Legarda: ILO 189 will be More Effective with Passage of Kasambahay Bill

MANILA, November 13, 2012-Senator Loren Legarda today stressed on the importance of the immediate passage of the Kasambahay Bill in protecting Filipino domestic workers, stressing that the measure will complement the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 189, the Convention Concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers.

Legarda, sponsor of ILO Convention 189, said that the treaty will be more effective with the passage of the Kasambahay Bill.

“With the Philippines’ ratification of ILO 189, the treaty will come into force in 2013. This will improve the employment conditions of domestic workers worldwide. Meanwhile, the proposed Kasambahay Act, when approved, will guarantee that our kasambahays in the country will gain more benefits and be better protected as all household working arrangements between employers and helpers shall be duly documented,” she stressed.

“The ILO 189 and the proposed Kasambahay Act are two important measures that will pave the way for treatment of our kasambahays as workers, not servants. These are major steps in according decent working conditions, just compensation, and sufficient benefits to our domestic workers. Thus, I am hopeful that the enactment into law of the Kasambahay Bill will happen very soon,” Legarda said.

The Philippine ratification of the ILO Convention 189 was formally registered last September 5. The Philippines is the second country to ratify the Convention, which is significant as the treaty will enter into force a year after it has been ratified by two countries.

The ILO Convention 189 will benefit the 3.4 million Filipino domestic workers in the Philippines and abroad by ensuring that, first and foremost, domestic workers, like other workers, enjoy the same mantle of basic rights, such as reasonable hours of work, weekly rest, clear information on terms and conditions of employment, and freedom of association.

Meanwhile, the Kasambahay Bill was already approved on third reading by both the Senate and the House of Representatives. The two versions of the bill shall be reconciled in a bicameral conference committee meeting.