Sponsorship Speech by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada
Delivered last November 14, 2006
Sponsorship Speech
of
Sen. Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada
on “Batas Kasambahay”
Mr. President, my distinguished colleagues in this august chamber, your Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development has the honor to sponsor S.B. no. 2497 under committee report no. 154 entitled:
“An Act providing for additional benefits and protection to househelpers thereby amending for this purpose articles 141, 142, 143, 148 and 151 of Chapter III of Presidential Decree 442, otherwise known as the “Labor Code of the Philippines.”
Mr. President, this bill aims: (1) to protect and uplift the labor standards and living conditions our domestic workers; (2) to break the culture of indifference or neglect of our domestic workers; and (3) to help the government and civil society to adequately respond to cases of abuse.
Mr. President, my dear colleagues, today, we are faced with two options. Do we want the people to remember us as the senate that finally recognized the importance and contribution of our domestic workers? Or, do we want history to condemn us as a senate that did nothing for our devoted caregivers, our loyal houseboys, our dedicated maids, our trusted family drivers, and our patient and beloved yayas?
Our domestic workers continue to remain in the background. This is due to the nature of their work. However, their rights and welfare should not remain in oblivion.
Although these workers are dispersed in many households across the nation, their sector is actually too large to ignore. Please allow this representation to cite some official statistics:
In 1987, the N.S.O. estimated that there were 569,000 helpers and related service workers in the country. Their 1995 survey identified approximately 766,200 domestic workers in the Philippines.
The April 2002 Labor Force Survey, however, indicated that there were over 1.3 million Philippine “households with employed persons”.
While these figures are already staggering, NGOs and other stakeholders believe that the number of domestic workers in the country can reach up to 2.5 million, more than 1 million of which are minors.
For the truth to be completely revealed, let us put human faces and real-life stories to the mentioned statistics.
Nanay Charrie, now 75 years old, worked as a kasambahay for a family for three generations in Manila. Even when her original employers, whom she addressed as “señor” and their children migrated to the United States, she remained loyal by babysitting for the grandchildren and continued to take care of the household. Because she loved and was attached to her wards, she decided not to marry and raise a family of her own. However, an accident forced her to quit working at age 55. She then moved to an urban poor community somewhere in Pandacan to live with her sister and nephews. Poor and destitute, Nanay Charrie did not have any work and source of income. Worse, she could not rely on any retirement fund after working all her life as a domestic helper. She ended up begging for food, money and medicine. Thankful to the sympathy of her friends, distant relatives of her former employer, the local parish, and kind neighbors, Nanay Charie without any provision of social services continues to struggle…
Mr. President, we can clearly see that domestic work is regarded very lowly and is prone to neglect and abuses. In fact, many documentaries point to common types of violations and abuses which our domestic workers face, such as:
- exposure to physical, psychological and sexual abuse;
- exposure to harmful and hazardous working conditions;
- low, unpaid, or delayed wages;
- vulnerability to human trafficking and debt bondage;
- long working hours with no day-off; and
- lack of social security and health benefits.
Mr. President, the proposed measure aims to alleviate most, if not all, of these problems. It seeks to uphold the rights and dignity of domestic workers and to protect them from abuse and exploitation.
This bill enshrines and re-affirms the universal rights of all workers, particularly:
the right to social protection, including s.s.s. and philhealth coverages; and
the right to a decent and just wage.
These rights are guaranteed for every Filipino worker under our constitution, which provides that congress shall give highest priority to the enactment of measures that will protect and enhance the rights of all people to human dignity, reduce social, economic, political and cultural inequalities, by diffusing wealth and power for the common good.
Our legal and moral obligation is made more emphatic with our international commitment to uphold the I.L.O. decent work agenda, which outlines conditions of work for all workers, including labor standard policies, decent employment condition and income, and enhanced coverage of social protection.
Mr. President, this representation would like to stress that this law will benefit both the domestic workers and their employers.
Every employer deserves quality work from their workers. Moreover, they are entitled to unwaivering loyalty from their domestic workers.
But if we just try to listen to our domestic workers, do you know what they often say? They say: “give us respect, and we will give you loyalty and good service.”
To address these demands and expectations, this measure requires a written employment contract, in a laguage or dialect understood by both the employer and the domestic worker, to clarify the terms and conditions of domestic work, such as:
- period of employment, which shall not exceed two (2) years;
- monthly compensation;
- wage increases, if any;
- duties and responsiblities, in other words, the job description of the domestic workers;
- working hours and day-off schedule; and
- living quarters and sleeping arrangement.
The bill also increases the minimum wage of domestic workers, as follows:
- P2,000 for domestic workers employed in the national capital region;
- P1,500 for those employed in other cities and first class municipalities; and
- P1,000 for those employed in other municipalities.
This increase in minimum wage is very reasonable, considering that, according to studies, most domestic helpers, particularly in the N.C.R., already receive salaries above this proposed minimum wage.
In addition to the increase in minimum wage, this measure requires the employers of domestic workers to enroll them under S.S.S. and Philhealth coverage.
Under existing laws, the employer is the sole provider of health and social benefits for their domestic workers. With the approval of this bill, this responsibility will now be shared by the state, the domestic workers, and their employers through their compulsory membership and contributions.
Employers should be happy with this measure because, for a minimum contribution of around p100 every month, they can better afford hopitalization expenses and other health requirements of their domestic workers, which can sometime run into thousands, even hundreds of pesos.
Mr. President, it is quite ironic that a nation which supplies more than half of the global demand for domestic workers has failed to provide better protection to its local domestic workers. Having a local law puts us in a higher moral ground to negotiate with other countries for the better conditions for our domestic workers overseas.
Social justice dictates that we should give more to those who have less in life. This goes beyond merely resources. Social justice implies that we protect those who are abused, that we give compensation to those who deserve it, and that we make policies that shape the lives of people for the better.
As representatives of the people, we are expected to fight for the oppressed. We are expected to give hope to those who have none.
Mr. President and my dear colleagues in this august chamber, I think the time is ripe to finally heed the call of our people. Let us enact this milestone legislation before the 13th Congress ends.
Let us pass this law for our domestic workers, our kasambahay.
Ang batas na ito ay para sa ating mga masunurin at pinagkakatiwalaang katulong sa ating mga gawaing bahay.
Ito para sa ating mga matiising yaya na nag-aalaga sa ating mga anak.
Ito ay para sa ating mga maaasahang tsuper na kasanggaga natin sa lansangan at sa ating mga hanapbuhay.
Suklian po natin ng respeto at kalinga ang kanilang sakripisyo at malasakit.
Maraming salamat po.
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