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[av_heading heading=’ Angara seeks Magna Carta for ‘informal workers’’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
By Prince Golez, Manila Reporter
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Monday, March 13, 2017
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MANILA – Sen. Sonny Angara wants to ensure coverage of vendors, fisherfolk, and farmers under social protection institutions of the government.
“Informal workers don’t have access to social protection and justice. Dahil hindi sila sakop ng batas, halos hindi sila kinikilala ng lipunan. Kadalasan ay nabibiktima pa sila ng kotong,” said Angara, vice chairman of the Senate committee on labor.
According to the Department of Labor and Employment, there are 16.7 million Filipinos informally employed.
These workers, he said, are not covered by the Labor Code and other laws that protect worker’s rights, resulting to labor exploitation, forced overtime, and low pay.
His proposed Senate Bill No. 309, or the “Magna Carta of Workers in Informal Economy (MACWIE)” seeks informal workers to enjoy just and favorable conditions of work; a living wage and equal remuneration for work; safe and healthy working conditions; rest, leisure and reasonable limitation of working hours, among others.
The bill also ensures access to labor market programs and social protection like the Social Security System and PhilHealth coverage, subsidized by the government.
“Most of our informal workers are described as the ‘working poor’ – or those who are working but cannot work their way out of poverty because of very low earnings and very high risk. Tulungan po natin silang makaahon,” Angara pointed out.
Under SBN 309, local government units shall allocate 10 percent of their annual national budget and at least 3 percent of their development fund for programs and services for workers in informal economy.
“Passing the Magna Carta would lead to a win-win situation for the country. While we provide basic rights and social protection to our informal workers, we also grow our economy by harnessing their full potential to become effective and productive economic actors of the country,” the senator said.
Other informal workers include micro-entrepreneurs, home-based workers, small transport operators, non-corporate construction workers, garbage collectors and recyclers, petty retailers, barter traders, small-scale miners and quarry workers, entertainers, beauticians and hairdressers, laundry persons, on-call domestic helpers, barangay health workers and other volunteer workers, barkers, and unorganized cargo handlers, among others./PN
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