Press Release
May 1, 2012

Cayetano pushes for protection of workers in vulnerable employment

Senate Minority Lleader Alan Peter Cayetano called on the government and private sector to push for quality jobs and decent work conditions as the Philippines face challenges of growing number of workers in vulnerable employment, now at 15 million.

He said Philippine exporters have been hit hard by the lingering crisis in the US and Europe while there have not been enough quality jobs being created pushing Filipinos to be absorbed in the vulnerable employment sector.

"Vulnerable workers, as defined by the International Labor Organization (ILO) are own account workers with no stable income and social, medical and health benefits," he cited.

Cayetano lamented the recent ILO Labor Market Update report the Philippines' working poor is similarly situated with that from a much poorer state Sri Lanka.

According to Cayetano, the ILO report cited the situations of the working poor in the Philippines and Sri Lanka, that "are illustrative of the persistence of low-quality jobs in developing countries," saying the number of "own-account" workers contributing to family resources stagnated at around 42 percent there.

There are around 15 million Filipinos in the vulnerable employment sector, with majority of them earning not enough to escape poverty.

"The government has to think of measures to provide quality jobs based on the skills and competencies of the current workforce," said Cayetano.

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