Legarda: Intensify Campaign Against Climate Change as We Battle “New Norm”

MANILA-Senator Loren Legarda urged the government to intensify its campaign to combat climate change as stranded commuters, long queues in public transport stations, students wading in flood waters, stalled cars, and bancas in city streets become usual scenarios.

“Normal sa isang nanay na nagtatrabaho ang gumising nang maaga para ayusin ang pangangailangan ng kaniyang asawa at mga anak na pumapasok sa trabaho at paaralan. Ngunit kung dati ay gumigising siya ng alas-singko ng umaga, ngayon ay gumigising siya nang mas maaga dahil kapag bumuhos ang malakas na ulan, sigurado na kasunod nito ang pagbaha,” Legarda, who chairs the Senate Committees on Climate Change and Environment said. 

“Ang dati’y isang oras na biyahe ay magiging dalawa hanggang tatlong oras, o kung minamalas-malas pa ay baka di pa makarating sa trabaho kung may baha,” she added. 

Moreover, Legarda said that the torrential rains and the resulting floods do not only affect the poor people and the working middle class but it also affects businesses, schools, government offices, trade industry and the stock market.

“Walang sinasanto ang matinding hagupit ng bagyo at malakas na ulan,” Legarda noted.

AON Benfield’s Impact Forecasting entitled “December 2012 Global Catastrophic Recap,” the single deadliest disaster in the world in 2012 was typhoon Bopha or Pablo, which left 1,901 people either dead or missing in the Philippines.  Our country accounted for 12.5 million victims of natural disasters in 2012 alone or 10.2% of total global disaster victims.

Meanwhile, according to the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), from 1900 to 2013, the Philippines experienced 276 natural disasters due to tropical cyclones with 40,277 casualties, affecting 121,567,227 people, with economic damages worth US$ 8.809 billion. 

However, Legarda maintained that without proper precautionary action, this could be worse.

“Hindi pa dito nagtatapos ang hirap.  Batay sa pagsusuri ng Department of Agriculture, gamit ang Geographical Information System, tinatayang labing pitong (17) milyong ektarya ng lupain, na bumubuo ng limangpu at walong porsyento (58%) ng ating mga lupain, ay maaaring malubog sa baha,” Legarda noted.

Legarda also urged the government to incorporate the climate change agenda in both its policies and programs. 

“Sa ating pagsusuri ng budget ng mga ahensiya ng ating pamahalaan ay isaisip natin ang matinding pangangailangan na pag-ibayuhin ang ating kakayahang lumaban sa tinatawag na bagong normal,” Legarda said.

Legarda to Launch Twin Cultural Exhibits in National Museum

MANILA-Senator Loren Legarda is set to launch the Baybayin Gallery and the expanded permanent textile gallery at the Museum of the Filipino People on September 20, 2013.

Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Cultural Communities, said that the Hibla ng Lahing Filipino: The Artistry of Philippine Textiles, the country’s first permanent textile gallery, has been expanded to include more traditional garments made from indigenous fiber and weaving looms from several weaving communities.

“The National Museum has a vast collection of indigenous textiles and we want these items to be on display for Filipinos, and even foreign tourists, to appreciate. This expanded exhibition reveals more about our rich weaving culture. Traditional garments and looms from my personal collection, as well as those from various local government units, are also included in the exhibit,” said Legarda.

Beside the Textile Gallery is the Baybayin Gallery, also a permanent exhibition at the National Museum, that features pieces from the museum’s collection of artifacts bearing ancient scripts, such as the Laguna Copperplate, the Calatagan Pot, the Intramuros Potsherd and the Monreal Stones.

“The Baybayin Gallery showcases the ancient and traditional scripts of the Philippines. It also features and promotes awareness of the writing systems used by ancient Filipinos. It also highlights the continuing tradition of script writing among a few remaining indigenous communities in Mindoro and Palawan, particularly among the Hanunoo, Buhid and Tagbanua peoples,” Legarda explained.

Coinciding with the launch of the two galleries is the formal turnover of Mother Tongue-Based materials to the National Museum. The event will highlight the relationship between the promotion of mother tongue languages and the preservation of indigenous practices. 

According to the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), there are 181 known languages in the Philippines, 177 of which are currently spoken, while four are already extinct.

“These projects are among the ways through which we can bring our culture closer to Filipinos. Cultural and heritage galleries, such as the Textile Gallery and the Baybayin Gallery, tell stories of our ancestors and our nation in different periods of time. These galleries can ignite the interest of our citizens to know beyond what we have shown them,” Legarda concluded.

