The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) recently ruled in favor of  appellant Severino O. Cordero, a bus conductor of Baliwag Transit, for his work-connected coronary artery disease.

Appellant worked as bus conductor for 27 years. His hospital confinements prompted him to claim SS and EC benefits from the Social Security System (SSS) and he was paid simultaneously his EC and SSS permanent partial disability benefits for thirty months, from year 2000 to 2002.

In 2003, he filed another claim for compensation under P.D. 626, as amended, but the claim was denied because of the absence of an employer-employee relationship at the time the claim was filed. On appeal, the ECC favored appellant by ruling that his disability was of such a degree that is commensurate to the maximum benefit of 38 months.  Hence, the System was ordered to extend Cordero’s entitlement to PPD benefits for another eight months.

Work-connected sickness or injury are covered by the EC program. The benefits come in the form of income, medical and rehabilitation services. EC claims are filed with the SSS for the private sector and GSIS for the public sector.

The ECC, an attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), reviews appealed cases denied by SSS or GSIS. Go top

The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) recently awarded EC benefits to Robert Manuel, a merchandiser of Uniwide Sales, Inc. for his work-related injury but denied his temporary total disability benefits for his non-work connected ilio tibial impingement syndrome.

The compensation claim based on appellant’s ilio tibial impingement syndrome was denied by SSS although he was accorded sickness benefit for the ailment under the SSS Law.

Ilio impingement syndrome is a disorder of the lower thigh caused by repetitive friction between bone and muscle. The disorder may arise from overuse of a normal thigh by a normal person like a distance runner. The ailment, therefore, has nothing to do with the work of a merchandiser. However, Manuel’s injury sustained in July 1994 was given due course because the injury was sustained in a fall while arranging goods and therefore work-connected.

The ECC ordered the SSS to pay Manuel five (5) days of temporary total disability benefits and medical reimbursement for his injury and treatment.

EC claims for work-related sickness or injury resulting in disability or death are filed at SSS for private sector and GSIS for public sector.

The ECC, an agency of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), reviews cases denied by SSS or GSIS on appeal. Go top

Yes, according to the Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC). In a recent decision, the ECC awarded compensation benefits to Ramon Hembra, a carpenter-seaman of Magsaysay Maritime Corporation for his work-related foot cellulitis.

The EC claim was denied by the Social Security System (SSS) on its finding that the ailment had nothing to do with the claimant’s employment and cellulitis is not an occupational disease.

On appeal, the ECC’s review of the case revealed that the appellant’s doctor in Juneau, Alaska noted that Hembra used company-issued shoes not fitted to his feet and his right foot was irritated because of frequent rubbing. This may have caused his cellulitis and possible necrosis. Medical findings have shown that skin trauma, ulceration and dermatitis are predisposing factors that may have contributed to the development of cellulitis.

The ECC remanded the case to SSS for payment of temporary total disability benefits and medical reimbursement for the treatment of the disease in accordance with P.D. 626, as amended.

EC claims for work-related sickness or injury resulting in disability or death are filed at SSS for private sector and GSIS for public sector.

The ECC, an attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), reviews appealed cases denied by SSS or GSIS.  Go top

The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) favorably decided an appeal of a farm worker of the office of the Provincial Veterinarian in Lingayen, Pangasinan for work-connected gangrene resulting in amputation.

Eduardo Rodriguez of the Bureau of Animal Industry stepped on a barbed wire which punctured his right sole. The wound festered and gangrene set in which required amputation of his right leg below the knee.

Rodriguez’s appeal to the ECC is based on his belief that he should be entitled to permanent total disability, a lifetime benefit.

The ECC decided that the farm worker should be entitled to permanent partial disability benefits to compensate for the loss of a leg below the knee which is equivalent to the loss of a foot.

PPD benefits for the loss of a foot is good for 31 months. Since Rodriguez was only paid PPD benefits for 23 months, the GSIS was ordered to extend the appellant’s entitlement to PPD benefits for another eight months.

EC claims are filed at the SSS for private sector employees and at the GSIS for public sector employees. The ECC is an agency attached to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). Go top

The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) recently absolved I and E Partners from liability for damages under Article 205 of P.D. 626, as amended, amounting to P87,333.23 due to death of employee Armando Escarilla.

Escarilla was an agriculturist of the company based in Magalona, Negros Occidental.

On September 21, 2002, Escarilla was tasked to look for cane points at the haciendas in Magalona. He met an accident when the bicycle he was riding was bumped by a Ceres bus. He died on the spot.

