TUCP seeks Labor Day breaks for PH workers

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP)-Nagkaisa has submitted to the government its proposed discount-card and unemployment-insurance programs for minimum-wage workers for approval by President Benigno Aquino 3rd during the traditional Labor Day breakfast with labor groups to be hosted by Aquino in Malacañang on May 1.

“We have submitted to President Aquino our agenda on the May 1 breakfast meeting agenda. These are what we believe as amelioration programs aimed at empowering workers to cope with rising cost of living,” Gerard Seno, the group’s executive vice president said over the weekend.

The group had also proposed to Aquino to approve a majority coconut-farmer administered trust fund to ensure that proceeds from the P77-billion coconut levy fund are used to promote jobs in the coconut industry and set up coco-industrial hubs; ensure completion of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program with respect to lands under current notice of coverage; assist farmers through appropriate support measures and financing including training, appropriate technology and easy-term credit; return of subsidy for Metro rail Transit 3 and Light Rail Transit 1 and LRT 2 users to cushion rising costs for ordinary workers; and pass the Freedom of Information bill.

The Labor Enhancement Assistance Program seeks an unemployment insurance policy for the 3.4 million minimum wage earners, providing them three months of minimum wage salary coverage in cases of retrenchment; and a minimum discount card that serves as a voucher for minimum wage employees, giving them a monthly discount of P2,000 on tuition, purchase of rice, basic food commodities and medicines.

On March 1 to 7, a Pulse Asia survey on urgent national concerns showed that 4 of the top 5 concerns relate to daily survival needs of ordinary Filipinos. It found that 46 percent cried out at inflation, 44 percent said salaries are too small to cover daily expenses and 34 percent said there are no decent jobs.

On March 18, the wage board approved a P15-increase in the minimum wage in Metro Manila as against the TUCP-Nagkaisa petition of P136.

TUCP-Nagkaisa executive director Louie Corral said they had asked the President to tap the reported P300 billion in excess government funds in 2014 to finance the proposed unemployment insurance and the discount card programs. - by JING VILLAMENTE / The Manila Times

Group’s take on maternity bills

THE EMPLOYERS Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) on Tuesday sought further clarification regarding several bills that expanded the benefits of women in the workplace.

ECOP President Edgardo G. Lacson: Clarify maternity benefits -- BW File Photo

“ECOP fully supports the objective of the bill raising the maternity benefits for women. There is, however, a need to clarify some ambiguities in the bill, if it is raising monetary benefit or number of maternity leave days, or both. Until such clarification is made, ECOP reserves the right to submit its official position on the bill,” Edgardo G. Lacson, ECOP president, said in a text message.

Three weeks ago, the group was unable to attend a hearing held by the Senate committee on women, family relations and gender equality, which discussed maternity leave benefits provided under Senate bill Numbers 288, 2083 and 2084. Senate Bills 2661 and 2710 also aim to prolong the maternity leave benefits of female employees, married or unmarried, in the government and private sectors.

Maternity leave for normal birth is only 60 days and 78 days for caesarean birth.

In a document submitted by ECOP, the group enumerated the “ambiguities” it found in the bills.

The group also refused to issue comments until they are clarified.

“Until the ambiguity is resolved, ECOP cannot offer any position,” the document read.

For its part, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) expressed full support for the proposed law. According to TUCP Spokesperson Alan A. Tanjusay, employers must not deprive nursing women their due compensation. -- Jauhn Etienne Villaruel / BusinessWorld

West Visayas workers get P11.50 pay hike per day

BACOLOD CITY—Wages of workers in Western Visayas have been increased by P11.50 which militant groups said is barely enough for a decent meal but which a wage board official said was the result of a “balancing act.”

The increase is lower than that given workers in Metro Manila (P15) early this month and Central Visayas (P13) last year.

Observers said the amount is not even enough for a decent meal in a roadside eatery.

But Ponciano Ligutom, Department of Labor and Employment director for Western Visayas, said the wage board decided on the amount on the basis of three factors—workers’ needs, employers’ capacity to pay and whether increasing wages would affect the region’s competitiveness.

“It was a balancing act,” said Ligutom, who also chairs the Western Visayas wage board.

Daily wage in Western Visayas is now P298.50 from P287 for workers in nonagriculture, industrial and commercial establishments with more than 10 workers.

Workers in establishments with fewer than 10 workers will get a daily wage of P256.50 from P245.

Daily wage in the agriculture sector would increase to P266.50 from P255 in plantation companies and P256.50 from P245 in nonplantation companies.

Labor officials in the region hope to implement the wage adjustment before May 1, Labor Day.

But Wennie Sancho, labor representative in the wage board, refused to sign the wage order as a sign of protest.

Sancho said the wage order “is a document of oppression because it perpetuates the poverty of people.”

“It is not even enough to buy a small bottle of mineral water,” he said.

Militant labor groups had been demanding a P135 across the board increase in daily wages, saying current wage levels have failed to catch up with rising prices of basic commodities.

But efforts to pressure Congress to legislate a wage increase have failed, largely because of opposition from legislators who own businesses themselves that would be affected by any wage increase.

Even moderate labor groups, like the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), decried the P15 wage increase given workers in Metro Manila.

