Sulong Dignidad Party-list said it will push for a comprehensive pro-labor agenda that will ensure job security, increase job opportunities, and promote labor rights.
According to Sulong Dignidad president and first nominee lawyer Rico Paolo Quicho, the group will promote legislation that will help ensure proper compensation and the protection of workers rights in the country.
“One focus of our legislative agenda is taking care of our labor force and make sure that they are given proper compensation, safe working environment, and room for professional growth and development,” Quicho said.
Quicho said Sulong Dignidad will propose legislation that will increase and optimize salaries and wages of workers both in public and private sectors.
He said they will also push for laws that will promote the welfare of all workers such as the Magna Carta of Workers in the Informal Economy (MCWIE).
“Our constitution states that all workers, without exception, are entitled to social and labor protection. However, workers in the informal sector are not covered by the Labor Code of the Philippines,” Quicho said.
“We need to make sure that workers in the informal economy are afforded with equal rights and recognition by law. It is imperative that appropriate programs and services be extended to them,” he added.
Aside from recognizing the rights of informal workers, Quicho said Sulong Dignidad supports amending the 1987 Constitution’s economic provisions to make it easier for foreign investments to enter and create more job opportunities.
“We need to improve competitiveness and attract investments, both local and foreign, into manufacturing and other stagnant sectors of the economy,” Quicho said.
He added that they will endeavor to make the Philippines a more competitive investment site through fiscal incentives rationalization and streamlining of the 186 incentive-giving laws in the country.
“We need to unify laws, regulations, and procedures to streamline the bureaucratic process of putting up a business in the country,” Quicho said.
“Redundant tax incentives have also resulted in billions of foregone revenues which could have been utilized to fund much-needed social services,” he added.