Civil Service Week rites turns Ecija city hall into ‘ghost town’

PALAYAN CITY, Nueva Ecija–The annual observance of the Civil Service Week  marking the 113^th anniversary of the country’s Civil Service has turned the City Hall in this provincial capital into a virtual ‘ghost town’ Monday after most offices here were padlocked, with employees streaming out for various activities, practically paralyzing the delivery of basic services to Palayanos.

          At the City Mayor’s Office, not one of the employees were present to provide a skeletal force to attend to residents having transactions with the city government.  Monday is the usual flag-raising ceremony for City Hall employees but it was waived since Mayor Rianne Cuevas was indisposed. She was reportedly recuperating in Manila.

          The city administrator, Cocoy Medina was also not around. She was also reportedly in Manila.

          Only architect Margie Angeles was around but she is not a rank-and-file employee but the mayor’s personal consultant.

          Several employees reportedly went to the city plaza in Barangay Concepcion to grace the Ginoo/Mutya ng Palaro 2013.

          The absence of City Hall employees has left many visitors empty-handed, including one from the nearby town of Bongabon who was unable to settle tax obligations for a property she owned.

          Only Vice Mayor Florante Mercado and city councilors were around but only because there was a session of the Sangguniang Panlunsod.

          The lack of City Hall personnel apparently stemmed from a memorandum issued on August 28 by Cuevas to members of the SP and the chiefs of offices requiring their participation in the anniversary rites for the Civil Service Week.

          In her four-page memorandum, a copy of which was obtained by The STAR, Cuevas enjoined all City Hall employees to be part of the celebration for this year’s rites which carries the theme : “Tatak Lingkod Bayan : Isabuhay, Ipagmalaki, Ipagbunyi.”

          Cuevas stressed that the celebration aims to promote camaraderie, unity and personnel development among the men and women in the city government.

          Aside from the search for the Ginoo/Mutya ng Palaro ng mga Kawani, the activities lined up were ehersisyaw (dance exercises), sportsfest, stress management seminar and the conduct of medical and physical examination for all City Hall employees wherein they would avail of free laboratory, physical and medical check-up provided by accredited clinics. These include ECG, urinalysis, X-ray, CBC, uric acid test, lipid profile and others.

          However, Cuevas’ memo failed to mention the need to maintain a skeletal force.

         A STAR source said the employees exploited the situation and went out of their offices. “’Pag wala ang pusa, naglalaro ang mga daga (When the cat is away, the mice will play),” the source said, quoting a popular saying.

The source said this would not have happened if the mayor, whom he described was “hard-working” and “very strict,” was around. (Manny Galvez)  

Legarda: P378-Billion Lost Due to Natural Disasters

MANILA-Senator Loren Legarda today warned that unless the Philippines takes concerted effort against climate change, such would continue to threaten the Philippine economy, and the lives of millions of Filipinos.

“According to the International Disaster Database (IDD) maintained by the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), the Philippines lost US $ 8.809 billion, roughly Php378 billion in damages due to natural disasters from 1900 to 2013,” Legarda said. 

She also noted that Typhoon Pablo accounted for almost 19% of this number after it recorded economic damages worth US $ 1.6 billion, or about Php68 billion.

“The tragedy of Pablo happened because of the absence of an effective disaster risk strategy. For example, had the barangay captain of Barangay Andap received and understood the geo-hazard map, he would have never relocated his constituents in the barangay hall. He might have never built it in the first place,” Legarda, who chairs the Senate Committees on Climate Change and Environment, said.

“It is about time that the we push for the full implementation of our environmental laws, build climate-resilient infrastructure and sustainable long-term programs through an effective communication campaign,” she added.

Legarda, who authored landmark environmental laws such as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, the Philippine Climate Change Act of 2009 and the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, called for constant vigilance as heavy rains continuously plague the country with threats of poverty, environmental degradation, and economic paralysis.

“The fact that five of the most devastating disasters in the Philippines for the last century have occurred in the last five years can only mean one thing: the necessity to act now,” she noted.

