Photo Credit: kdow.biz

Granting the Labor Day request of President Rodrigo Duterte, Congress on Tuesday approved the measure seeking to strengthen the security of tenure of employees in the private sector and to put an end to contractualization.

This was after the House of Representatives adopted Senate Bill 1826 as an amendment to House Bill 6908.

The measure prohibits subcontracting out the same work contracted out by the employer.

It also seeks to limit job contracting to licensed and specialized services and classify workers into regular and probationary employees, treating project and seasonal employees as regular employees.

At the same time, if the contractor fails to pay the wages, allowances and benefits of his employees, the employer will be jointly liable with the contractor to the employees to the extent of the work performed under the contract.

Article 294, “Security of Tenure” of the Labor Code of the Philippines is also amended in order that in cases of regular employment, the employer will not terminate the services of an employee except for “just cause” or when authorized.

If illegal dismissal happens, the employee is entitled to immediate reinstatement even pending appeal and without loss of seniority rights and benefits.

Likewise, Article 295, “Regular Employment” of the Labor Code is amended defining a regular employee as one who has been hired for an indefinite period.

On May 1, Duterteurged Congress to pass bills protecting the rights of workers, particularly security of tenure and self-organization, as the country commemorates Labor Day.

“I remain optimistic that one year since I issued Executive Order No. 51, implementing existing constitutional and statutory provisions against illegal contracting, my counterparts in Congress will consider passing much needed legislative measures that will fully protect our workers’ rights, especially to security of tenure and self-organization,” he said in his Labor Day message.

The House approved its own version of the measure in January last year, but the Senate only passed theirs last Wednesday.

The Senate’s version was certified as urgent by Duterte.

Source: gmanetwork.com

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Photo Credit: aljazeera.com

MANILA (UPDATE) – President Rodrigo Duterte has declared June 5 a holiday in observance of the Eid‘l Fitr, the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

“In order to bring the religious and cultural significance of the Eid’l Fitr to the fore of national consciousness, it is necessary to declare Wednesday, 05 June 2019, a regular holiday throughout the country,” a copy of the declaration signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea stated.

Eid’l Fitr marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan for Muslims.

LOOK: Palace declares June 5 a regular holiday in observance of Eid’l Fitr @ABSCBNNews pic.twitter.com/C6oamcmg3M

— Arianne Merez (@arianne_merez) May 29, 2019

Muslims make up around 6 percent of the Philippines 100 million people, where 8 in 10 are Catholic, according to official data.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com

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Alaska Ironkids 2018 Photo Credit: Kevin Czar Twitter page

Close to 300 kids gear up for a showdown in their side of the duel as the future of triathlon clash in the Alaska Fortified IronKids on Saturday at the WOW Recreation and Activity Center in Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

This marks the third time that the local junior version of the IRONMAN will be held as a swim-run event following the Davao City and Vermosa, Cavite competitions with the Subic cast to feature the sport’s regular campaigners in the 6-to-14 years old bracket with a number of new faces also out to steal the spotlight from the fancied names in the event starting at 6 a.m.

The IronKids serves as a fitting appetizer to the Century Tuna IRONMAN 70.3 Subic Bay presented by Big Boss Cement which fires off Sunday with Seychelles’ Nick Baldwin setting out for back-to-back title feat in the country’s triathlon capital following his triumph in the first full IRONMAN last year.

Also lined up on Saturday is the Sun Life Bike Out and the IRONMAN 70.3 Subic Bay Expo at 9 a.m., the media confernece at 3 p.m. and the Beliinda Granger race tips at 4 p.m., among others.

Launched a decade ago, the Alaska IronKids, then made up of a swim-bike-run event, has become one of the highlights of each IRONMAN competition. It is staged to promote a well-balanced lifestyle for kids and at the same time serves as venue for family bonding. It is also held to help kids develop the values of discipline, hard work, integrity and determination through a series of races.

