Manila (24 November) -- The Philippines will be hosting the 3rd Regional Seminar on Industrial Relations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN)-International Labor Organization (ILO)/Japan Industrial Relations Project at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel, PICC Complex, Pasay City.

About 50 delegates from member states of the ASEAN ? Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Japan are participating in the seminar with the theme, "Legal Framework and Practice for Labor Dispute and Settlement".

Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, who will keynote the seminar, said the tripartite regional gathering aims to provide a venue for the sharing of experiences among governments and social partners on the foundation of sound industrial relations, the legal and regulatory framework and the process of amending it.

"This regional seminar would provide valuable lessons to countries that are undergoing or planning to undergo legislative reform," Baldoz explained.

The labor and employment chief said the seminar would involve discussions of comparative studies on legal and regulatory system in dispute settlement, actual practices of regulation, the major causes of dispute, and prevention of industrial disputes.

She said there had also been a proposal to include a discussion on regulatory amendment process, given that many countries in the ASEAN are considering and/or undergoing amendments of applicable legislations.

"We thank the ASEAN-ILO/Japan Industrial Relations Project for choosing the Philippines as host of the 3rd Regional Seminar on Industrial Relations. This will be an opportune time for the country to showcase its reforms in labor arbitration and adjudication systems as enunciated in the 22-point agenda on labor and employment by President Benigno S. Aquino III," she said.

"With our DOLE-initiated reforms of "de-judicializing" the labor dispute settlement system through alternative dispute resolution mechanisms (ADR), like the mandatory conciliation-mediation using Single Entry Approach (SENA), we will highlight these initiatives in the seminar through the active participation of the tripartite Philippine delegation," Baldoz stressed.

The ASEAN-ILO/Japan Industrial Relations Project had its first regional seminar in Laos with a theme "ASEAN Integration: Promoting Good Practices Towards Sound and Harmonious Industrial Relations", while the second one was held in Malaysia in February 2010, with a theme "Emerging Industrial Relations issues and Trends in the ASEAN Countries in Time of Financial and Economic Crisis."

The seminar provides an opportunity for ASEAN member states (tripartite) to discuss and share good industrial practices and strengthen the relationship between the ASEAN and ILO's Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

The Philippine delegation to the seminar is headed by Ms. Violeta Bantug, 7th Division (Cebu) Presiding Commissioner, National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC); DOLE Undersecretary Hans Leo Cacdac; Bureau of Labor Relations (BLR) Director Rebecca Chato; Ms. Lucila Tarriela, Vice-President, Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP); Mr. Antonio Asper, Vice President, Federation of Free Workers (FFW); and Mr. Alejandro Villaviza, Vice President, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).

NLRC Executive Labor Arbiter Flocerfida Trinidad and NCMB Deputy Executive Director Shirley Pascual will be observers at the seminar.