MANILA-Acting Senate President Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada prioritizes workers’ welfare in his initial set of legislative proposals filed on Monday.
During the first day of First Regular Session of the Sixteenth Congress, Sen. Estrada introduced 15 priority measures – 10 of which focus on and seek to address varied concerns of government employees, overseas workers, child laborers, self-employed workers and call center agents.
Among the first bills filed include proposed laws creating Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers, instituting a new OWWA Charter, and providing Magna Carta for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Workers.
Sen. Estrada also seeks to amend certain sections of the Labor Code to strengthen worker’s right to self-organization, and to strengthen the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC).
Moreover, Jinggoy proposes to increase Personnel Economic Relief Assistance (PERA) to government employees to 4,000 pesos, and to provide additional support, benefits and compensation for barangay officials.
Sen. Estrada is also pushing for the establishment of regulatory standards for trainings and employment of apprentices to provide the youth with skills and access to employment, and for the protection and enhancement of welfare of self-employed workers and craftsmen.
Sen. Estrada served as Chairman of the Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development during the previous Congress. He concurrently chaired the Congressional Oversight Committee on Labor and Employment and Congressional Oversight Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs.
Also included in his list of priority measures are bills providing special protection of children in armed conflict, amending the Domestic Adoption Act and the Cooperative Code, and transferring the supervision of the police academy and training institute from the Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC) to the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Sen. Estrada is also set to introduce more innovative legislative measures in the coming days and to re-file bills which were not passed into law during the last Congress.
