Bill seeks standardized wages, mandatory insurance for media workers
MANILA, Philippines — House lawmakers said Sunday that they are pushing passage of the Media Workers' Welfare bill, which seeks to protect the rights and welfare of media workers.
Among the proposals in the bill are establishing minimum wage levels based on the number of years of experience in the field.
House Bill 2476 seeks to "recognize the invaluable contribution of media workers to society" as they are "left to fend for themselves especially when making danger-filled reportages" according to the bill's explanatory note.
The Media Workers' Welfare bill adds mandatory insurance benefits for workers and also includes a compensation table to ensure their just compensation. The table is divided by number of years of experience, namely three, five, eight and ten years in the field.
"The Maguindanao Massacre and the trial brought to the forefront of national consciousness [degrades] the high-risk lives of journalists, especially those entrenched in conflict areas like Maguindanao, where mostly political warlords hold sway over the lives of residents," Rep. Jocelyn Tulfo (ACT-CIS Party-list) said of the measure.
The bill was co-authored by Reps. Jocelyn Tulfo and fellow ACT-CIS Party-list lawmakers Rowena Niña Taduran, who introduced the bill in the 18th Congress, and Eric Go Yap.
Commission on Press Freedom and Media Security
It mandates the creation of a Commission on Press Freedom and Media Security to be a "development center" for the industry as well as serve as a shield for attacks on the media.
Private organizations focusing on press freedom protection already exist, such as the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, among others, which the bill says will make up the commission should it pass.
President Rodrigo Duterte formed a Presidential Task Force on Media Security in 2016 although he and his subordinates have also taken offense at reports that they perceive to be biased against the administration..
Rep. Tulfo said that the three solons sought "to apply a systemic set of solutions to the plight of journalists" in filing the bill.
A similar initiative was already planned in 2018 in the form of a magna carta for media workers by the Presidential Task Force for Media Security looking to uplift the conditions of media workers.
Along with professionalizing the field of journalism by requiring exams for qualification and classification of workers, the earlier magna carta also sought to create a commission on press freedom and media security.
In late September, Duterte also signed Republic Act 11458, which amended Republic Act 53 or "An Act to Exempt the Publisher, Editor or Reporter of any Publication from Revealing the Source of Published News or Information Obtained in Confidence."
This act protects journalists from being compelled to divulge the source of confidential information used in their reports except by a court order.
The promulgation of the decision for the aforementioned Maguindanao massacre case is also slated for Thursday, December 19, with live media coverage of the ruling.
Rep. Esmael Mangudadatu (Maguindanao, 2nd District), who was a central figure in the massacre that claimed the lives of his wife, sisters, cousin and aunt, called the coming promulgation a "litmus test" of the country's laws.
Threats against media
The bill was filed amid President Rodrigo Duterte's threats against broadcast giant ABS-CBN Corporation, who drew his ire years ago for allegedly refusing to air his campaign materials while also airing anti-Duterte advertisements paid for by his political rivals.
Duterte's administration has repeatedly singled out media organizations like Rappler and Inquirer for what the president says is their tendency to publish anti-government content.
Media watchdog Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility in June said that public pronouncements against ABS-CBN were signs of "congressional franchises [being used] as a weapon to control a free press," arguing that the dependence of broadcast corporations on Congress and the Office of the President was prone to abuse.
"I hope the Committee on Labor and Employment will put HB 2476 on the fast track to approval in the House in this first regular session of the 18th Congress," Tulfo said.
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