A panel in the House of Representatives is poised to recommend the enactment of a bill promoting the rights and welfare of workers in the informal economy.
The House Committee on Labor and Employment, chaired by Rep. Enrico Pineda of 1-Pacman party-list group, approved seven measures on the subject and referred them for consolidation to the Subcommittee on Workers of Special Concerns chaired by Rep. Maria Fe Abunda of Eastern Samar.
Pineda said most of the workers from the informal economy were not able to benefit from the special amelioration program (SAP) of the government and emphasized the need for a magna carta so that the workers would not be displaced.
For consolidation are House Bill 29 authored by Deputy Speaker Evelina Escudero of Sorsogon, HB 2025 by Deputy Speaker Dan Fernandez of Laguna, HB 3465 by Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte of Camarines Sur, HB 273 by Rep. Michael Edgar Aglipay of DIWA, HB 2240 by Rep. Lawrence Fortun of Agusan del Norte, HB 3688 of Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza of TUCP and HB 4203 by Rep. Alfred Vargas of Quezon City. The bills seek to provide for a Magna Carta of Workers in the informal economy.
Escudero’s bill seeks to nurture and protect the interest of informal workers by providing them, among others, representation in the national and local legislative bodies for their 1) inclusion in program development; 2) easier access to social security and medical health insurance coverage; 3) work protection; 4) security in designated workplaces against eviction and demolition; 5) special budget allocation for development programs; 6) inclusion in the local and national statistics for policy design and creation; and 7) providing women workers protection against gender-based discrimiheanation, exploitation and abuses.