Article Critique:

SUPPLEMENTAL GUIDELINES RELATIVE TO THE REMEDIAL MEASURES IN VIEW OF THE

ONGOING OUTBREAK OF CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 (COVID-19)
LABOR ADVISORY NO. 11
Series of 2020

Philippines, one of the high-risk countries from the Wuhan novel coronavirus or the
coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, has already raised the Code Alert System to Code Red
Sublevel 2 as the number of confirmed cases continued to increase and has affected many. One
of those who are greatly affected by the COVID-19 are the employees/workers and their safety
and health must be prioritized and put into consideration.
Pursuant to the Memorandum from the Executive Secretary dated 13 March 2020
directing stringent social distancing measures and further guidelines for the management of the
coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)
issued Labor Advisory No. 11, Series 2020, which provides the Supplemental Guidelines Relative
To The Remedial Measures In View Of The Ongoing Outbreak Of Coronavirus Disease 2019
(Covid-19) on 14 March 2020 in order to help the control of the COVID-19 transmission through
adhering strict social distancing among the workers and implementation of the various flexible
work arrangements as alternative coping mechanism and remedial measures.
One of the statements states that “As better alternatives to outright termination of the
services of the employees or the total closure of the establishments, flexible work
arrangements referred to under Labor Advisory No. 9, Series of 2020, including, but not limited
to, other work arrangements, such as telecommuting, work from home, reduction of
workdays/hours, rotation of workers and forced leaves, are hereby reiterated and highly
encouraged in establishments that continue to operate.” The statement encouraging
establishments and public sectors to push the work-from-home scheme is a good suggestion.
Work-from-home system as a remedial measure would be a big help in reducing the
worker’s risk to COVID-19. It would help workers minimize their exposure to COVID-19
especially commuting when going to their works. Since coronavirus is a novel virus, anyone can
become infected, regardless of age, gender, or any other factors and workers are not an
exemption. They are also vulnerable so they should also stay at their homes to ensure their
safety and health especially those with weakened immune systems, as with any virus, are more
susceptible to becoming infected by coronavirus.
As a matter of fact, two of the According to news.abs-cbn.com, Vice President Leni
Robredo supported the work-from-home scheme and called on government to adopt this
strategy as the COVID-19 cases continued to rise. The adoption of “flexible work arrangements”
encouraged by the DOLE was supported by Senator Joel Villanueva amid the coronavirus
outbreak in the country. According to news.mb.com.ph, Villanueva tweeted, “We join the call
of DOLE for our private sector to implement telecommuting work arrangements in their
companies as applicable. Firms should help minimize exposure of workers to COVID-19 by
reducing need to commute to work.”
The advisory states the other guidelines to be followed for workers, retails, and
establishments as the government implements a month-long community quarantine for the
whole of Metro Manila.
On the other hand, the advisory was written in a formal way and its content were
written in a well-ordered manner. It was written in a formal way. Guidelines stated in the
advisory has been decided upon considering the situation of the workers amid the COVID-19
outbreak. Each idea is explained well so that people would easily understand the guidelines
they should follow. The purpose of the advisory was realized.
In general, the advisory was clear and well-elaborated. The content was weighed and
created to help the workers in ensuring their safety and health in the midst of COVID-19
outbreak by adopting flexible work arrangements as alternative coping mechanism and
remedial measures.

References:
[1] “Report: Robredo pushes for work-from-home amid COVID-19 spread” Accessed 21 March
2020 at https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/12/20/coronavirus-philippines-robredo-pushes-for-
work-from-home
[2] “Report: Villanueva supports DOLE stand to encourage private sector to adopt
telecommuting” Accessed 21 March 2020 at https://news.mb.com.ph/2020/03/14/villanueva-
supports-dole-stand-to-encourage-private-sector-to-adopt-telecommuting/