Villar reiterates call to let daily wage earners return to work

Senator Cynthia Villar on Sunday reiterated her call for daily wage earners to be allowed back to work, while also stating that she will not be attending the resumption of the Senate session in person.

"There are people like us who can opt to work from home in the new normal as we know it," she said in a statement on Sunday.

"But as I have recommended earlier, the daily wage earners, most of whom are financially challenged, and comprise 59% of our population should be allowed to go back to work in order not to go hungry," she said in a statement. No amount of relief and government support will be enough to feed them," she added.

The  enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) placed over Metro Manila and several "high-risk areas" amid the COVID-19 pandemic—which has already been extended twice—will lapse on May 15, two months after it was first ordered on March 17.

"I hope our policymakers will realize that they should establish a protocol that workers will follow so they can go back to work ASAP. We as legislators will also find ways and means to help our countrymen as we all adapt to the new normal," said Villar.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III, meanwhile, earlier said that he expects most senators to be present when the upper chamber resumes its session on Monday.

In the same statement, Villar said that she will be attending the proceedings of the Senate through teleconferencing. 

She also said that her husband, business magnate and former senator Manuel "Manny" Villar Jr., will also be staying home.

"Manny and I are staying at home to be safe. Through the help of our faithful staff, who are living with us temporarily, I have been doing my work continuously. And Manny is managing our business online. I can take the risk, but Manny cannot," she said.

"He is managing a very big organization with thousands of employees and workers. The companies need him because of a predicted economic recession... We have experienced recessions in 1983 and 1997. Like before, Manny has to manage the business to overcome the present challenges," added Villar.

Manny Villar is the richest businessman in the Philippines according to the Forbes's Billionaires 2020 list, after growing his net worth to $5.6 billion. — Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/BM, GMA News