Table 3. Top Ten Natural Disasters in the Philippines,

Based on Economic Damages, 1900- 2013 (in US$ Thousands)

Disaster	Date	Economic Damages
Storm	4 December 2012	1,692,961
Flood	4 September 1995	700,300
Storm	29 September 2009	585,379
Storm	12 November 1990	388,500
Earthquake (seismic activity)	16 July 1990	369,600
Storm	21 September 2011	344,173
Storm	21 June 2008	284,694
Storm	18 October 2010	275,745
Storm	3 November 1995	244,000
Storm	21 October 1988	240,500

Source: Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters


DENR inspects CL furniture shops, sash factories compliance to log ban

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga-Over 400 furniture shops and sash factories in Central Luzon are currently subjected to an immediate inventory of their lumber stocks, logs, and flitches to check their compliance to President Aquino’s Executive Order 23 or a logging moratorium in natural and residual forests.

 

“We deployed four composite teams composed of senior foresters and each led by a deputy director in the provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, and Nueva Ecija to determine the sources of materials and the available supply of furniture makers and sash manufacturers,” DENR Regional Executive Director Maximo Dichoso disclosed in a media statement.

 

The teams have been ordered to confiscate all illegal lumbers found on the stockyard and to file charges against violators under Presidential Decree (PD) 705 otherwise known as the Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines.

 

Offenders under PD 705 shall be punished with the penalties for the crime of theft imposed under Articles 309 and 310 of the Revised Penal Code, and face imprisonment of up to 20 years for forest products worth more than P22,000.

 

“We are doing this to ensure that the wood industry only gets its supply of raw materials from legitimate sources, and that appropriate forestry taxes are paid to the government,” Dichoso underscored.

 

Through Executive Order 23, the government wishes to address the continuing problem of deforestation, which has led to floods, soil erosion, and landslides that have claimed lives, displaced families, and damaged millions of pesos worth of property.

It also aims to address the killings allegedly carried out in connection with illegal logging activities in the area.

Furthermore, the EO is a manifestation of President Aquino’s commitment to his agenda and policy on environment protection, and in accordance to his platform, the 16-point Social Contract with the Filipino People, which calls for change from a “government obsessed with exploiting the country for immediate gains to the detriment of its environment, to a government that will encourage sustainable use of resources to benefit the present and future generations.” (Carlo Lorenzo J. Datu)

7ID holds general inspection of assets

FORT MAGSAYSAY, Nueva Ecija-7^th Infantry Division (7ID) of the Philippine Army recently conducted a general inspection of troop, facility, and mobile assets.

 

7ID Commander Brigadier General Hernando Delfin Carmelo Iriberri said the inspection aims to refresh the troops on the basics of soldiery to ensure that they maintain their issued equipment and marching proficiency.

 

“We will be conducting this activity every week to further instill discipline to our troops.  This will also serve as a reminder that we are all bounded by rules and regulations and much is expected from us in order to sustain and maintain our gains in our internal peace and security operations.”  Iriberri stressed.

 

In line with the Army Transformation Roadmap, inspection of troops, mobility assets and facilities are scheduled every Saturday morning. (Camille C. Nagaño)

Legarda to Fast Track Approval of Bills on Preservation of Forestlands and Protected Areas

MANILA-Senator Loren Legarda said that she will prioritize the approval of proposed measures that will ensure the preservation of forests and other protected areas in the country.

Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, said that she will file an omnibus bill on the demarcation of each and every protected area classified under the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) Act and work on the swift passage of related bills, including the proposed Final Forest Limits Act.

“We need to ensure that our forests are restored to its old grandeur and richness to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs,” said Legarda.

During the committee hearing on the proposed 2014 budget of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Secretary Ramon Paje said that of the country’s 15.8 million hectares of forestland, only 7.2 million hectares are forested.

The DENR said that although they are undertaking the delineation of the specific limits of forestlands and national parks, marking clearly their boundaries on the ground, the Final Forest Limits Act is vital in ensuring that these boundaries will be unchanged.

Recognizing the importance of such law, Legarda said that, “with demarcated and properly identified forestlands, the national government can better plan the utilization of the natural resources of the country, and local government units would be better equipped to initiate and implement development projects and programs with due regard to the preservation and protection of the integrity of the demarcated forest lands.”

Moreover, the DENR said that legislation is needed to demarcate each of the 113 protected areas under the NIPAS Act because only 13 of the protected areas have specific laws that mandate their establishment and demarcation.

Legarda said that she will file an omnibus bill to ensure the establishment and demarcation of the remaining 100 protected areas.

“I laud the DENR for undertaking the necessary action for the preservation of our forests and protected areas even with the absence of the necessary law. On my part, I will work on the immediate passage of these measures, and I hope that the environmental challenges we are facing will be addressed with the legislative and executive branches’ partnership in finding ways to protect and conserve the country’s natural resources and prevent illegal activities that destroy our ecosystems,” Legarda concluded.