His family received from the Social Security System (SSS) the amount of P164,666.45 for EC funeral and death benefits.

However, the legal unit of the SSS Western Visayas cluster sought an investigation by the SSS Bacolod branch of the company records. The investigator’s report maintained that the company did not keep a logbook to list occurrence of ailments and accidents involving company personnel and the company was assessed half of the value of the funeral and death benefits paid to Escarilla’s heirs.

The company administrator wrote ECC refuting the investigator’s finding of absence of a company logbook as required under Art. 205 of P.D. 626, as amended. An attestation from the property custodian that the accident was reported to the SSS immediately after the incident was attached to the letter.

According to the System, a subsequent investigation revealed that the EC logbook shown to the field investigator was just prepared at the time of the visitation; hence, the request for reconsideration was denied.

Upon review of the case on appeal., the ECC required the company to submit an affidavit attesting to the exact date of the recorded incident. The company complied and the property custodian attested to the authentication of the incident report.

The ECC found the appeal meritorious since the company complied with its obligation to record the disabilities or death of its employees based on Article 205 of P.D. 626, as amended.

According to ECC, what was important was that the company was able to record the incident and therefore, the ECC ordered the System to set aisde its demand letter and absolved I and E Partners from paying liability for damages under Article 205 of P.D. 626, as amended. Go top

The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC), an attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), recently absolved Negros Consolidated Farmers Association (COFA) in Bacolod City from liability for penalty amounting to P63,225.00 for its alleged failure to record the injury sustained by Eduardo Rodriguez, a COFA employee.

In the morning of May 1, 2003 Rodriguez was part of the rescue team mobilized to retrieve a cane truck that fell off the road in Sitio Lapak. Rodriguez was on board a crane traveling along the highway towards the rescue site when the crane’s brake malfunctioned and went out of control. Rodriguez lost his balance, tumbled on the road and his right leg was severely injured. He was rushed to the Bacolod City Hospital.

Rodriguez was granted EC temporary total disability (TTD) and permanent partial disability (PPD) benefits amounting to P126,450.00.

However, the SSS Western Visayas Cluster Legal Unit issued a demand letter to COFA imposing a penalty of P63,225.00 or 50%  of the total EC disability benefits granted to Rodriguez due to alleged failure of COFA to record the accident of Rodrigurez in the COFA EC Logbook as mandated under Article 205 of P.D. 626, as amended.

COFA maintained that it had submitted its EC logbook to the SSS on June 11, 2003 as received by Mary Ann H. Veniegas of SSS Bacolod Branch and duly authenticated by the latter.

When the SSS maintained its position, COFA appealed to the ECC for a review of the case pursuant to law and the amended rules on Employees Compensation.

The ECC ruled in favor of COFA based on its finding that COFA complied with its obligation to maintain a record of work-related disabilities or deaths of its employees.

While it is true that COFA submitted a time sheet on March 9, 2004, they had in fact submitted the required EC logbook kept in their field office on March 15, 2004.

In view of this, the ECC exonerated COFA from paying penalty under Artticle 205 of P.D. 626, as amended.

Claims for EC benefits based on work connected sickness or injury are filed at the Social Security System for the private sector and the GSIS for the public sector. Go top

The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) recently awarded temporary total disability benefits to Dionisio Nodado, Philippine Airlines (PAL) supervisor for his work-related crooked lower spine diagnosed as cervical spondylosis with disc bulge.

Nodado had been with PAL for a long period of time and it was when he was a ramp services supervisor that he complained of lumbar pain. For years, he used to lift heavy tow bars to attach the tow tractor to aircrafts.

In December 2000, a CT-scan of Nodado’s lumbar spine showed lumbar spondylosis with mild canal stenosis, L5, S1.

In September 2002, an x-ray examination revealed cervical spondylosis which was confirmed by an MRI examination in September 2003.

It was after then that Nodado filed a claim for compensation benefits under P.D. 626, as amended, on March 4, 2004. The Social Security System (SSS) denied the claim because the claim was filed beyond the three-year prescriptive period or counting from the time the cause of action accrued, or from November 22, 2000.

The ECC acknowledged that the non-alignment of appellant’s cervical spine may be considered an occupational disease since the worker for a considerable length of time was tasked to lift heavy tow bars. A closer scrutiny of the records revealed that Nodado on various earlier occasions was able to file claims which were deemed  compensable under EC and which the respondent system had impliedly admitted to be work-connected with the grant of EC-PPD benefits which under the implementing rules of P.D. 626, as amended may be considered as the claim itself.

