PROTECTING PLATFORM-BASED WORKERS. DOLE Secretary Francis N. Tolentino meets with representatives of platform companies, gasoline station operators, and mall operators to discuss ways on how to protect the welfare of platform-based workers amid the extreme heat on 30 October 2026 at the DOLE Central Office in Intramuros, Manila. (Photos by Alejandro Echavez, DOLE-IPS)
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is expanding its engagement with stakeholders to strengthen the protection and welfare of platform-based workers, particularly delivery and transport riders, by exploring partnerships with gasoline stations and mall operators to provide accessible welfare facilities amid extreme heat and El Niño-related challenges.
Anchored on President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive to promote workers’ welfare and ensure safe and healthy working conditions, DOLE Secretary Francis N. Tolentino convened representatives of platform companies, gasoline station operators, and mall operators on 30 October 2026 at the DOLE Central Office in Intramuros, Manila.
The meeting focused on practical measures that will give riders access to facilities where they can rest, seek shelter, and attend to their basic needs while waiting for bookings or taking breaks between deliveries and trips. It also provided an opportunity for platform companies and establishment operators to identify possible arrangements that can make these facilities accessible and responsive to riders’ needs.
Secretary Tolentino explained that the dialogue builds on the Department’s previous meeting with platform companies on 23 October 2026, during which stakeholders discussed several provisions of the proposed labor advisory, which DOLE is set to issue next week.
“To give you a proper perspective, the reason why we are having this shared dialogue is because of a previous meeting. The previous meeting tackled several items concerning the proposed labor advisory which we are about to issue next week. Some players requested that you be invited likewise to hear your thoughts, listen to you, hear your voices. This is a weather disturbance not of our own making, but we hope to prepare you and the employees as well and the general public,” said the Labor Secretary, underscoring that the Department sought the views of gasoline station operators and mall operators to ensure that their perspectives and concerns are considered in crafting the measures.
As a way forward, Secretary Tolentino urged the mall operators and gasoline retailers to submit their position papers on the proposed labor advisory by 03 November 2026.
The initiative underscores the importance of shared responsibility among government, digital platform companies, and the private sector in addressing the occupational safety and health concerns of workers whose jobs require them to spend extended periods outdoors and on the road amid extreme heat and El Niño-related challenges.
The meeting likewise supports the Philippines’ push toward advancing decent work in the platform economy, in line with ILO Convention No. 193, adopted by the International Labour Conference in June 2026 as the first international labour standard on platform work.
61 