Territorial Defense Workshop

Camp Aquino,Tarlac City-The Divisions and Brigades staffs for intelligence, operations and civil military operations (CMO) under Northern Luzon Command responsibility were joined the one day seminar-workshop for Global Security Challenges and the Concept on Territorial Defense at Cordillera Hall, Camp Aquino, Tarlac City.

The said activity was participated by sixty-five (65) officers representing the field manuevering and supporting units of NOLCOM.

The main objective of said seminar is to provide awareness and understanding on external threats being posed to Philippine territory particularly in West Philippine Sea and the Nature and Development of Global Challenges.

Guest lecturer coming from General Heaquarters, Camp Aguinaldo,  Col Raul C Vinoya, the Chief War Plans Division, OJ5, and Cdr Archibald Dino C Delfin, the Chief Territorial Defense Branch were share the AFP strategic program during the workshop.

The workshop concluded with the clear understanding to the field participants regarding the focus and primary functions of the AFP when it comes to challenges and critical situations they may encounter in their respective units.

Arrested NPA with 2.05 million reward

Camp Aquino,Tarlac City. A member of NPA, finance and logistic officer, Lolita Longuibis with two (2) others were arrested during joint operations conducted by PNP and Philippine Army at So Mabbay, Brgy Poblacion, Sagada Mountain Province on 5:00pm, September 9, 2013.

Lolita Longuibis is currently the finance and logistic officer of Kilusang Larangan Guirrilla (KLG) MARCO in Mountain Province. She has six (6) warrants of arrest for murder  case with a DND reward of 2.05 million for her capture.

PNP and military troop were also recovered subversive documents, electronic devices and cash amounting to P200,000.00.

The two other arrested are still for verification for their identity and relationship with Longuibis.

Commander Northern Luzon Command (NOLCOM) Mgen Gregorio Pio P Catapang AFP said “by continues cooperation’s  and joint effort of our PNP, military troops and other government agency, we can achieve the lasting peace in any region”.

NOLCOM commander further said, “peace, progress and prosperity” are the primary objective of military operations which will be attained through the collaboration of concern elected government official.

The arrested NPA’s Longuibis and two other un-identified persons were turned-over to PNP in Mountain Province.

Legarda: 3.4M Kasambahays to Benefit from Domestic Workers Convention

Senator Loren Legarda today said that more Filipino domestic workers will be provided with better compensation and greater protection from abuses as the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 189, or the Domestic Workers Convention, has entered into force early this month.

Legarda, sponsor of Senate Resolution 816 that pushed for the Senate's concurrence in the ratification of the ILO Convention 189 during the 15th Congress, said that at least 1.9 million Filipino domestic workers in the country and at least 1.5 million others abroad will benefit from the Convention, which primarily ensures that domestic workers are treated as legitimate workers, not slaves, and are accorded decent working conditions, just compensation and sufficient benefits.

“We are making headway in championing the causes of domestic workers as both the Kasambahay Law and the ILO Convention 189 are now being enforced. I hope that we will be able to effectively implement these policies,” said Legarda, co-author and co-sponsor of Republic Act No. 10361 or the Kasambahay Law.

“The Convention 189 will strengthen our resolve and leverage in negotiating for stronger protection and better terms and conditions of employment of Filipino domestic workers,” she added.

The Senator explained that the Convention also directs ratifying states to consider entering into bilateral, regional or multilateral agreements to prevent abuses and fraudulent practices in recruitment, placement, and employment of domestic workers. The Department of Foreign Affairs can cite this Convention in initiating bilateral labor talks with fellow ILO members.

Like the Kasambahay Law, the ILO Convention 189 provides that all domestic workers should be informed of the terms and conditions of their employment, including salary, time of work and rest, provision of food and shelter, and vacation.

“The Convention sets international standards that would make sure domestic workers enjoy effective protection against abuse and other forms of violence. We hope that through the faithful implementation of this treaty, as well as of the Kasambahay Law, we can give due recognition to our domestic workers, our household heroes, not as invisible hands but as legitimate workers, equipped with the rights and benefits they truly deserve,” Legarda concluded.

JINGGOY URGES DOLE TO ENSURE FULL IMPLEMENTATION OF MINIMUM WAGE

MANILA-Sen. Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada is strongly urging the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to ensure that the workers in the private sector will receive the stipulated minimum wage.

