BAGUIO CITY – The City Council approved on first reading a proposed ordinance requiring all establishments, investors, contractors and the like to hire a minimum of eighty percent of their work force from qualified and bonafide residents of the city.
The ordinance authored by Councilor Joel Alangsab stated that the measure shall be applicable to all business establishments, companies and industries engaged in manufacturing or rendering of service in the ordinary course of trade or business and all business establishments that are located within the territorial jurisdiction of the city but who are under agreement with any service or service employment agencies or contractors that are located in the city notwithstanding the fact that they shall be required to hire a minimum of 80 percent manpower who are qualified to work on such establishments which is a requirement of the measure.
Under the provisions of the ordinance, the qualified bonafide residents of the city must possess the required voter’s identification card, filed income tax return or any statement under oath showing the complete address of the applicant and that the aforesaid proofs of residence shall be considered as mandatory requirements in accepting a person for employment, provided, that the applicant is a resident of the city for at least one year as certified by the punong barangay concerned.
The Public Employment Service office in coordination with the Special Services Division and the City Permits and Licensing Division shall be in charge of the implementation of the pertinent provisions of the local legislative measure.
The ordinance added that business establishments that are already existing and have been established prior to the enactment of the measure are required to submit an annual report of the complete list names and addresses of their employees before the issuance of their required business permits by the City Permits and Licensing Division.
Further, the concerned business establishments shall furnish their reports to the Public Employment Service Office and the chairperson of the City Council Committee on Employment, Livelihood and Cooperatives and Persons with Disabilities for their information, guidance and ready reference.
On the other hand, business establishments found guilty of violating the pertinent provisions of the ordinance shall be liable to pay a fine of P5,000 and a stern warning that subsequent violations will result to closure of the said establishments for the first offense, a fine of P5,000 and closure of the establishment for at least 30 days for the second offense and a fine of P5,000 and revocation of business permit and the closure of the business for the third offense.
Based on a report from the Cordillera office of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA-CAR, the employment rate in the region decreased as unemployment rate increased by 0.4 percentage points, from 4.1 percent in October 2015 to 4.5 percent in October 2016.
Moreover, DOLE-CAR statistics show that in 2012, close to 9,000 unemployed individuals are in Baguio City, thus, the local government, in its pursuit to uplift the standard of living of its constituents by generating and enticing income-generating activities for its constituents, particularly those who are qualified and able-bodied citizens by taking the cudgels of enjoining investors to hire a certain percentage of their employees from local residents.
By Dexter A. See
