Henry Sy’s biggest contribution is providing jobs to Pinoys —Labor chief

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III on Saturday underscored late tycoon Henry Sy Sr.'s contribution to the Philippines' workforce.

"His biggest contribution is providing employment to millions of Filipinos! God bless his soul," Bello said in a text message.

Sy, the founder of SM Group, has passed away on Saturday morning. He was 94.

"Henry Sy is the richest  Filipino citizen (worth 18.5 Billion US Dollars). He made his billions working hard first by selling shoes to build a current conglomerate of giant malls, real estate, banks, financial services, insurance, retail, and a dozen of other businesses," Bello said.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) earlier said that SM Supermalls has regularized 11,660 last year.

In a separate statement, labor group Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines  executive vice president Gerard Seno thanked Sy for "his contribution in nation-building by helping provide jobs for thousands of workers and their families for many decades."

"We also recognize as part of his lasting legacy for workers and their families his last-minute efforts to commit to voluntarily regularized and directly hired thousands of SM employees into SM over a period of time," Seno said.

Likewise, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines president Raymond Mendoza said Sy created jobs for thousands of Filipino workers and helped improve the quality of lives of working people and their families for many decades.

"The TUCP family of unions is hoping that Mr. Sy's legacy and his commitment to improving the quality of lives of all his employees and their families stays and will continue to improve with the assumption of whoever takes his place," Mendoza said. — MDM, GMA News