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LAOAC DAIRY FARM
LINGAYEN–Three former employees of a dairy farm located in Barangay Maraboc in Laoac have come forward to complain they were not fully paid salaries due them and eventually paid no salaries covering various periods since they were employed in 2013.
The workers, who were interviewed by Balitang Amianan, an afternoon newscast of GMA7 in Dagupan last July 3, said their employment contracts with the Pangasinan Dairy Multi-Purpose Cooperative (PDMPC) stipulate that they are entitled to a monthly compensation of P9,500.
However, they said they only received from P500 to P1,000 weekly until the time that they could no longer be paid for their services rendered.
They said they repeatedly asked the cooperative for the balance of their contracted rates and subsequent unpaid salaries from the PDMPC but they have been ignored.
The PDMPC is a cooperative reportedly organized by former Fifth District Congressman Mark Cojuangco for the operation of the dairy farm.
One of the workers interviewed by Balitang Amianan who requested that his full identity be protected and to be named only as “Joey” for fear of reprisal, said he tried to seek help from a number of leaders of Laoac town but to no avail, so he finally resigned from the dairy farm.
“Baka takot po sila (Laoac leaders) kay Mark Cojuangco kasi sya po ang nagpatayo ng project na yon,” he said.
“Joey”, whose face was not shown in the camera, said that his unpaid back salaries amounted to P40,000. He also revealed that the farm management had insisted that he sells milk and meat produced by the dairy farm’s operations to cover his unpaid salaries.
One of the complaining workers, identified only as “Lina” (whose face was not also shown), complained that she was entitled to P13,000 in back wages, but after repeatedly failing to get a response, she decided also to resign from the cooperative.
“Tatlong beses na akong pabalik-balik sa opisina, ini-text o tumatawag ako kay Sir Ricky (her former boss) pero hindi ako sinasagot,” Lina said.
Another former dairy worker Lando (also not his real name) said he had directly voiced his complaint to former Cong. Cojuangco, but he, too, never received a response.
“Sana po sir ibigay nyo na sa amin kasi matagal na naming hinintay iyon. Lagi na lang isinasagot pag hinihingi namin ang aming sweldo ay . . . e malapit na”..
The Save the Pangasinan Movement (SPM) earlier asked Cojuangco to explain the source of funding for the dairy farm’s operations.
Sought for reaction, Atty. Jayzon Collado of the Fifth District of Pangasinan Dairy and Multi-purpose Cooperative, said it is very unfortunate that the financial assistance they requested from the government in November 2013 did not materialize despite the assurance that it was forthcoming.
As a recourse, he said the cooperative is currently proceeding with the option of applying for a loan.
This, despite the cooperative’s policy being averse to bank borrowings, he said.
Collado added the proceeds will primarily be used to settle what is due to its employees.
“Rest assured that the cooperative is doing everything to fulfill its obligations to its employees,” he said. (Leonardo Micua)
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