 

Sen. Estrada said that this is the only consolation our government could provide the workers with the measly 10-peso minimum wage adjustment announced and approved by the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board last Friday.

 

“Many workers complain that they are not receiving the prescribed minimum wage rates in Metro Manila, even before this wage increase. Our government must guarantee that this benefit, however modest, will reach the labor sector and our laws and standards regarding compensation are fully complied with and strictly enforced,” Sen. Estrada, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development.

 

Sen. Estrada noted that the National Capital Region (NCR) has among the lowest compliance rate on minimum wage upon inspection according to the Current Labor Statistics published by the DOLE. NCR posted 61.7% compliance rate for the First Quarter of 2013. The figure is significantly lower than the recorded national average of 81%.

 

On the other hand, among those with the best compliance rates on minimum wage upon inspection of establishments are the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) with 93.8%, Region III with 93.9%, Region V with 93.1%, and Region XII with 94.5%.

 

The RTWPB-NCR Wage Order brings the new daily minimum wage to 466 pesos. Household service workers and workers of duly registered barangay micro business enterprises are not covered by the new wage order.

 

Jinggoy also expressed that the disappointment of the labor sector is understandable considering the impressive economic growth posted by the country for the past quarters attributed to the labor sector.

 

Sen. Estrada further said that the workers have to wait for at least a year before the regional wage board entertains another petition for salary increase.

 

“Philippine economy is consistently showing the world an excellent performance. I think that these gains should go and be returned to the backbone of our economic growth that is our labor force through decent wage,” Jinggoy stressed.

3,732 OFWs in jails in 53 countries

MANILA-At least 3,732 Filipinos were languishing in jails in 53 countries at the beginning of the year, Sen. Ralph Recto said today.

Of this number, 108 were in death row in six countries, with 69 in Chinese jails awaiting execution or clemency, the Senate President Pro Tempore said.

DFA officials, however, gave a lower figure of 80 Filipinos in death row in seven countries, with 28 in China, when they appeared before a House committee last week.

According to Recto, Malaysia hosted the most number of Filipinos behind bars, with 2,236, mostly immigration cases as the country had launched a crackdown against undocumented aliens.

Next was China, including Hong Kong and Macau (345), followed by Saudi Arabia (277), USA (208), Italy (97), United Arab Emirates (75), Kuwait (72), Japan (59), Peru (37) and Qatar (34).

As to sex, at least 476 of the Filipinos imprisoned abroad were female and 865 were male, Recto said.  The gender of the 2,391 was not indicated in the reports filed by the country’s 60 embassies and 20 consulates abroad.

It was the reports of these diplomatic posts which were later collated into a 732-page “Status of OFWs Report” which the Department of Foreign Affairs submitted to the Senate last June.

“Overall, 7,601 Filipinos, including those already in jail, were in trouble with their host country’s law as of Dec. 31, 2012.  If some of them will be convicted, the number of Filipinos in jails abroad will rise,” he said.

As to the nature of the cases Filipinos were facing, one-third, or 2,236, were work disputes or immigration-related, Recto said.     

“What is worrisome is the number two cause, which is the possession or trafficking of illegal drugs. This accounted for 646 cases. In fact, most of those in death row were there because of drugs,” Recto said.

“One consulate alone, Shanghai, reported that they were monitoring the cases of 32 Filipinos who were either in the dock or already in jail serving sentences for heroine smuggling,” Recto said.

It is because of drugs that 3 Filipinos were in jail high up in the Andes in Peru, he said.

Next to drug cases were those lumped up by the DFA as “morality cases”, which was responsible for the haling to the court or the hauling off to jail of 510 Filipinos.

Running afoul with local customs sent 151 men and 11 women in Saudi Arabia and Qatar to the slammer.  Their violation: drinking alcohol. Six women in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, were facing “witchcraft” charges, according to the DFA report cited by Recto.

Other cases were theft (297), murder and homicide (114), fraud (105).  However, diplomatic posts failed to specify the nature of 3,446 cases.

Recto said the DFA report also bared the continuing scourge of illegal recruitment and human trafficking.  

“In the Middle East and Africa alone, 2,013 of these cases were reported from June to December last year,” Recto said.      

"The dispersal of Filipinos worldwide has also resulted in the incarceration of a many them. Some of those who have joined the great Filipino Diaspora never found their own Promised Land," Recto said.

