Senators call for protection of workers' rights amid COVID-19 pandemic

Some senators, on the eve of labor day, lobbied for the protection and welfare of Filipino workers while the country grapples with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Senator Risa Hontiveros said she filed Senate Bill No. 1441 or the "Balik Trabahong Ligtas Act" which seeks to provide mandatory  Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) coverage to all workers who would be required to report for work amid the health crisis.

Under the proposed measure, all workers including those contractual, contract of service, probationary, and job order shall be entitled to full payment of medical bills in case they contract COVID-19.

A "flexible sick leave" shall also be provided to workers who would be infected, regardless if they have previously used up all their sick leaves, according to Hontiveros.

A minimum death benefit of P1 million shall also be given to the worker's beneficiary if he or she succumbs to the infectious disease.

Starting May 1, some establishments in areas outside Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and other high-risk provinces will be allowed to resume partial and full operations, as indicated on the guidelines released by the inter-agency task force.

Under the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, sickness and death benefits were already made available for public and private health workers as they are in the frontlines of the health crisis.

Meanwhile, Senator Imee Marcos reminded the employers not to take advantage of the COVID-19 situation to lay off contractual workers.

She said that these workers, especially in the manufacturing sector, must remain employed as the economy gradually reopens.

"Matagal nang exploited ang mga contractual workers kaya sana naman pabalikin nila ito sa kanilang trabaho. Kawawa naman dahil wala silang mga benepisyo na nakukuha sa kanilang trabaho kahit matagal na silang namamasukan sa kompanya," Marcos said.

Senator Grace Poe also pushed for more government assistance for those who have experienced job displacement amid the global pandemic.

"We seek continuous and urgent support for the thousands of workers who have been displaced or are in the throes of losing their livelihood," she said.

Poe also thanked the frontliners and those who are "quietly carrying out their duties behind the scenes such as work-from-home staff."

"As we tiptoe into a changed landscape after weeks in lockdown, our workers will be the cure in reviving the nation’s economic engine towards a new, better society," she said.

According to the Department of Labor and Employment, over two million workers in the country have experienced job displacement because of the strict quarantine protocols that were implemented against COVID-19. —LDF, GMA News