CEBU, Philippines — At least 13 export companies operating at the Mactan Economic Zone were awarded “Safety Seal” certificates by the Department of Labor and Employment-7 after complying with the rules set forth by the government this pandemic.
Six of the 13 companies are from MEZ 1, namely, Feeder Apparel Corporation, Feeder Apparel Corporation-FIT (Printing), On Semiconductor Cebu Philippines, Inc., Mactan Apparels Incorporated, Metro Wear Incorporated and TMX Philippines Incorporated.
Three are from MEZ II, namely, Delfingen PH-Filipinas Incorporated, Lear Philippines Engineering Branch and Matluster Corporation.
The other awardees are located at the Cebu Light Industrial Park: Duck-Il Korea Incorporated, Global Wear Manufacturing Incorporated, Teradyne Philippines Ltd. and Vertex One Apparel Philippines Incorporated.
According to DOLE-7 Director Salome Siaton, these export zone locators are the first in the country to receive the certificates.
Siaton said this is a good start for the collaboration between DOLE and Philippine Economic Zone Authority as they are looking forward to transforming the whole zone into a safer place, where all locators will finally adopt and implement the government’s Safety Seal program.
“Having been issued with a Safety Seal certificate is a demonstration of the company’s compliance with the rules and regulations set forth by government. And the certificate itself is a marketing tool which will help gain the trust of foreign investors. It will also tell the workers and all other stakeholders that it’s safe to visit and work in and transact with these companies,” Siaton said in a statement.
These PEZA-MEZ locators, Siaton said, were found compliant with the minimum public health standards and have also adopted a digital contact tracing application that helps contain the spread of COVID-19.
Siaton expressed thanks to Atty. Abdullah Adel-Khan Alug, zone administrator of PEZA-MEZ and VisMin SEZs, for the support and assistance extended to the department for the successful issuance and awarding of the Safety Seal certificates to locators.
Alug assured DOLE-7 and other stakeholders that PEZA-MEZ is embarking on a unified direction toward curbing the ill-effects of the pandemic.
The zone administrator added that PEZA is one with the government in institutionalizing a collective action towards the new normal.
“We thank the locators that have demonstrated compliance with the standards. This is testament of their commitment of helping to curb the negative impact of the pandemic. We encourage all locators to support the Safety Seal program,” he said.
Back last January 23, government agencies also awarded Safety Seal certificates to the CCLEX Project by Cebu Link Joint Venture, The Marketplace Robinsons Galleria Cebu, Brunos Barbers, and Bai Hotel.
According to Joint Memorandum Circular No. 21-01 series of 2021, the program aims to assure the consumers and the public in general of establishments’ compliance with the minimum public health standards set by the government.
The Safety Seal certification is a voluntary certification scheme that affirms that an establishment is compliant with the minimum public health standards set by the government and uses or integrates its contact tracing with StaySafe.ph. — JMD (FREEMAN)