MANILA, Philippines — Concerns of funding and liabilities were raised Tuesday over the proposed Media Workers Welfare Act and the Eddie Garcia Act.
At Monday's joint hearing of the Senate committees on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development and Public Information and Mass Media, lawmakers called into question the coverage of the bill pushing for workers' welfare in the media industry.
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Filed by Senate President Vicente Sotto III in September last year, the bill provides media workers a prescribed minimum compensation and entitles media workers to overtime pay and night shift premiums.
The bill covers "all media workers and entities in the private sector," which was questioned by Sen. Imee Marcos, who pointed to the possible liability of block timers and billboards and the problem of funding.
A blocktimer is a program or producer who purchases airtime from a media entity in order to broadcast independent programs on radio or television.
"Where will the money come from? If it comes from government, it will come from Philhealth, the [Government Service Insurance System], and the [Social Security System], which might force them to add supplemental premiums," Marcos said in Filipino.
Presidential Communications Undersecretary Kris Ablan clarified that the act defined media workers as being "legitimately engaged in news media practice directly or indirectly whether as a principal occupation or not."
"It encapsulates any practitioner or professional who is in news media whether a journalist or cameraman. We tried to make the definition as generic as possible," he said.
Safety hazards in media
On the Eddie Garcia Bill, which seeks to “protect and promote the welfare of workers or independent contractors in the film, television, and radio" by pushing for safer workplaces, senators questioned the Department of Labor and Employment's inspections of workplaces, particularly amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Labor Assistant Secretary Tes Cucueco said that the DOLE got its schedule of shoots from the Film Development Council of the Philippines, and necessary inspections would be coordinated from there with the department's regional offices.
The bill was named after the late actor Eddie Garcia, who last year went comatose and later died following an on-set accident during a taping for a Kapuso teleserye.
Villanueva, who chairs the Senate labor committee, pointed out that while Republic Act No. 11058 or the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Act covers all workers regardless of the industry, the hazards in television should be given attention.
"Although we've already passed the OSHS Law in 2018, we believe that occupational safety and health is a continuing urgent concern amid the pandemic not only for workers or independent contractors in the film, television, and radio entertainment industry but also for all economic frontliners," he said.
Cucueco said that revisions to the DOLE department order on occupational safety and health standards were due before the end of the year.
"We are already doing the full tripartite consultations because it's a detailed document looking at the scope of all types of sectors including the media," she said.
Cucueco said the department had data on work-related accidents and injuries that it investigated but admitted she was "not that sure" if this covered the movie production industry.
"I know that it is also a priority sector that we should look into," she said.
'Better processes are possible'
Actor Dingdong Dantes, who leads the Aktor - League of Filipino Actos group, called attention in his presentation to the working conditions of contractual workers in entertainment based on his group's consultations with industry workers.
Dantes said that contracts should stipulate a number of details, including:
- A cap of 12 hours excluding time for meals
- 11-hour minimum turnaround time
- Compensable waiting time
- production details including but not limited the start and end of the worker's job description,
- working hours and overtime pay,
- a clause on independent contractors' grievance mechanisms
READ: House approves 'Eddie Garcia Act' to protect entertainment industry workers
"At this point, we are convinced that we need to look into it, discuss and debate about it, and perhaps look into what we can do to improve this measure. We are also convinced that the government's immunization drive against COVID-19 along with safe and healthy workplaces can stop the pandemic," Villanueva said.
Actress Liza Diño also pointed to what she said were the "nuances very exclusive to our industry."
"There is an absence of existing policies that specifically address hazards inside the industry," she said.
"In the industry, we are transient...we are exposed to different hazards every single day. The location might be on top of a mountain, or inside a dilapidated building, and this is the norm for our industry."
"This COVID-19 crisis has taught us hard lessons about our well-being and our responsibility to maintain a fair, healthy, and just environment to pursue our passion. These have shown us that better processes are possible," Dantes also said.
Precarious situation for local media
Under the coronavirus pandemic, the country's unemployment rate shot up to 8.7% in April 2021 which translates to 4.14 million Filipinos without jobs, that translated in the media industry as well.
According to a tally from the Philippine Press Institute, at least 12 community newspapers have either closed down or scaled back operations due to the pandemic.
Even larger conglomerates were not spared. Earlier in February, the Nine Media Corp. which owns CNN Philippines proceeded with plans to downsize its staff after ad revenues continued to fall a year into the pandemic.
Broadcast giant ABS-CBN Corp. was also forced to lay off over 5,000 of the network’s 11,000 employees after its main TV and radio channels were shuttered after a Congress dominated by Duterte allies voted to kill its application for a fresh franchise.
"We of course support this measure in principle, but we have to consider what's happening right now. Our employers are doing their best, sacrificing not to close their businesses in order to help our employees," Sen. Joel Villanueva said.
The House iteration of the bill has already been approved on its third and final reading, though it remains pending at the committee level in the higher chamber.
— with reports from Xave Gregorio