Therefore, Nodado’s claim based on lumbar disc herniation which was filed in March 2004 may be considered as filed beyond the three-year prescriptive period but temporary total disability benefits under P.D. 626 may be awarded based on his cervical spondylosis with disc bulge, subject to the verification of sick leave filed.

EC claims for sickness or injury resulting in disability or death are filed at SSS for private sector and GSIS for public sector.

The ECC, an agency of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), reviews cases denied by SSS or GSIS on appeal. Go top

The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) favorably ruled on the plea of the widow of Alfredo Alleda, a DECS teacher based in Brooke’s Point, Palawan  for her husband’s death due to a work-connected vehicular accident.

The accident happened when Alleda’s motorcycle collided with another motorcycle along the national highway at Barangay Maasin causing his instantaneous death. Alleda had just completed inspecting the tree planting exercise at his school on November 2, 1997, a Sunday. The assignment, although executed on a non-working day, was in compliance with DECS Memorandum No. 22 and Division Memorandum No. 76 on the monitoring of tree planting activities.

The teacher was rushed to Brooke’s Point District Hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. The cause of death was spinal cord injury. A list of student’s names, the kind of trees they had planted with corresponding measurements were found in the teacher’s pocket.

The police report indicated the accident location and showed that the accident occurred proximate to the school area.

The ECC ordered payment of death benefits to the widow of Alleda under the Employees’ Compensation Law.

EC claims for sickness or injury resulting in disability or death are filed at SSS for private sector and GSIS for public sector.

The ECC, an agency of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), reviews cases denied by SSS or GSIS on appeal. Go top

The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) recently awarded death benefits to the widow of Reynaldo Gambala, a shuttle driver of Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation due to a work-connected vehicular accident.

Part of Gambala’s duties involved transport services for executives, company visitors and employees. While Gambala was on his way to pick up a Japanese visitor, the company car he was driving collided with a Marikina Auto Line Transport bus. Gambala was killed instantaneously.

Gambala’s widow filed a claim under the Employees’ Compensation Law.

The SSS investigation revealed the absence of a logbook to record accidents, ailments and deaths in the company. There was no time card to record the employee’s daily work performance nor a file on work assignments involving the driver. The company attested that the daily time record was with the driver and was not recovered after the accident and that the company logbook which maintained the record of ailments, accidents and deaths of employees had been destroyed because the company only retains records for five years. The claim was denied due to the absence of required supporting documents.

On appeal, the ECC ordered payment of death benefits to the widow. The authenticated certification issued by the company supported the appellant’s claim that the accident happened on official time and under the employer’s instruction, thus it was established that the accident was work-connected.

An employer who fails to record in the logbook any work-connected sickness or injury resulting in disability or death or gives false information or withholds information already in his possession shall be liable for 50 percent of the income benefit due the employee and payment by the employer shall accrue to the State Insurance Fund. Go top

The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) recently awarded death benefits to the widow of Reynaldo Gambala, a shuttle driver of Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation due to a work-connected vehicular accident.

The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC), an attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment announced that employed victims of the terrorist bombings on February 14 may be entitled to employees compensation benefits under P.D. 626 if the employed victims were on their way home from work. Under the present ECC policy, injuries that an employed worker may suffer when going to or coming from work may be considered work-connected and injuries sustained may be covered by the Employees Compensation Program.

It is however provided that such injuries must have happened within the normal travel time from home to work or vice versa and that there was no deviation from the normal route taken everyday or so long as the trip is a continuing act.

The benefits provided by the Employees Compensation Program covers disability arising from work-connected injury or sickness and work-connected death.

Claims are filed at the SSS for the private sector and the GSIS for the public sector. For inquiries on the EC program, the Public Assistance Center of the ECC may be reached during office hours at telephone number 896-78-37. Go top

The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) recently awarded benefits to Herminia Abellano for her husband’s work-connected death due to a vehicular accident.

Fortunato Abellano was a stock supervisor and driver of Oyster Villa, Inc. in Naga City until May 27, 2002 when he die in an accident at the age of 45.

Abellano was instructed to transport the company operations manager to Bagasbas in Daet. The vehicle driven by Abellano collided with a mini-bus along Maharlika Highway in Sipocot at 12:45 p.m. of May 26, 2002.  It was a head-on-collision and resulted in serious injuries to Abellano, his companion and the mini-bus driver.

