By Haidee V. Eugenio
Variety Assistant Editor

THE Department of Labor has a backlog of over 11,000 labor applications which includes both new alien work permits and renewals that have yet to be processed and released, according to Gov. Benigno R. Fitial and Labor Secretary Gil M. San Nicolas.
On Friday, Fitial announced that Labor’s Processing Section would be temporarily closed in the morning starting Tuesday “to allow the processing of pending labor applications which are now more than 11,000.”
This means that the windows of the Labor Processing Section will be closed from 8 a.m. to 12 noon until the department addresses the backlog problem before the end of 2007.
“We need to catch up with the backlog so the Labor Processing Section will be closed from 8 a.m. to 12 noon…but Processing will be open to the public in the afternoon,” San Nicolas told Variety.
The Labor secretary, however, said that if Labor needs more time to address the backlog in applications, then it will extend the temporary closure of the Labor Processing Section beyond December.
The Fitial administration hopes to drastically reduce — if not totally eliminate — the backlog of pending applications.
Besides new and renewal permit applications, the backlog also includes those for amendments and other employment-related matters, San Nicolas added.
Currently, employers and nonresident workers have to wait from several months up to a year for the processing and release of alien work permits after they file for a new or renewal application, even without deficiencies.
One employer, for example, applied for the renewal of nine employee work permits that expired in September even though Labor had yet to release their work renewal permits from September of 2006.
“It is unfair,” according to the private firm, referring to Labor’s assessment of a $5 fine for every day that an employer is late in submitting necessary documents when Labor itself is delayed up to a year in processing and issuing work permits.
In 2006, Labor issued 27,194 work permits to foreigners, an 18 percent drop from 2005 and a 25 percent drop from 2004.
The Fitial administration projected that if trends in the garment industry continue and the local economy cannot produce jobs for U.S. citizens and nonresident workers currently unemployed, it is possible that by the year 2010, the number of nonresident workers will fall to 15,000 and the total population will be in the 60,000-65,000 range.