Photo by Billy B. Poon
THE ATENEO Student Catholic Action (Atsca) held the State of the Marginalized Address (SOMA) on November 14. The SOMA shed light on the Kasambahay Bill, also known as House Bill 6144 or the Domestic Workers Act of 2012. The event zeroed in on education for domestic workers.
The bill stipulates that domestic workers are entitled to the right of education while rendering service. This right is emphasized for household helpers around 15 to 17 years old.
SOMA Project Head Maria Alyssa Rodriguez believes that education is one of the major avenues through which upward social mobility can be promoted.
“This provision, I believe, is really important so that domestic helpers aged 15 to 17 years old, who have their whole lives ahead of them, may be granted the skills and knowledge necessary for them to venture into other types of livelihood or employment should the time come that they would want to discontinue being domestic helpers,” she explained.
In the event, Policy Director of the Visayan Forum (VF) Jerome Alcantara explained that the said age range was the prime time frame for someone to learn.
He further said that tuition payment should be separate from the workers’ salary. “You [employers] should allow domestic workers to acquire skills.”
The VF is a non-profit organization established in 1991. It tackles issues of domestic work, child labor and human trafficking, especially of women and children.
Rights of domestic helpers
Alcantara highlighted four key provisions concerning the rights of domestic workers: humane treatment; board, lodging and medical attendance; privacy and access to outside communication; and education and training.
“We give domestic workers decent meals. If necessary, we give them accommodations,” he said. “Is it needed that they have their own rooms? Not necessarily. The only thing needed is the expectation of privacy on [the] part of the domestic workers.”
Alcantara said that the employer had the responsibility to provide board, lodging and medical attendance, especially when the domestic worker actually suffered from an illness as a result of his domestic work.
“This is also a way to diminish the vulnerability of domestic workers because we want to give them access to outside communication. Just in case the domestic workers are being abused, they can ask for help,” he said.
Importance of domestic helpers
Former domestic helper Winelyn Amida shared that she was granted schooling by her employers, but was denied any salary and day-off.
Her employers claimed that because she spent most of her time in school rather than doing her chores, paying her was no option.
“Wala akong sahod noon. Wala akong natatanggap na sahod kasi nga ang sinasabi nila, ‘Kami na ang nagpapaaral sa iyo’ (I didn’t have any salary then. I received none because they said they were already sending me to school),” she said.
Amida was sent to the SOMA by the Samahan at Ugnayan ng mga Manggagawang Pantahanan sa Pilipinas (Sumapi), which is a national association of domestic workers in the Philippines.
Alcantara said that the VF provides specialized assistance and shelter, especially for abused domestic workers. “We work with Sumapi, and we begin in educating their members about their rights.”
He views domestic workers as a part of an important sector in the Philippine society. “We think by improving lives of domestic workers [and] by providing them decent work. It’ll reduce poverty in the long run.”
Rodriguez said, “[Understanding] the causes behind social injustice is one of the stepping stones that we need in order to take action.”
