CO-SPONSORSHIP SPEECH OF SEN. GRACE POE
FOR SENATE BILL NO. 1299
AN ACT PROVIDING THAT 100 PERCENT OF THE SERVICE CHARGE COLLECTED IN HOTELS AND OTHER ESTABLISHMENTS BE DISTRIBUTED TO ALL COVERED EMPLOYEES

Mr. President, distinguished colleagues, and guests, magandang hapon po.

It is with utmost joy and honor that I stand here to co-sponsor Senate Bill No. 1299 introduced by Senator Villanueva, that seeks to distribute the entire 100 percent and not just 85 percent, of all service charges collected by hotels, restaurants and similar establishments to its covered employees.

Mr. President, a typical receipt issued by restaurants, hotels, etc. usually indicate a "service charge", which, in some instances, go as high as 20 percent. So if your total bill is Php1,000.00, there would be an additional Php200.00 service charge. Now, the more customers the establishment has, the larger the service charge it gets to collect.

At present, all rank-and-file employees of the service sector are, according to Article 96 of the Philippine Labor Code, entitled to an equal share in the 85% of the total service charges collected. The remaining 15% are usually retained by the management to answer for losses and breakages or are distributed to managerial employees at the discretion of the management.

Sa pangalan pa lang po ng kinokolekta-service charge-ang serbisyo po ng mga tauhan ng establisyimento ang binabayaran natin dito.

Binabayaran po natin dito ang serbisyo ng ating mga waiters na maghapong kumukuha ng mga order at nagdadala ng mga pagkain sa mga kustomer - mga pagkaing malamang ay hindi man lamang nila natitikman o nakakain din.

Binabayaran din po natin dito ang ating mga parking attendants o valet parking drivers na nakabilad sa init ng araw o nakabaluktot sa mga kulob na espasyo at maghapon na pinapadali ang pagpaparada natin. Isipin niyo na lang na magdamag silang dinadaan-daanan ng mga sasakyang hindi naman nila pag-aari at marahil ay hindi rin nila mabibili kung gustuhin man nila.

We have to remember, Mr. President, that most of these people are not even regular employees. This bill will help establish an enabling environment to ensure that we provide decent jobs with fair pay to employees in the service sector.

Thus, Mr. President, these covered employees-our waiters, bell boys, parking attendants, valet parking drivers, cooks, kitchen crew, dishwashers and other personnel or staff whose services are crucial for the management and the establishment's customers and patrons-should share in the total collection of service charges. This service charge will not only augment their income but will also act as an incentive for them to do better.

Ang panukalang ito, kahit papaano, ang siyang magsisilbing tungkod na aalalay sa ating mga kababayan sa service sector na araw-araw lumalaban at kumakayod. Nananawagan po ako, Mr. President, na ipasa natin ang panukalang batas na ito.

Maraming salamat po.