House bill seeks additional insurance coverage, hazard pay for journalists
MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker is seeking to provide additional insurance benefits and a non-taxable hazard pay for journalists in the Philippines.
In House Bill No. 6543 or the proposed “Journalists Protection Act of 2022,” Rep. Camille Villar (Las Piñas) noted that with the nature of journalists’ jobs, they go through dangerous situations, with some putting their lives on the line for coverage in order to produce news for the public.
“It is time that journalists deserve the respect not only for the type of work that they are doing but also in the form of benefits that are long overdue. While some may not enjoy decent wages, it is necessary that journalists enjoy these perks as they have families that rely on them,” she wrote.
In its 2021 Global Impunity Index, the Committee to Protect Journalists ranked the Philippines as the seventh deadliest country in the world for journalists, citing 14 unsolved journalist murders in the past decade. Reporters Without Borders also noted that the Philippines saw over 100 murders of media practitioners since 2003.
The bill seeks to provide all journalists access to medical and health benefits as well as hazard pay and additional insurance coverage, especially for those on the field.
“Journalists’ vulnerability to harm should be viewed as the sum of both exposure to threats and reduced capability to seek protection and recover from shock,” former CNN Philippines reporter Makoi Popioco wrote for The Interpreter, adding that local journalists are more exposed to said vulnerabilities.
“Filipino journalists can only take risks commensurate with their protections.”
Proposed additional benefits
Under the bill, proposed additional benefits includes disability benefits worth P350,000 and a P300,000 provision in case a media practitioner gets injured or dies while on duty. A reimbursement fee of P200,000 to cover medical costs of journalists who would need to be hospitalized in case of any injury incurred during work.
These apply to all journalists, whether they are permanent, contractual, or temporary workers of a media entity.
Meanwhile, a non-taxable hazard pay worth “at least” 25% of a media worker’s gross monthly basic salary should be imposed while the journalist is deployed.
Villar also wants the country’s Social Security System and the Government Service Insurance System to create an insurance program specifically for freelance journalists.
Media firms will be covering the insurance premiums of journalists and other employees with the insurance firm of their choice. Noncompliance with the proposed law will entail a fine worth at least P300,000 to P500,000 and/or imprisonment for a year up to six years.
Should this become law, the implementing rules and regulations will be formulated by the GSIS, SSS, and the Philippine Information Agency, with the help of the National Press Club, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, and the Kapisanan ng mga Broadcaster ng Pilipinas, among other registered media organizations.
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