Sotto signs 2021 CNA

Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III will be leaving a legacy as he signs the Collective Negotiation Agreement with the employees' union Sandigan ng mga Empleyadong Nagkakaisa sa Adhikain ng Demokratikong Organisasyon (S.E.N.A.D.O.) Tuesday, September 7, 2021.

Sotto said the 4th CNA that he signed with the employees' union will be a "milestone" in his career as a senator and a Senate President before leaving the Senate next year.

Sotto will be graduating this 18th Congress after serving the institution from 1992 to 2004, and 2010 up to present.

"It gives me pride and pleasure to have signed the 2021 Collective Negotiation Agreement. I shall consider this as a milestone in my career as a senator and as a Senate President. For after all, how many among us are given this opportunity to ink an agreement uplifting the lives of the employees in the Senate," Sotto said.

Also present during the signing were Senate Secretary Myra Marie Villarica, Deputy Scretary for Administration and Finance Services Arnel Bañas and S.E.N.A.D.O. President Rosella Eugenio.

The CNA signing was the culmination of 12 days of negotiation, in a span of three months, between the management panel led by Bañas, and the union panel led by Elena Valentus. Other members of the management panel were Senate Legal Counsel Valentina Cruz, Administration and Financial Services Executive Director Renato Chua, Deputy Secretary for Legislation Edwin Bellen and Atty. Carisa Barcarse from the Office of the Senate President.

Members of the union panel, aside from Eugenio and Valentus were former union president Dakila Millamena, Geralice Perlawan and Nueva Gacutan.

In a resolution, the S.E.N.A.D.O. board said the new and improved CNA "responds to the needs, health, and safety of the employees amid the pandemic."

The resolution recognizes the union and the Senate as partners in the effective delivery of public services.

"The board deems it right to thank His Honor for his goodwill and effort to uphold Senate employees' rights and advance our welfare through this CNA," the union said.

Sotto, for his part, said the signing of the CNA is a "clear manifestation that we, in the Senate, recognize the rights and privileges of the rank-and-file employees which are held sacrosanct by no less than our Constitution and echoed in our laws."

"This also demonstrates our strong commitments to promote and protect the economic welfare of our employees," he said, adding that this has been the commitment of the Senate leadership as shown by the signing of policy orders increasing the benefits of the employees.

"Finally, please remember that the Senate is the beacon of democracy and hope in the Philippines. Thus I implore you, as public servants, to protect its mandate under the Constitution. Let us continue to do our part and, in the process, make a better Philippines," the Senate chief ended.