The widow’s EC claim for death benefits was denied because Abellano was blamed for the accident. He overtook another vehicle which caused the accident.

On appeal, the ECC ruled in favor of the widow because Abellano was performing his work and carrying out an instruction when the accident happened. According to the ECC, the Employees Compensation Program rules provide given circumstances as basis for denying compensation arising from accidents at work and these are: intoxication, suicide and notorious negligence. The ECC findings revealed that Abellano did not disregard his own safety or there was no negligence on the part of the driver.

Therefore, the ECC ordered the Social Security System to pay death benefits to Abellano under P.D. 626, as amended.

EC claims for work-connected sickness or injury resulting in disability or death are filed at the SSS for private sector and GSIS for public sector. Go top

The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) recently awarded compensation benefits to the heir of Mario Gamboa, a cadet engineer of Asahi Glass Philippines in Pasig City who died of lung cancer.

Gamboa formerly supervised certain procedures in the glass manufacturing plant, checked and monitored raw materials for quality control such as silica sand, dolmite, felspa and soda ash and managed furnace control. He worked for Asahi for 12 years.

In January, 2002, his lung cancer was diagnosed and Gamboa succumbed after two days.

The widow’s EC claim was initially denied despite a certification issued by Gamboa’s doctor that Gamboa’s exposure to silica which is used in manufacturing glass may have contributed to his development of lung cancer.

On appeal, the ECC ordered payment of death benefits to the widow of Gamboa under the Employees’ Compensation Law because prolonged exposure to silica sand could have increased Gamboa’s risk of developing his lung ailment which caused his death.

EC claims based on work-connected sickness or injury resulting in disability or death may be filed at the SSS for private sector and GSIS for public sector. Go top

The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) recently modified the payment of benefits under the Employees Compensation Program to Alfredo Sagyaman, miner of Philex Mining Corporation in Benguet for his work-related osteoarthritis.

Sagyaman’s duties at Philex Mining involved machinery maintenance as well as maintenance work on wooden, concrete, and steel structures for residential, commercial and industrial use.

The miner’s osteoarthritis was diagnosed at the St. Louis University Hospital. He had other ailments including coronary artery disease with ischemic cardiomyopathy, bleeding peptic ulcer, hemorrhoids, colon polyp and colitis.

Sagyaman’s EC claim was denied initially because his ailments were not caused by his nature of work.

The ECC declared appellant’s osteoarthritis compensable under the Employees’ Compensation Program. Major trauma or repetitive joint use are risk factors to the development of osteoarthritis and these were present in the appellant’s work as a miner.

Therefore, the ECC modified the initial decision and ordered the Social Security System to pay appropriate EC disability benefits to the miner under P.D. 626, as amended, including reimbursement of his medical expenses.

EC claims for work-connected sickness or injury resulting in disability or death are filed at the SSS for private sector and GSIS for public sector.  Go top

The Philippine Workers’ Compensation Authority (PWCA) has been conceptualized to take the place of the now known Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) with the end in view of solving the existing problems confronting the implementation of the Employees’ Compensation Program (ECP) and the management of the State Insurance Fund (SIF).

The Employees Compensation Commission (ECC), as the policy making body of the Employees Compensation Program (ECP) has been encountering various problems which stem mainly from program implementation by four separate agencies. These are: the Employees’ Compensation Commission for policy formulation, program coordination and adjudication of EC appealed cases; the Social Security System (SSS) for the processing of the employees’ EC claims and management of the SIF in the private sector; the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) for the processing of the employees’ EC claims and management of the SIF in the public sector; and the Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC) for provision of technical services relating to work contingency prevention or occupational safety and health.

These four agencies have their own systems for carrying out their assigned mandates under the ECP which indubitably result into the fragmented implementation of the Employees’ Compensation Program. Go top

Nilo Baldomero, a former welder of MARIWASA, Inc., fell off a building, and survived the fall, but his severe head injury required extensive croanial surgery. He is one of the beneficiaries of the Employees’ Compensation Commission’s (ECC) Katulong at Gabay sa Manggagawang Pilipino (Kagabay) program. The ECC arranged for his entrepreneurship training at the Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC) and assisted him in securing a loan from Pananaw sa Kinabukasan Foundation, Inc., a non-government organization. Applying what he learned from TLRC, Baldomero set up a small bakery and sari-sari store. He easily paid off his loan, and presently manages his two sizeable fruit stands which amply provides for his family’s needs.

