Bayan Muna Representative Teddy Casiño. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker on Tuesday slammed the Supreme Court’s order stopping the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) from implementing its fixed salary policy for bus drivers and conductors.
Bayan Muna Representative Teddy Casino said that the high court’s decision was a “setback” since without the fixed salary, employees of bus firms would need to go back to “stretching their time and bodies to the limit just to feed their families.”
He urged members of the House of Representatives to push for the passage of House Bill 3370, which sought to provide workers of bus firms with fixed wages and driving hours in an effort to lessen the chances of accidents caused by buses.
The said bill was filed days after veteran journalist and professor Lourdes Estella Simbulan died in a road accident involving the taxi she was riding and a bus along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.
Aside from providing bus drivers and conductors with fixed salaries and working hours, the measure also seeks to penalize operators of erring bus companies who will face suspension of franchises and fines ranging from P100,000 to P200,000.
“I’m calling on the House leadership to prioritize House Bill 3370 so that the policy can be institutionalized into law and not questioned in the courts,” Casino said.