By Daisy CL Mandap
This is the question asked by former Labor Attache Jalilo
dela Torre, who continues to face controversy more than a month since being yanked out unceremoniously from his Hong Kong
post.
This time, his name is being dragged into an alleged
anomalous deal to upgrade the Philippine Overseas Labor Office’s 13-year online
system, with no less than his boss, Philippine Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello
III, questioning the transaction.
In a press statement issued on Aug 25, the Department of
Labor and Employment said Secretary Bello has ordered a probe into the “haste”
with which Polo, then headed by Dela Torre, had replaced the old service
provider for the online system, EmployEasy Ltd.
 |
| Bello questions 'haste', lack of transparency'in new deal |
The move was apparently in reaction to a letter sent by an
anonymous group to Bello and circulated in Hong
Kong a few days after Dela Torre was told to vacate his office by Jul 7, and
move to Riyadh , Saudi Arabia
The letter supposedly signed on
behalf of “Group of HK agencies seeking for justice” alleged that no fair
public bidding was conducted and that there was a conflict of interest on
Polaris’ part because it was closely identified with an employment agency.
Asked to comment on the move, Dela Torre, who is on vacation
leave in the Philippines
 |
| Dela Torre urges, study the new system first |
He said Polaris was chosen because it gives better protection to workers
and makes Polo more efficient. The allegations that the contract was
awarded in haste and without transparency was without basis.
He suggested that Secretary Bello should first find out the
capabilities of the new system, and why the old system was replaced.
“There is a clear conflict of interest on the part of the
old provider. The complaint is by a group of anonymous agencies trying to
protect the old provider,” he said.
Dole’s statement noted that Polo terminated the services of
EmployEasy on Dec. 5, 2018, and after soliciting proposals for a new service
provider the following month, chose Polaris.
The contract was signed on Mar 7 this year between Dela Torre for Polo and Polaris director Lindsay Ernst. Polaris’ chief
executive officer, Jaime Deverall, was then in the United States
The statement did not mention that Polo or Dole will not pay anything for the new system, and that whatever Polaris
charges to agencies for maintaining the system will have prior approval from
Polo.
Neither did it say when the investigation will begin.
Polo’s officer-in-charge Antonio Villafuerte says he only
learned about the investigation from published reports on the statement, and
has not received any information directly from Manila
 |
| Deverall surprised by allegations |
Polaris’ Deverall, who is in Manila as of this writing, said
via email that he was also surprised by the allegations as his company had gone
through a regular bidding process along with three other groups, including
EmployEasy.
“We were told that the contract had been awarded to us
because we were the only bidding team that actually presented a fully
operational system,” he said.
“In addition, we were told that our team and our experience
uniquely positioned us to build the system. We are a group of Stanford University
But he said he was confident the Dole investigation will
show the transparent nature of the bidding process, and the big advantages to
be gained from the new system that his company will introduce.
He says once they get the go signal to release their new
digital system for the project, they can save Polo 80 man-hours per week, and
each employment agency over 40 man-hours per week.
The waiting times faced by overseas Filipino workers at Polo
will also be drastically cut, and their safety better assured.
“Our system increases safety for OFWs because it digitizes
the currently paper-based agency and employer watchlists. Our digital
watchlists will be used to keep employers and employment agencies accountable
for their actions,” Deverall said.
As part of the deal, Polaris has
already installed 10 new computers in Polo, and three new routers to speed up
its connection. It had hoped to be fully operational by next month.
Earlier, Dela Torre said he decided
to upgrade Polo’s system because of complaints that the previous system,
introduced in 2006 by then Labor Attache Bernardino Julve, was slow and
susceptible to security breaches.
EmployEasy, which had operated the
system for 13 years, was said to have ignored repeated requests for improvement
in its service. Thus, instead of helping Polo gather important data on the
workers and employers, the system only served largely to facilitate contract
processing by agencies.
In addition, EmployEasy’s owner
appeared to have also operated an employment agency, HelperDB, and this fact
was known to many of the agencies which did nothing about it.
==
I-try mo ito, Kabayan: Kung interesado kang ma-contact ang mga advertiser namin dito, pindutin lang ang kanilang ad, at lalabas ang auto-dialer. Pindutin ulit upang tumawag. Hindi na kailangang pindutin ang mga numero.
I-try mo ito, Kabayan: Kung interesado kang ma-contact ang mga advertiser namin dito, pindutin lang ang kanilang ad, at lalabas ang auto-dialer. Pindutin ulit upang tumawag. Hindi na kailangang pindutin ang mga numero.
 |
| Call us! |
 |
| Call us! |
 |
| CALL US!.. |
 |
| Call now! |
 |
| Call us! |
 |
| Call us! |
 |
| Call now! |
 |
| Call Us! |
 |
| CALL US NOW! |
