THE Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has urged the Office for Transportation Security (OTS) to regularize the employment status of thousands of its personnel, particularly those engaged in the screening operations deemed vital for airport safety and national security.
TUCP president and Deputy Speaker Raymond Democrito Mendoza said this is to protect the flying public, deter extortion of passengers, and promote tourism by ensuring the professionalism of the OTS work force.
The labor group’s call was made following the dismissal from the service of three OTS personnel allegedly involved in a “tanim-bala” (bullet planting) scheme at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) .
Mendoza recalled that in 2023, only 300 out of 3,000 OTS personnel were regular employees.
He said the OTS is a frontliner tasked for safe travel and were among the one million job order (JO) and contract-of-service workers (COS) in government, despite the existence of hundreds of thousands of unfilled plantilla positions.
“In fact, they have no employer-employee relationship with the government institution they are currently in, “ Mendoza said.
He said many of the OTS personnel may be tempted by need and opportunity to make the most of a bad situation by engaging in corruption and extortion of travellers.
He reminded the OTS officials that their agency should do the utmost so that trust and confidence in the integrity of airport security is not compromised, especially as millions of our people are OFWs and a major share of our economy is tied to tourism.
“Like the ENDO and manpower agency workers in the private sector, these frontliners are forever trapped in the vicious cycle of poverty without security of tenure and without living wages, “ he added.
The TUCP also exhorted the concerned authorities to conduct a swift and transparent investigation of the so-called “tanim bala” incident to hold those responsible fully accountable.