provider through lawyer Bertrand Baterina stressed that under the Philippine Labor Code, any recruitment activity done by a person or a company not duly licensed to engage in such activity is deemed illegal and punishable.“And when done through a syndicate, or on a large scale, as in this case, it falls under economic sabotage,” the lawyer said.Baterina pointed out that based on Samsung’s contract with TSI, Samsung “acknowledges his client as an independent contractor whose existence was totally separate and independent from its (Samsung) own.”The complete story HERE

[FlyAway]

Protectionism at its best.

[Jollygoodfellow]

Bit like the narrow minded quote from this story.

However, Cristino Panlilio, head of the trade ministry's Board of Investments, dismissed the issue as overblown, saying many of the Philippines' neighbours also had many holidays and remained competitive."They're wrong in saying it's costing us," Panlilio told AFP.

Mounting public holidays hurting Philippines: businessesMANILA — Campaigns to declare national holidays in the Philippines that would honour pets and fishermen are fuelling business anger over the mounting number of days off workers enjoy each year.Too many holidays are forcing many potential investors to avoid the country while raising costs for employers by tens of millions of dollars, according to a study published by seven foreign chambers of commerce on Monday.Filipino workers had 21 public holidays this year, compared with nine in Vietnam, 11 in Singapore and 12 in Taiwan, said the study."Every paid holiday goes to the bottom line of the balance sheet, and, like minimum wages, can pressure firms that operate on low-profit margins to reduce their work force, close, or move into the underground economy," it said."The government rarely consults business stakeholders, although each holiday adds tens of millions of dollars to their payrolls."The study noted that the number of Philippine holidays had risen from 12 in 1987 to the 21 this year, mainly for religious festivals, and that parliament was considering 16 more.Lawmakers were looking to declare holidays that would honour, among others, soldiers, families, children, farmers, fishermen, Chinese Lunar New Year, pets and human rights.The business groups also took issue with the fickle and unpredictable nature of the holiday declarations, which they noted were sometimes done on very short notice, disrupting work schedules and increasing corporate costs."It makes us more uncompetitive," John Forbes, of the American Chamber of Commerce and the principal author of the study, told a news conference.He said small companies that lacked the resources to pay extra holiday pay were often forced into the "underground economy", where no taxes were paid and laws safeguarding labour rights were ignored.Meanwhile, potential foreign investors simply shunned the country, according to Forbes.Oscar Sanez, president of the Business Processing Association of the Philippines, said the problem impacted heavily on outsourcing, one of the country's few globally competitive industries."If you operate on a low margin and your cost increases, then you start looking elsewhere," Sanez told AFP.However, Cristino Panlilio, head of the trade ministry's Board of Investments, dismissed the issue as overblown, saying many of the Philippines' neighbours also had many holidays and remained competitive."They're wrong in saying it's costing us," Panlilio told AFP.