The Kagabay program of the ECC provides occupationally disabled workers with special assistance to make them productive members of society. The ECC is an agency attached to the Department of Labor and Employment. Go top

Ma. Luisa F. Raminto, a 35 year-old machine operator at Golay Buchel Philippines, in Makati City, developed carpal tunnel syndrome for which disability she received temporary total disability benefits from the Employees Compensation Program.

Aside from her income and medical benefits, Raminto was also a recipient of the KAGABAY II Entrepreneurship Program of the Employees’ Compensation Commission. She was provided training by the Technology Livelihood and Resource Center (TLRC). Through the ECC, she chose the catering business operation course and was granted a P20,000.00 loan to start her food vending business. With patience and hard work, her venture prospered and her loan was fully paid within six months.

To further hone her skills, she enrolled at the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority’s (TESDA) beauty culture course on her own initiative. After her training, she sought overseas employment and was hired as a beautician. She is now working in Brunei Darrusalam.

Raminto’s food vending business continue to operate under her sister’s  supervision. Go top

The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) recently awarded compensation benefits to Elizabeth Peñaflorida, widow of Salvador Peñaflorida, who died due to complications of sepsis.

Peñaflorida was a former senior cost quantity engineer of United Technologies, Inc. On October 20, 2001, he was sent to Guimaras province to supervise the repair and expansion of the Nueva Valencia District Hospital in Nueva Valencia and Jordan municipalities.

In March 2002, Peñaflorida experience chilling, fever and body weakness. He developed scalp abscess in April 2002 as well as diarrhea, vomiting and changes is sensorium. A culture test taken from his blood and scalp abscess showed pseudomonas.

On June 14, he suddenly lapsed into respiratory distress and died a day after due to multiple organ failure caused by sepsis.

Believing that her husband’s death was work-related, Elizabeth Peñaflorida filed an EC death claim with the Social Security System (SSS) but the claim was denied on the ground that there was no causal relationship between Peñaflorida’s job and the cause of death.

On appeal, the ECC, after a thorough study decided that the claim was meritorious. The ECC’s decision cited medical experts in defining that septic shock is caused by bacteremic infections, and only rarely caused by fungi. This is the leading cause of hospital-acquired infections.

The fact that Peñaflorida worked in Guimaras Hospital for almost six months may have exposed him to biological hazards.

Therefore, a causal relationship was established between Peñaflorida’s working environment and the cause of death and the ECC ordered the payment of compensation benefits to the widow.

EC claims for sickness or injury resulting in disability or death are filed at the SSS for the private sector and the GSIS for the public sector. Go top

The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) applied the Personal Comfort Rule as it recently awarded compensation benefits to Melchor Pilapil, a gantry crane operator of Stone Arts Philippines, Inc. for his work-connected facial injury.

On May 25, 2004, while on his way home for lunch, he accidentally tripped on a stone causing him to fall. He was brought to Morong Doctor’s Hospital where he underwent debridement of facial wound.

Initially, Pilapil’s EC claim was denied because the injury happened outside Pilapil’s workplace.

Pilapil filed an appeal before the ECC. The ECC determined the distance between Stone Arts Philippines and Pilapil’s residence and the company likewise certified that the employee was allowed to take his lunch at home on a regular basis. Pilapil’s house is 400 meter away from the workplace.

According to the ECC, the rule on work accidents acknowledges several exceptions, one of which is the personal comfort rule such as satisfaction of thirst, hunger, or other physical demands.

Therefore, the ECC ruled in favor of Pilapil in view of the fact that his act of going home to satisfy his hunger during lunch time is allowed by his employer, considering further that his residence was barely 400 meters away from his workplace. Hence, Pilapil’s claim is deemed work-connected.

The ECC ordered the SSS to pay EC disability benefits to Pilapil in accordance with P.D. 626, as amended.

EC claims for sickness or injury resulting in disability or death are filed at the SSS for the private sector and GSIS for the public sector. Go top

The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) recently awarded compensation benefits to the widow of Jesus Olis for her husband’s death due to work-related malignant tumor of the lungs.

Olis was a plant operator of Philippine Mining Service Corporation in Garcia, Bohol, and previously, he also worked for Philippine Sinter Corporation as lube technician for 13 years and preventive maintenance inspector for 12 years.

Based on a certification issued by the Leona O. Lim Memorial Hospital in Valencia, Bohol, Olis was physically fit when he was hired in 1985. In May 2003, he was diagnosed for adenocarcinoma of the lungs and he succumbed on November 2, 2003.

