OROQUIETA CITY, Misamis Occidental (PIA)--The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)-10 Misamis Occidental Provincial Field Office (Mis. Occ. PFO) facilitated the P14,248,675.12 payment of 147 retrenched workers of Integrated Port Services Office (IPSO) in Ozamiz City, December 16-17, 2021.

DOLE-10 Mis. Occ. PFO Chief Ebba Borbon-Acosta said the workers demanded payment of their separation pay after three long months of being separated from the company. Due to the delayed payment, the said workers opted for a faster, inexpensive and accessible settlement of their labor issue through the department’s Single Entry Approach (SEnA) program.

Acosta, herself conducted the conference with IPSO’s Office Manager, which the respondent spearheaded the release of payment.

The respondent company made sure that the workers fully understood the computation of the monetary settlement in accordance with their years of service. The workers, on the other hand, were fully aware of the consequences of signing the Quitclaim and Release.

IPSO has been providing Cargo Handling Services such as Stevedoring, Arrastre, Mooring and Unmooring, and other services inside the Port of Ozamiz for 45 years. However, its contract ended, September 30, 2021 and Global Port Ozamiz Terminal Inc. took over, absorbing 95 percent of IPSO's overall workforce.

"We are beyond grateful to the services of DOLE that it is always after the welfare of the workers as their first priority. This will undoubtedly make our Christmas with our families more memorable," Jan Marshdel Antiola, one of the retrenched workers, said on DOLE's response to their pleas and assistance in expediting the release of separation compensation to the retrenched workers.

SeNa is a citizen-centered system that is essential for the prompt settlement of grievances and the de-clogging of labor issues. This strategy also provides speedier relief to parties in settling issues, saves government resources on the time-consuming procedure of forced arbitration, and allows for the reinstatement of wrongfully terminated personnel. (DOLE-Misamis Occidental/PIA-10/Misamis Occidental)b