Press Release
October 6, 2007

Senate is doing its legislative job, cites
'Kasambahay Bill' as proof -- Jinggoy

Barely three months after the Senate session formally opened last July, the Congress is close to passing yet another landmark labor bill aptly called "Batas Kasambahay."

This development came after Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, who chairs the Senate Committee on Labor and that of the joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Labor and Employment, urged Speaker Jose de Venecia and congressmen to pass the same version of Batas Kasambahay pending at the House of Representatives.

Principally sponsored by Estrada, the Senate Bill 1662, also known as an Act amending Labor Code of the Philippines providing additional benefits and ensuring decent working conditions of household helpers, has been approved by the Senate on second reading recently.

The bill, as included in Estrada's priority bills, prescribes minimum standards of documentary and physical requirements that should be met both by the employer and the employee, such as contracts, work tenure and benefits.

Under Estrada's Batas Kasambahay, the household helpers which shall include maids, cooks, houseboys, family drivers, yayas, among others who provide daily service to a specific household, either on live-in or -out basis, shall be protected by a contract in a language comprehensible to both parties. The contract must explicitly contain monthly compensation and annual increase, duties and responsibilities, and period of employment.

Applicants, on the other hand, ought to present medical certificate, barangay clearance and National Statistics Office (NSO)-authenticated birth certificate to guarantee fitness and suitability to work.

Furthermore, employers are prohibited from paying wages in form of promissory notes, token, or any object other than cash wage. Employers are also forbidden to withhold any amount from the wages or induce him/her to give up any part of his/her wages by force, stealth, intimidation, or any other means whatsoever.

Requiring the domestic workers to make deposits from which deductions shall be made for reimbursement of loss or damage to tools, materials, furniture and equipments in household is also deemed illegal.

In addition to free board and lodging, i.e. adequate food, medical assistance and sanitary living quarters, domestic workers are entitled to membership in Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth).

"This is indeed a big step towards safeguarding labor and human rights of the unsung heroes of Philippine household economy - the kasambahay. Amidst accusations hurled against Senate that we are preoccupied with mere destabilization inquiries, it is worthy to point out that this institution is indeed working real hard for people's welfare," Estrada said.

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