When the widow filed a claim for death benefits under the Employees’ Compensation Program, the claim was denied on the ground that there was no causal relationship between the worker’s fatal ailment and his job.

On appeal, the Employees’ Compensation Commission decided to grant the widow’s claim because his work environment at Philippine Sinter Corporation may have increased his risk of developing lung cancer. The company was engaged in the limestone business and the worker’s prolonged exposure to dust containing crystalline silica in the workplace may have significantly contributed to his adenocarcinoma.

The ECC remanded the records of the case to SSS for payment of EC death benefits to Olis’ beneficiaries.

EC claims for sickness or injury resulting in disability or death are filed at the SSS for the private sector and GSIS for the public sector. Go top

The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) recently awarded compensation benefits to Joseph Raymond Garcia, delivery and warehouseman of Int’l. Electric Wires Phils. Corp. in San Miguel, Tarlac City for his acquired inguinal hernia.

Garcia’s tasks included lifting automotive coil wires weighing 10-12 kilos in the course of transfer and delivery of company products. He experienced pain and noted a mass at the lower right part of his abdomen whenever he performed strenuous activity especially when lifting heavy objects.

During the company’s annual medical examination, Garcia was advised to undergo surgery for his acquired hernia.

Garcia’s claim for compensation benefit under P.D. 626, as amended, was initially denied by the System because the conditions set for compensability of hernia were not met.

On appeal, the ECC, however, decided favorably on Garcia’s claim. The ECC acknowledges the fact that as delivery and warehouseman, Garcia’s responsibilities may have significantly contributed to his acquired hernia. Straining to lift heavy objects can increase the person’s risk of developing hernia.

Therefore, the ECC reversed the decision of the System and remanded the case to the SSS for payment of appropriate EC benefits. Go top

There is life after disability. These are the words of Benedicto Gaviola, a former machine operator of Magnatron Technology whose right elbow was amputated in an accident at work. He was granted permanent partial disability benefits under the Employees’ Compensation Program. Aside from his disability pension, Gaviola qualified for vocational skills training under the Employees’ Compensation Commission’s scholarship program. He took up General Radio Communication Operation at Samson Institute of Technology and subsequently landed a job at the Central Police District in Camp Karingal, Quezon City. He is now an Electronic Communication Equipment Operator at the CPD under the supervision of Police Superintendent Mario Soriano, Chief District Operations and Planning Division.

The ECC’s Kagabay Program provides vocational and technical skills training to occupationally disabled workers. The program focuses on rehabilitation and skills development, particularly in the area of entrepreneurship where the main concern is to make industrially disabled workers productive members of society. The ECC is an agency attached to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). Go top

Director Elmor D. Juridico of the Employees’ Compensation Commission is scheduled to meet with employers’ groups in different localities for roundtable discussions on the present condition of the Employees’ Compensation Program - at the ECC Multi-Purpose Hall, ECC Bldg in Makati City on August 23, at the PartyLand, McArthur Hi-way, San Fernando, Pampanga on August 25, and at the DOLE Regional Office IV-A, Anderson Bldg., Parian, Calamba, Laguna on August 29, 2005.

The purpose of the roundtable discussions is to get the views of employers on two important issues affecting the Employees Compensation Program, namely: the importance of preventing the occurrence of work-connected disability and death, and the present status of the State Insurance Fund (SIF) which is made up of contributions coming from employers, and from where the benefits paid to workers for a work-connected disability of death are sourced.

The ECC believes  that there is an immediate need to increase the private employers’ contribution to the State Insurance Fund to avoid dissipation of the SSS-managed SIF because an actuarial study made revealed that the SSS-managed  SIF will be wiped out  by 2026 unless interventions are undertaken. Likewise,  there is a pressing need to  impress  upon  all employers  to institute measures  that would prevent or at least minimize the occurrence of work-related contingencies arising from work accidents and work-connected illnesses among workers.

To minimize work-related contingencies,  employers and workers alike are called upon to do their share in eliminating work hazards through observance of prescribed labor and occupational safety and health standards.  Employers and workers are called upon to advocate good housekeeping and safety consciousness at the workplace.

Also up for discussion at the forum is the ECC Industrial Clinic Program which provides physical examinations to workers who are exposed to hazards at the workplace.  Employers may avail of the services provided by the ECC-Industrial Clinic Program on request. Go top