Recto said a reading of the DFA’s ‘OFW situationer’  “would bring one to places, some with exotic sounding names, where you wouldn't imagine that a Filipino would land in a jail there."

Because of the rising number of OFWs in jail, Recto called for the augmentation of the "Assistance-to-National Fund".

Under the proposed 2014 budget of the DFA, the said fund will increase to P300 million from P150 million this year.  “But this is still a drop in the bucket compared to the P 1 trillion that OFWs are forecast to remit this year,” Recto said.  

Last year, overseas Filipinos funneled back  $21.4 billion through formal channels.

NFA assures sufficient rice supply for Central Luzon until end of 2013

CABANATUAN CITY, Nueva Ecija-National Food Authority (NFA) assured that Central Luzon, the country’s rice granary, has sufficient supply of the staple until end of 2013.

 

“Our buffer stock stands at 1.77 million bags which is good to last in the remaining four months of the year,” NFA Regional Director Amadeo De Guzman emphasized.

 

This pronouncement was made in the wake of reports indicating that increasing prices in the region is due to the tight supply brought about by lean months, hinting a possible rise crisis in Central Luzon.

 

“Lean months, which starts late June and ends early September is the traditional planting season for farmers.  Hence, we expect no harvest that is why supply of commercial rice dwindles and prices soar ranging from P36 to P42 per kilogram,” De Guzman explained.

 

To mitigate the effects of such, NFA intervenes by releasing a greater volume of its P28 per kilogram rice through its accredited distribution outlets.

 

The food agency likewise deploys Palengke Watch teams to monitor, on a daily basis, the actual situation in public markets and to check on the operation of authorized retailers.

 

“The government’s market intervention in Central Luzon was able to prevent the prices of commercial rice from increasing at unreasonable levels during the lean month period. We expect supply and prices of commercial to normalize with the onset of the main cropping harvest season as palay deliveries from the provinces started arriving at the Intercity in Bocaue, Bulacan which is one of the biggest rice trading center in the entire Luzon island,” De Guzman disclosed.

 

NFA calls on consumers to be vigilant by reporting any irregularities in the market situation by calling telephone numbers (044) 600-2539 or 958-0142 or by sending an email via nfaclro@yahoo.com. (Carlo Lorenzo J. Datu)

Jinggoy says ILO Convention 189, Kasambahay law ‘twin towers’ of positive policies for domestic workers

MANILA-Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada has lauded the coming into force of the Convention on Domestic Workers (International Labor Organization Convention 189), referring to it and the Philippines’ Batas Kasambahay (Republic Act 10361) as the ‘twin towers’ of positive policies for household helpers.

 

The ILO has announced the coming into effect of Convention 189, formally known as the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Domestic Workers, starting September 5, 2013. 

 

The Convention was adopted by the ILO General Conference on June 16, 2011 in Geneva, Switzerland. As per its Article 21, it would come into force twelve months after the date on which it was ratified by at least two ILO member-states.

 

The Philippines completed the ratification process on August 6, 2012 and became the second member-state to ratify the Convention, triggering its coming into force. The resolution for the ratification was co-sponsored by Estrada as chairman of the Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development.

 

Batas Kasambahay, principally authored by Estrada, was signed into law by President Benigno Aquino III on January 2013.

 

The ILO said there were at least 53 million domestic workers worldwide, 83 percent of whom were women and about 10.5 million were children. Estrada meanwhile said there were some 1.9 million kasambahay in the Philippines, and hundreds of thousands more employed overseas.

 

Convention 189 provides, among others, the following:

-       promotion and protection of the human rights of all domestic workers;

-       respect, promotion and realization of fundamental principles and rights at work for domestic workers, namely: freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; and elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labor, child labor and discrimination;

-       protection against all forms of abuse, harassment and violence;

-       fair terms of employment; and

-       decent working conditions.

 

Batas Kasambahay, for its part, states the following, among others:

-       upholding of the rights and dignity of household workers;

-       ample protection;

-       use of a formal contract to govern employer-employee relationship;

-       realistic minimum wage that is regularly adjusted in accordance with rising cost of living; and

-       provision of other benefits such as membership in SSS, Philhealth and PAG-IBIG.

 

Estrada said, “We may refer to Convention 189 and the Batas Kasambahay as the ‘twin towers’ of positive policies for domestic workers as these legal instruments embody, define and guarantee the rights of household helpers and set the standards that should guide governments and societies in general in treating these workers and addressing their concerns.”