By Leslie Ann G. Aquino
The Labor department will probe the allegation made by a disgruntled security guard involved in a hostage taking incident in Greenhills, San Juan against his former agency.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said he already directed DOLE - National Capital Region (NCR) Director Sarah Mirasol to conduct an investigation on Archie Paray's allegations against Safeguard Armor Security Corporation (SASCOR).
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III
(ROBINSON NIÑAL JR. / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
"We will investigate that...his gripes we will have that inspected," he said in an interview.
"We will also look into the possible criminal liability if it is true that they are not remitting the contributions of their employees to the Social Security System, Pag-Ibig, and Philippine Health Insurance Corporation," added Bello.
He said they will also look into the report that Paray is not a licensed security guard.
"The agency should not allow, to begin with, the hiring of unlicensed guards," said Bello.
The labor chief also stressed that they will never condone violence.
"We can never condone violence. But we also have to consider the responsibility of the agency. It could have been the root cause of the behavior of the guard. Maybe he was forced to do that because of the policy of the agency," Bello said.
Defend Jobs Philippines, meantime, asked the DOLE and the local government of San Juan City to thoroughly consider the issues raised by the terminated security guard.
READ MORE: Group urges DOLE to look into grievances of security guard in hostage drama
"While we do not condone the act of holding innocent civilians as hostages, we call on Labor Secretary Bello and San Juan City Mayor Zamora to shed light and conduct independent probe on the alleged mishandling of the security agency and the Greenhills management to their personnel, supposed corruption in the company, alleged illegal termination and inhumane working conditions inside their workplaces," the group said in a statement.
"No rights must be violated and proper humane handling must be observed during the process of the suspect’s detention," it further read.
"We stand firm that fair trial must be done for him and proper psychosocial and post-traumatic interventions must be conducted for both the hostage-taker and his hostages in the soonest possible time.” said the group.
Paray on Monday held 30 persons hostage in a San Juan mall. He was later arrested by the police.
READ MORE: San Juan hostage-taker took up the cudgels for fellow security guards