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Marcos advocates for higher standards and better working conditions.

MANILA, Philippines — If the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) standard-bearer Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is elected president in the May 9 national and local elections, one of his top priorities will be to address the problems plaguing the labor sector in order to improve labor conditions for the country’s workforce.

Marcos reviewed the concerns and issues plaguing the labor sector with officials from the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) and the Associated Labor Unions (ALU) in a meeting with leaders from the labor-focused party-list groups.

While Marcos supports the creation of a distinct agency for migrant workers, he believes that all other labor-related agencies should be streamlined.

“Because the problem has become so complicated, I’ll have to lay it out in full.” Maraming dapat ayusin, maraming dapat ayusin structurally. Dapat i-streamline ang mga agencies, dahil masyado nang marami [ang mga opisina], ang mga workers natin, nalilito kung saan sila dapat lumapit Agencies should be streamlined since there are too many of them, which makes it difficult for our workers to know where to go),” he said in a statement released on Wednesday.

Party-list of the TUCP Meanwhile, Rep. Raymond Mendoza agreed with Marcos’ proposals to streamline agencies, adding that overseas workers, particularly household contract workers in Middle Eastern countries, had faced difficulties in their jobs.

In keeping with his goal of improving workers’ working conditions, Marcos indicated an interest in making the Security of Tenure Act a priority bill, which would change the Labor Code to further protect workers’ rights by outlawing labor-only contracting in the private sector.

He did point out, however, that the version of the bill that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte vetoed in 2019 for “unduly broadening” the scope of labor-only contracting and effectively banning other forms “that are not particularly unfavorable to employees” should be amended to ensure that it achieves its goal of further protecting workers’ rights.

“Kailangan pag-aralan ng husto kung paano ito i-aamend na talagang magbibigay proteksyon sa ating mga manggagawa para maisabatas ito, kailangan pag-aralan ng husto kung paano ito i-aamend na talagang magbibigay proteksyon Kailangang ayusin natin sa ating mga kababayan, napipilitang magtrabaho overseas dahil mababa at hindi maayos ang working conditions dito. We need to address it since our countrymen are being compelled to work in other countries due to low wages and poor working conditions here),” he said.

Meanwhile, Mendoza, who is also the president of the TUCP, has emphasized the need for more manpower to be hired by agencies like the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration in order for them to better serve the welfare of at least 10 million migrant Filipino workers.

“Ilang libong kontrata ang prinoprocess nila sa isang araw, tapos iilan lang ang tao nila.” Kulang sa mga foreign language interpreters na makatulong sa mga OFWs na may kinahaharap na problema sa mga trabaho. Milyong-milyon ang mga OFWS natin at malaki ang kontribusyon nila sa ating ekonomiya, kaya kailangan naman na may natutok sa kanila They lack foreign language translators who can assist OFWs who are having difficulties at work. We have millions of OFWs who contribute significantly to our economy, so we need an agency dedicated to them),” he explained.

This, according to Marcos, is why he believes the agencies involved should be streamlined so that one agency focuses entirely on local workers and the other on international workers.

However, he stated that the ultimate goal is for Filipinos to have the choice of working abroad.

House Majority Speaker Martin Romualdez and his wife, Tingog Sinirangan party-list Rep. Yeda Marie Romualdez, ALU-Transport Vice President Michael Mendoza, and ALU National Executive Vice President Gerard Seno, among others, were present at the meeting.

The Philippines’ largest labor union, TUCP, had previously endorsed Marcos and his running mate, Inday Sara Duterte, in the impending 2022 national elections.

When the TUCP recently held a series of consultative meetings with TUCP members all around the nation, Alan Tanjusay, a TUCP spokesperson, stated there was an overwhelming reaction from their 1.2 million members to support the UniTeam tandem (Marcos and Duterte).

TUCP was founded in 1975 by 23 labor federations and is now the Philippines’ largest labor federation coalition.

The majority of its members are from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, and work in key industries such as service, agriculture, and manufacturing.

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