The organizing Sunrise Events, Inc., however, decided to drop the bike leg from the usual 400m-swim, 9km-bike, and 3km event to lessen the competition’s barriers to entry of which purchasing a bike is a prime example.

Meanwhile, Baldwin gears up for a strong challenge from the likes of former 70.3 world champion Tim Reed and multi-titled Sam Betten along with fellow Australians Tim Van Berkel and Conor McKay with Colombia’s Rodrigo Acevedo and Oli Stenning of Great Britain as he seeks to make it two-in-row in Subic, this time on a shorter 1.9km swim-90km bike-21km run event.

For details, visit www.ironman703subicbay.com or the Facebook page Century Tuna IRONMAN 70.3 Subic Bay and @im703subicbay on Instagram and Twitter. Official event hashtags are #CenturyTunaIM703 #im703subicbay.

Backing the event are Big Boss Cement (presenting sponsor), venue host Subic Bay, bike leg racing partner NLEX SCTEX, Black Arrow (official courier and logistics partner) Hoka (official footwear), Gatorade, TYR, Gu, Lightwater, David’s Salon, Prudential Guarantee, ONE Cignal, the Philippine Star, Trilife, AsiaTri.com, Finisher Pix and Active.

Close to thousand triathletes will also battle it out for top honors in various divisions, including the Asian Elite and the 12 age group categories. It also features relay competitions for male, female and mixed teams.

Forty one countries are represented in what promises to be another challenging race on a practically new course with the race central now at Subic Bay Boardwalk.

Source: manilatimes.net

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MANILA – The House of Representatives approved Monday on third and final reading a measure that provides a comprehensive renal replacement therapy for patients with end stage renal disease.

Some 177 lawmakers voted in favor of House Bill 9156 or the “Comprehensive Renal Replacement Therapy Act.”

The bill also provides free dialysis treatment to indigent patients and expands the PhilHealth benefit package for kidney transplant replacement therapy from both living and deceased donors.

It also expands the PhilHealth coverage for kidney transplantation for the evaluation and screening of kidney donors and recipients up to the transplantation and post transplantation procedures and remedies.

The measure also provides the No Balance Billing (NBB) policy to incidents while increasing the PhilHealth Z Benefit package rates for peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis after kidney transplant procedures.

Likewise, it mandates the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) to provide the remaining needed sessions for both peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis after the patient has consumed one’s benefit package from PhilHealth.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com

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Harassing women and those of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persuasion by catcalling, wolf-whistling or with sexist slurs and gestures is now punishable under a new law.

The proposed Safe Streets, Public Spaces and Workplace Act, also known as the “Bawal Bastos” bill, lapsed into law on April 21 after President Rodrigo Duterte did not act on a bicameral conference committee report ratified in February.

“Gender-based sexual harassment in the forms of stalking, leering, catcalling and wolf-whistling will be penalized under the new law,” Akbayan Rep. Tomas Villarin said in a statement.

“Fines and penalties for these acts range from P1,000 to P100,000 for multiple and grave offenses,” he added.

“These penalties are crucial in sending the message mahal mambastos (it is expensive to be rude) in the Philippines,” he continued.
Penalties also include community service and gender-sensitivity training.

“The passage of the law should change the cultural norm [on] how society treats women, how society puts importance on the rights of everybody,” Villarin said in a press conference.
Maica Teves of Spark Philippines lauded the measure as a “victory for women and the LGBT.”

LGBT advocate Anton Paderanga said the inclusion of the community was a welcome development, noting that “LGBT persons, like women, are subject to harassment daily.”

The law expands existing anti-sexual harassment laws. It covers sexual harassment in workplaces, including peer-to-peer and subordinate-to-superior cases.

Arline Santos of the Institute of Politics and Governance said the law also provided remedies for harassment that occurs online.

The new law also mandates all schools to establish anti-sexual harassment policies.

Source: manilatimes.net

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