Legarda Celebrates Senate Approval of Kasambahay Bill

SENATOR LOREN LEGARDA CELEBRATED THE SENATE APPROVAL OF THE KASAMBAHAY BILL, WHICH WILL ACCORD DOMESTIC WORKERS OFFICIAL RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES, ONE DAY AFTER THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ALSO RATIFIED THE MEASURE.
“Now we only need the President’s signature in order to make minimum wage and other rights and privileges a reality for the 1.9 million domestic workers in the country,” she said.
Legarda, a staunch supporter of the establishment of the rights of domestic workers, added that the Kasambahay Bill is one of the foundations of inclusive growth that the Philippines as a nation aspires for.
Among the Senator’s first bills filed in the Fifteenth Congress was Senate Bill 7, which sought to increase the minimum wage of household helpers and require all household working arrangements between employers and helpers to be duly documented.
Legarda noted that this is a clear result of the dedication to equality in the country, and that this heralds better things to come for other marginalized sectors.
“It is imperative that we treat our kasambahays as workers, not servants. The Kasambahay Bill, and hopefully soon, the Kasambahay Law, is a major step in according decent working conditions, just compensation, and sufficient benefits to our domestic workers,” she stressed.
Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, also ushered the Philippine ratification of the International Labour Organization Convention 189, the Convention Concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers, which will enter into force in 2013.