MANILA, August 6, 2012-Senator Loren Legarda today hailed the Senate’s concurrence in the ratification of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 189, the Convention Concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers.
Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said that all 20 senators present during the voting concurred in the ratification of the Convention.
“I am happy for our kasambahays because the approval of ILO Convention 189 will pave the way for the proper recognition of their important role in the households they are employed in and their contribution to the economy,” she stressed.
The Senator cited records of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) which showed that the deployment of domestic workers is increasing year-to-year. In 2011, newly hired overseas Filipino domestic workers breached the 100,000 mark (136,000) for the first time in Philippine history.
She added that through this Convention the government can provide stronger protection and greater support to the 3.4 million Filipino domestic workers here and abroad.
“Domestic workers are not nameless persons. They have families. They send siblings to school. They work, just like us, but unlike us, many of them are denied their rights and are stripped of their dignity as a human being, and through the ILO Convention 189, we are hopeful that this kind of injustice would end,” Legarda stressed.
“Our kasambahays will now be recognized as legitimate workers, not slaves, and be accorded decent working conditions, just compensation and sufficient benefits they greatly deserve,” Legarda concluded.
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