DEPARTMENT ORDER NO. 162,

Series of 2016 Suspending Registration of New Applicants as Contractors or Subcontractors Under Department Order No. 18-A

Reader note — Historical 2016 order. This order suspended registration of new contractors under D.O. 18-A, Series of 2011. D.O. 174, Series of 2017 later set a new registration system for contractors (Sections 14–20) and superseded inconsistent DOLE rules (Section 35). The suspension below is historical and is not a current filing instruction.

Pursuant to Articles 5 and 106 to 109 of the Labor Code, as amended, and consistent with the policy directives to strictly implement and enforce the workers' right to security of tenure, the following are hereby issued:

SECTION 1. Imposing Suspension of Registration of New Applicants Under Department Order No. 18-A. — Notwithstanding Sections 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 of Department Order No. 18-A, Series of 2011, registration of new applicants as contractors or subcontractors is hereby suspended upon effectivity of this Order.

SEC. 2. Effect on Registered Contractors/Subcontractors. — All certificates of registration of contractors/subcontractors issued prior to this Order shall be respected, unless otherwise revoked through the exercise of the enforcement and adjudicatory powers of the Secretary of Labor and Employment or his duly authorized representative.

SEC. 3. Non-impairment of existing contracts; Non-diminution of benefits. — Contracts entered into by duly registered contractors/subcontractors prior to the issuance of this Order shall not be impaired or diminished consistent with the provisions of the Labor Code, the Civil Code and existing jurisprudence. Nothing herein shall impair the rights or diminish the benefits being enjoyed by parties to existing contracting or subcontracting arrangements.

SEC. 4. Effectivity. — This Order shall be effective immediately after publication in newspaper of general circulation.

Manila, Philippines, 25 July 2016

SILVESTRE H. BELLO III

Secretary