Villanueva: Fight for freedom from poverty, hazardous work condition

Senator Joel Villanueva. PHOTO FROM JOEL VILLANUEVA FACEBOOK PAGE

As the Philippines celebrates its 120th Independence Day, Senator Joel Villanueva said Filipinos should now fight for freedom from poverty and hazardous work condition.

“Sa kasalukuyan, nawa ay makamtam natin ang kalayaan mula sa kahirapan at hindi kanais-nais na kalagayan ng paggawa,” Villanueva said in a statement on Tuesday.

(Currently, we are hoping to achieve freedom from poverty and hazardous work condition.)

“Tayo po sa Senado ay patuloy na kumikilos upang makalaya ang ating mga manggagawa mula sa gapos ng pangaabuso sa paggawa katulad ng ‘endo’ at tanikala ng mapanganib na lugar ng paggawa,” he added.

(At the Senate, we continue to work to free our workers from the shackles of abusive and hazardous working environment and unfair labor practices such as “endo” or contractualization.)

The lawmaker called on Filipinos to be modern-day heroes who work together for the betterment of the nation.

Villanueva was the principal author of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Standards bill, which was recently ratified by the Senate.

READ: Senate approves occupational safety bill

Once signed into law, the measure would fine violators with P100,000 per day of non-correction of OSH standards violation, which will be counted from the date the employer or contractor was notified.

He was also pushing for the passage of a bill that seeks to stop endo in the country. /jpv