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Help us protect informal workers: Sen. Francis "Tol" N. Tolentino, at the hybrid hearing of the Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development, Tuesday, October 4, 2022, calls on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and other resource persons and agencies in attendance, to help the committee harmonize contentious points on the proposed bills that seek to protect the welfare and employment of workers belonging to the informal economy. “What we’re discussing here is how we can help workers that lack 'employer-employee relationships'. The Constitution declares that both the State and Congress should provide protection to workers and we should not shun away from that,” Tolentino said in a mixture of English and Filipino. Tolentino also emphasized that resource persons are expected to be prepared to provide valued studies and inputs of their agencies and to spare the committee from their personal views and opinions. "Help us craft this bill. Help us fine-tune these pieces of legislation to enable our workers benefit from social legislation that can be provided by the State and Congress. Let's not say that it is hard to do," he emphasized. (Joseph Vidal/Senate PRIB)