By Benjamin Cuaresma
MANILA — A proposed Magna Carta of Waste Workers is seeking stronger labor, health and safety protections for an estimated 1.8 million to 2.3 million waste pickers and workers across the Philippines, many of whom remain informal, unregistered and unaccounted for.
Senate Bill No. 162, or the proposed Magna Carta of Waste Workers, was refiled by Sen. Loren Legarda in the 20th Congress after it was first introduced during the 19th Congress.
The measure seeks safeguards for government, private-sector and informal waste workers, including fair compensation, hazard and emergency pay, occupational health and safety measures, social protection and appropriate personal protective equipment.
It also seeks to guarantee key labor rights for private-sector workers, provide additional assistance to qualified government workers, and formally recognize organizations of informal waste workers to help them gain access to government support and representation.
Legarda said the bill comes amid continuing gaps in the implementation of the country’s solid waste management framework, including weak enforcement and unsafe waste-management practices that expose workers and communities to environmental, public health and occupational hazards.
During a dialogue earlier this year with representatives and leaders of the Philippine National Waste Workers Alliance, waste workers reported lacking adequate social protection and formal employment contracts, Legarda said.
Some workers also reported receiving no overtime pay, night-shift differential or hazard pay despite working under dangerous conditions.
The proposed measure also seeks to address risks faced by waste workers in landfills and other waste-management facilities.
Among the incidents cited by Legarda was the collapse of the Binaliw Landfill in Cebu, which killed 36 people and injured 18 others.
The Payatas tragedy also helped spur the enactment of Republic Act No. 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.
“No one who keeps our communities clean should die buried under the very garbage they helped control. Sa likod ng bawat manggagawang nasawi sa landfill, may pamilyang naghihintay sa kanyang pag-uwi. Ang hanapbuhay ay dapat nagbibigay-buhay sa pamilya, hindi kumukuha ng buhay,” Legarda said.
Legarda authored Republic Act No. 9003, which established the country’s framework for ecological solid waste management.
She said the proposed law would treat the protection of waste workers as an issue of public health, climate action and social justice.
ia/xf
