MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 10, 2012) – A Philippine-based nongovernmental organization against modern slavery celebrated the formal registration of the Philippine ratification of International Labor Organization Convention 189.
With the Convention set to enter into force a year after the Philippines’ ratification, Maria Cecilia Oebanda, Executive Director of the Visayan Forum, praised the country’s leaders in the advocacy for stronger protection of Filipino domestic workers here and abroad.
“This is a historic moment for millions of domestic workers in the Philippines and all over the world who have been waiting to get the recognition and the protection that they deserve,” said Oebanda in a statement sent to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
It said under the Convention, ILO member-states are mandated to extend minimum wage, social protection, and other labor rights to domestic workers. Member states are also directed to take measures to ensure that all domestic workers are informed of the terms and conditions of their employment, preferably through written contracts.
They are also mandated to determine the conditions governing the operation of private employment agencies recruiting or placing domestic workers. Further, member states shall take measures to ensure that domestic workers are entitled to keep in their possession their travel and identity documents, according to the Visayan Forum.
“We are grateful to the Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Foreign Affairs, civil society organizations, trade unions, and employers groups for the successful ratification campaign. We thank Senator Loren Legarda for championing this Convention in the Senate, which made it possible for the Philippines to be the second country to ratify the Convention,” Oebanda said.
She said Legarda, who heads the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, for her part, stressed that “with the Convention soon entering into force, the travails that our domestic workers go through – treated as property, forced to work long hours, and unable to demand their human rights, their basic civil liberties – should end.”
“This landmark accomplishment strengthens our resolve and leverage in negotiating for stronger protection and better terms and conditions of employment of our domestic workers. Saudi Arabia was among those who voted in favor of adopting this ILO Convention on June 16, 2011, as did other Middle East countries with a high concentration of Filipino domestic workers such as Kuwait, UAE, Lebanon and Syria. We call on them to join us in ratifying this Convention as well,” the Visayan Forum quoted Legarda as saying.
The House of Representatives approved on September 5 the House Bill 6144, of the “Kasambahay Bill,” guaranteeing standards of protection and standard employment benefits to domestic workers in the Philippines.
The Senate approved its version of the bill, which was co-authored by Legarda in December 2010.
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