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INFORMAL WORKERS CALL FOR SOCIAL PROTECTION FOR ALL, PASSAGE OF MAGNA CARTA
Some 25 informal workers' groups under the banner of MAGCAISA called for social protection for all as well as the passage of the Magna Carta for Workers in the Informal Economy (MACWIE) . when they celebrate dInformal Workers' Day on the morning of May 4 at the University of the Philippines School of Labor and Industrial Relations (UPSOLAIR), Diliman, Quezon City. Rep. Dan Fernandez filed HB 1955 on MACWIE at the House of Representatives, where the Committee on Labor already held a hearing on it. Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago filed a similar bill in the Senate. MACWIE, if passed, will benefit the fast growing ranks of workers in the informal economy, who now comprise 24.6 million or 76 percent of total employed in the Philippines. It assures informal workers, women and men, of their rights at work, access to resources, social protection, and participation in decision-making..
Four policy briefs on social protection for all, social security, health insurance, and occupational safety and health were launched during the May 4 celebration. (Copies may be downloaded) The policy briefs call for inclusion of informal workers in social insurance schemes(SSS and PhilHealth), and the extension of occupational safety and health services for women and men in the informal economy. Vice President Marissu Bugante of SSS and Director Teresita Cucueco of the Occupational Safety and Health Center were among those who responded to the recommendations of the policy briefs,.
These policy briefs are products of months of collaborative research and advocacy work among informal workers' networks (notably Homenet Southeast Asia, Homenet Philippines, and the Magna Carta for the Informal Sector Alliance) and academe (particularly the Department of Women and Development Studies, College of Social Work and Community Development, University of the Philippines) with the support of the SPA. They represent a continuation of past initiatives (mainly the research output conducted by Homenet Southeast Asia with funding assistance from the Ford Foundation and published as a book entitled Social Protection for Homebased Workers in Thailand and the Philippines in 2006) , and have been enriched by the results of numerous conferences, workshops, and dialogues with representatives of concerned agencies (notably SSS, PhilHealth, National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women, Department of Labor and Employment, Occupational Safety and Health Center, Department of Social Welfare and Development).
Research, writing, and publication of this material was made possible through the Social Protection in Asia (SPA) policy-research and network building programme, funded by the Ford Foundation and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). The programme is managed by the Institute for Human Development (IHD) New Delhi, India, and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) Brighton, UK. For more information please visit the website www.socialprotectionasia.org or email info@socialprotectionasia.org Before convening at UPSOLAIR, MAGCAISA representatives participated in the flag ceremony at Quezon City Hall, where they will award Quezon City Mayor Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte with a certificate of recognition for his leadership in promoting and implementing programs and services for informal workers in his locality. The May 4 celebration was held with the support of the Center for Labor Justice of UPSOLAIR and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES)..
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