TUCP, in a previous statement reported by Inquirer, said the wage increase was just an insult to workers. - Carla P. Gomez, Inquirer Visayas

House okays National Mangrove Forests Conservation and Rehabilitation Act

The House of Representatives has approved on second reading a measure that provides for the conservation, reforestation, and rehabilitation of mangrove forests in the Philippines.

House Bill 5609 prohibits the cutting, uprooting or destroying of any mangrove tree, dumping of waste within mangrove reservation areas, construction or reclamation activity within mangrove reservation areas, or any other acts that will result in the damage or destruction of mangrove forests.

Violators shall be fined with not less than P200,000 but not more than P1 million, or with imprisonment for not less than six months but not more than six years, or both, and may also require to restore or compensate for the restoration of the damage, as determined by the court.

The bill substituted House Bills 460, 3525, and 4206 authored by Reps. Agapito Guanlao (Party List, BUTIL), Regina Reyes (Lone District, Marinduque) and Susan Yap (2nd District, Tarlac), respectively.

"The measure seeks to improve our marine ecosystems, ensure the food security of our people, preserve our biodiversity and prevent the extinction of various mangrove species, thus reduce disaster risks making our people resilient to the impacts of climate change, storm surges and tsunamis," Yap said.

Citing a report of Global Forest Watch, Yap, chairperson of the House special committee on reforestation, said the world lost 192,000 hectares of mangroves from 2001 to 2012, a total loss of 1.38 percent since 2000 or 0.13 percent annually. She also cited an assessment conducted by the International Union for Conservation of Nature stating that more than one in six mangrove species are at risk of becoming extinct.

She said the bill is very timely because mangroves can contribute to climate change mitigation due to their enormous carbon-storage potential, which is said to be higher than ordinary trees. "An Earth Watch study reported that a hectare of mangroves can sequester 1.36 tons of carbon in a year which is equal to the emissions of six cars per year," Yap said.

Yap said the country's experience with Typhoon Yolanda highlighted the important role that mangroves play as natural bio-shields for vulnerable coastal communities. "Mangrove forests provide protection against storm surges as well as tsunamis. A mangrove stand of 30 trees per 0.01 hectare with a depth of 100 meters can reduce the destructive force of a tidal wave by up to 90 percent," Yap said.

According to Yap, the allocation for mangrove rehabilitation under the National Greening Program has been increased from P347 to P1 billion in the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda.

"However, the National Greening Program is ending in 2016, and without sufficient funding, all our efforts to rehabilitate the mangrove forests in the country cannot be sustained beyond 2016," Yap said.

The measure shall establish and set aside all coastal areas in each municipality portions of land solely for the conservation, protection, reforestation and rehabilitation of mangrove forests.

Under the measure, the local government units (LGU's), together with the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) local office, where the mangrove areas will be located, shall take the lead in the identification, survey, zonification and mapping of all mangrove areas, segregating areas that are still forested, severely denuded or degraded including abandoned, undeveloped and underutilized fishponds.

All natural stands of mangrove forests and regenerating abandoned ponds shall automatically form part of the reservation areas.

Attached to the DENR, a National Steering Committee for the Conservation and Rehabilitation of Mangrove Forests (NSCCRMF) shall be established, to review existing policies and conduct studies on mangrove forest and its conservation, among its powers and functions.

A National Mangrove Forests Conservation and Rehabilitation Plan (NMFCRP) shall be formulated by the National Steering Committee (NSC) which contain an inventory of the status of all mangrove forests all over the country, fishponds, identification of mangrove reservation areas for each province, city and municipality, and operational plan for rehabilitation, among others.

The measure shall also establish a Local Steering Committee for the Conservation of Mangrove Forests (LSCCRMF), with Local Mangrove Forests Conservation and Rehabilitation Plan, as well.

In order to secure the mangrove reservation area from illegal and destructive activities, the Local Steering Committee (LSC) and the LGU shall employ the services of forest guards or LGU's deputize members of people's organizations as mangrove reservation area forest guards who shall be tasked with the responsibility to guard and police the areas.

The DENR shall formulate and institute appropriate mechanisms for proper valuation and fair and comprehensive pricing of ecosystems services provided by mangrove forests, which shall be the basis of the Local Steering Committee for charging on the use of the ecosystem services such as eco-tourism, permits for fishing boats, docking fees and carbon trading.

Created Special Account for Mangrove Management and Mangrove Conservation and Rehabilitation Fund shall be managed by the National Steering Committee (NSC) and its disbursement shall be made solely for the protection, maintenance, administration, and management of mangrove forest areas, operational expenses of the NSC, and for the expenses on the preparation of the National Mangrove Forests Conservation and Rehabilitation Plan (NMFCRP), duly approved projects endorsed by the NSC.

Other co-authors are Reps. Aleta Suarez (3rd District, Quezon), Deogracias Ramos, Jr. (2nd District, Sorsogon), Gary Alejano (Party List, MAGDALO), Joseph Stephen Paduano (Party List, ABANG LINGKOD), Maria Valentina Plaza (1st District, Agusan Del Sur), Victor Yu (1st District, Zamboanga Del Sur), Xavier Jesus Romualdo (Lone District, Camiguin) Raymond Democrito Mendoza (Party List, TUCP) and Mylene Garcia- Albano (2nd District, Davao City). - By: Jazmin S. Camero, Media Relations Service-PRIB