China labor ‘invasion’ feared

MANILA, Philippines - The strong presence of China is being felt not only in disputed waters but also in the Philippine labor market.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) yesterday expressed fear that Chinese and other foreign workers are slowly taking over the country’s labor market while the government appears incapable of controlling their entry.

Gerard Seno, TUCP executive vice president, said concerned government agencies appear lax in implementing regulations on the entry of foreign workers.

“We have existing rules which only allow foreign workers if there are no local workers qualified for the positions, and yet you see a lot of them,” Seno said.

“There are millions of jobless Filipinos and none of them are qualified for positions being occupied by those foreign nationals. These are some issues that are not being monitored by the Bureau of Immigration, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Professional Regulation Commission,” he added.

Seno cited the reported presence of thousands of Chinese workers in construction sites in Bataan and Batangas last year. He said that he suspected that the Chinese workers immediately left the country after the DOLE ordered an investigation.

“They suddenly disappeared. The question is, what are they doing here?” he added.

He noted that the Chinese workers appeared to have entered the country illegally through the backdoor and did not go through regular procedures.

He also warmed that the apparent unregulated entry of foreign workers may further worsen when the establishment of an ASEAN economic community takes effect next year.

The ASEAN economic community will pave the way for free movement of professionals in 10 ASEAN countries, but Seno said Filipino workers are still unprepared to compete with foreign workers.

“We have received information that our construction industry is still not ready for the ASEAN economic community,” he added.

But the DOLE maintained that the government is making the necessary preparations to ensure Filipino professionals are prepared for the opening of the ASEAN labor market.

Seno clarified that the TUCP, the country’s largest labor group, is not entirely against the entry of foreign workers to the country. The TUCP, he said, even supports the proposal of the DOLE to ease the rules on entry of foreign workers to address manpower shortages.

“We are not telling them (foreign workers) that they are unwelcome, we are just advising them to go through the regular process so that they can also be protected if it is proven that no Filipino workers are qualified to the position they are applying for,” Seno explained.