Senate ratifies bill protecting rights of household helpers

After hurdling the bicameral conference committee, the bill seeking to protect the rights of almost two million domestic workers (kasambahay) in the country has been ratified by the Senate. During Tuesday's plenary session, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada presented to the Senate the terms agreed on by the House and the Senate contingents. Senate Majority Floor Leader Vicente Sotto III said Estrada has the "full trust and confidence" of the chamber so he immediately moved to ratify the measure. Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago seconded the motion and no one objected. After both chambers ratify the bill, it will only need the signature of the President to take effect. Minimum wage Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara, one of the congressmen who sat in the bicameral conference committee meeting on the Kasambahay bill, had earlier said that the House and the Senate reached a compromise on the payment for household helpers. He said that the bicameral conference committee decided to set the following minimum wages for domestic workers, as proposed in the Senate version of the Kasambahay bill:   P2,500 a month for those employed in the National Capital Region; P2,000 a month for those employed in chartered cities and first class municipalities; and P1,500 a month for those employed in other municipalities.   The Senate, for its part, agreed to the House proposal to allow the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards to review and adjust the minimum wage rates annually. — BM, GMA News