Job security is in the offing for media practitioners.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte has appealed to the Senate to prioritize the passage of a bill promoting the welfare of media personnel and ensure that the press remains free.
Villafuerte was referring to House Bill (HB) 454, also known as the Media Workers’ Welfare Act,” which aims to guarantee the rights of journalists to self-organization and additional economic benefits; and to create a “safe, protected atmosphere conducive to their productive, free and fruitful work.”
HB 454 has been roundly approved at the House following its referral to the plenary by the Committee on Labor and Employment chaired by Rizal Rep. Juan Fidel Felipe Nograles.
The House-approved bill was a consolidated with five similar measures, including HB 304 authored by Villafuerte with three other Camarines Sur legislators, namely, Reps. Miguel Luis Villafuerte and Tsuyoshi Anthony Horibata and Bicol Saro Rep. Nicolas Enciso VIII.
“Media workers risk their own lives being exposed to the perils and hazards outdoor just so we can receive our needed information. It is unfortunate that the very same people behind it are usually the ones whose labor rights are ignored, such as those pertaining to security of tenure, hazard pay, night shift differential pay and overtime pay, among others,” the bill stated.
The measure seeks to ensure that media workers should be provided with comprehensive benefits package at par with the current benefits enjoyed by those in the labor force in both the public and the private sector.
Villafuerte filed a similar pro-media bill in the previous Congress.
He agreed Speaker Martin Romualdez who believed that HB 454 highlighted the importance that the bigger chamber has given to advancing the welfare of media personnel and ensuring press freedom.
Villafuerte noted that the House’ approval of this pro-media bill came just before President Marcos cited in an event at Malacañang the need for the government to send across its central message of working hand-in-hand with the private sector; small communities; micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs); and all other sectors in pursuit of national development.
“If that information is channeled to the public and the message is out there, then people will put their shoulder behind the wheel and work toward a collective goal,” Marcos said.
Villafuerte said the House-approved consolidated bill seeks to ensure that media workers shall have comprehensive benefits package at par with the current benefits enjoyed by those in the labor force both in the government and private sector.
“The approved consolidated measure aims to make sure,” said Villafuerte, “that a safe, protected and atmosphere conducive to a productive, free and fruitful media work exists, along with a guarantee of the right of media workers to self-organization.”
He added that this measure wants “to motivate and encourage media workers to perform their duties as truthful and responsible informers of the people, and that they are free from any form of harassment in their exercise of press freedom.”
The key features of HB 304 included in the House-approved consolidated bill include the provision entitling media workers in entry-level positions to receive the minimum monthly compensation determined by the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) or the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs), depending on which applies in each case, he said.
Villafuerte said the approved HB 454 mandates the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to initiate the creation of a proposed News Media Tripartite Council, which may change or increase the amount of minimum hazard pay for journalists.