Short answer. The Secretary of Labor has both. Article 36 of the Labor Code grants the power to restrict and regulate recruitment and placement activities — not merely to issue advisory guidelines — and further authorizes the Secretary to issue binding orders and promulgate rules and regulations to implement the recruitment chapter.
What the law says
The Secretary of Labor shall have the power to restrict and regulate the recruitment and placement activities of all agencies within the coverage of this Title and is hereby authorized to issue orders and promulgate rules and regulations to carry out the objectives and implement the provisions of this Title.
Labor Code, Article 36 — Power To Regulate Recruiters. Read the full provision →
More than guidelines: the power to restrict
Article 36 of the Labor Code is explicit on the nature of the Secretary's authority over recruitment: "The Secretary of Labor shall have the power to restrict and regulate the recruitment and placement activities of all agencies within the coverage of this Title." The word "restrict" is significant. It means the Secretary can limit, prohibit, or condition specific recruitment activities — not just provide guidance or recommendations that agencies may choose to follow or ignore. This is an enforcement-grade power, not a consultative one.
The complementary power to issue binding orders
Article 36 adds a second, equally firm authority: the Secretary "is hereby authorized to issue orders and promulgate rules and regulations to carry out the objectives and implement the provisions" of the recruitment chapter. These orders and regulations are not mere policy statements — they carry legal force and compliance with them is mandatory. An agency that violates a Department order issued under this authority is not merely flouting a guideline; it is violating the terms under which it operates.
What agencies must understand
Private recruitment and placement agencies — including those engaged in local and overseas placement — operate within a framework where the Secretary of Labor has the statutory authority to alter the rules they operate under at any time, as long as those alterations serve the objectives of the recruitment chapter. An agency that receives a directive restricting a particular practice cannot avoid compliance on the grounds that the restriction was not written directly into the Labor Code. The delegated authority to restrict is as legally effective as the underlying statute.
Note on article numbering
The Labor Code has been administratively renumbered, and this provision may appear under a different number in some court decisions and Department issuances. Decisions typically cite both numbers in the form "Article [new] [original]." This page uses the original numbering as published in the primary source texts. When reading a ruling or administrative order that references a different article number, check which numbering system it uses to confirm you are looking at the same provision.