Egco, ACT-CIS unite for media welfare

Undersecretary Joel Egco of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security and Anti-Crime and Terrorism Community Involvement and Support party-list Niña Taduran have partnered to push for equal protection and standardized salary for the members of the media.

At a news conference in Quezon City, Egco said “it has been a long overdue dream for him to push for the legislation of a law providing humane conditions of work and living wage.”

“[I know] It is going to be a tough battle,” he told reporters.

Taduran, a former broadcast journalist from TV5, said she would file a bill that shall provide media workers with comprehensive benefits “packaged at par with the current benefits [being]enjoyed by those in the labor force both in government and the private sector.”

The proposed measure would also “encourage media workers to perform their duties as truthful and responsible informers of the people” and “ensure the creation of a safe, protected and an atmosphere conducive to a productive, free and fruitful media work,” she added.

During the conference, Taduran presented a matrix for the monthly compensation of a media member based on the number of years’ experience.

The bill is entitled “Media Workers Welfare Act” that shall grant mandatory insurance benefits from the Social Security System and Government Service Insurance System, and that would create an independent Commission on Press Freedom and Media Security to safeguard media personnel from all forms of attack and to develop a center for journalism.