MANILA, January 24, 2013-Senator Loren Legarda hailed the signing into law of the Kasambahay Bill, noting that it is one of the foundations of inclusive growth that the Philippines as a nation aspires for.
“Republic Act No. 10361, or An Act Instituting Policies for the Protection and Welfare of Domestic Workers was signed into law on January 18. This is a major step in according decent working conditions, fair compensation, and sufficient benefits to our domestic workers,” said Legarda, co-sponsor of the measure.
The Senator earlier remarked that according to the ILO Report entitled Domestic Workers Across the World, a domestic worker in the Philippines worked 52 hours a week in 2010, the 7th longest work hours among the 39 countries with available data. The report also found that Filipino workers are paid less than half of the national average of incomes of the country’s total paid workers.
In a related move, Legarda, as Chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, spearheaded last August the Senate’s concurrence in the ratification of ILO Convention 189, known as the Convention Concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers. The Philippines was only the second country to ratify the Convention.
“It is important that we treat our kasambahays as workers, not servants. This is a clear yardstick for equality in the country, and this heralds better things to come for other marginalized sectors,” Legarda concluded.
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