Son and father team

A very important law approved in 2018 could be largely credited to how Filipino workers, or the Philippine economy as a whole, are able to absorb the shock of coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19 pandemic. This is Republic Act (RA) 11165, or the law institutionalizing telecommuting as an alternative working arrangement for employees in the private sector. Simply called as the Telecommuting Act, President Rodrigo Duterte signed it into law on Dec. 20, 2018.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) issued its implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Telecommuting Act on March 26, 2019. The significance of the Telecommuting Act came to fore when unexpectedly our country got stricken with COVID-19 contagion along with the rest of the world.

In our Zoom Webinar Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum last Wednesday, Senator Joel Villanueva reminded us about RA 11165 as the law that enables hundreds of Filipino workers to work-from-home (WFH) when the government started imposing hard lockdowns and community quarantines since March 15. The Telecommuting Act was passed into law during the 17th Congress.

When he was pushing for its passage into law, Villanueva noted the initial resistance on the part of both the employers as well as the workers who echoed concerns and fears on the implications of the proposed WFH arrangement on the existing provisions of the Labor Code of the Philippines.

“This was long before the COVID we got the ball rolling when we were not even thinking about this pandemic but on the traffic in Metro Manila and all over the Philippines,” Villanueva vividly recalled. “Since then, we are able to function, not only in the public service but also in private sector, we can now work at home,” he enthused.

Villanueva added the same law that authorized WFH is also helping teachers in public and private schools to hold “distance learning” classes implemented by the Department of Education (DepEd) under this no face-to-face mode of teaching to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infection.

RA 11165 was shepherded at the Senate during the first three years of the term of Villanueva. He was among the principal authors of the law and sponsored this at the floor as the chairman of the Senate committee on labor and employment. Villanueva continues to chair the same committee as well as the Senate committee on higher education.

On the same online Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum we had, Teachers Dignity Coalition (TDC) chairman Benjo Basas bewailed the plight of teachers at risk of contracting COVID-19. Despite the default WFH adopted by the DepEd, Basas feared for fellow public school teachers many of whom, he claimed, are reportedly still required to be physically present at schools to fulfill tasks such as the reproduction and distribution of modules.

The DepEd modules are the printed materials used by the students under the “distance learning.” Basas renewed the TDC appeal to DepEd to go back to books that can be used for years than the short-lived but costly modules.

Data released by DepEd last August showed that 823 students, teachers and non-teaching personnel within the agency were confirmed COVID-19 positive cases. These included 297 students, 340 teachers and 186 non-teaching personnel. At the time, 310 were active cases, while 23 have died and 490 have recovered.

Speaking for its 30,000 card-bearing members of the TDC, Basas explained their call to DepEd to delay the opening of classes in all public elementary and high schools to January, 2021. “Even the 2020 Tokyo (summer) Olympics which was moved to July, 2021 is still called Tokyo Olympics 2020. The entire school year 2020-2021 – even if it starts in January – will still remain school year 2021,” Basas quipped.

Sen. Villanueva also echoed concern for hundreds of teachers in the private sector who reportedly lost their jobs after a number of private college institutions closed down due to low enrollment. According to the DOLE, Sen.Villanueva cited, close to 3.5 million workers nationwide that included private school teachers, either totally lost their jobs or suffered pay cuts in the past six months of lockdowns and community quarantines.

The Senator sought immediate actions by the DOLE, the DepEd and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) “to roll out” as soon as possible the various aid programs under the Bayanihan We Recover As One Law, or Bayanihan-2 for short. The P165 billion Bayanihan-2, signed into law last Sept.11, he cited, included the P3 billion to improve the quality of internet connectivity in the campuses of state universities and colleges (SCUs); P600 million subsidy for students; and, P300 million for private sector teachers who lost their jobs.

The “window period” of Bayanihan-2 is only up to December 31 this year, Sen.Villanueva pointed out, within which the cash aids and funds are delivered to intended beneficiaries.

In the meantime, Villanueva disclosed, he is currently shepherding at the Senate other urgent bills that could further help Filipinos adapt to the so-called “new normal.” This include the proposed Senate bill on Digital Career that seeks “to step up to the next level” the competencies and skills of Filipinos in digital platform, artificial intelligence, robotics, animation etc.

While Senate approved already the “Doktor sa Bayan” to address the 79,900 shortage of doctors in the Philippines amid the COVID pandemic, Villanueva rued, they will have to wait for the House of Representatives to pass its own version. A three-term Congressman in the past, he could only pray for the feuding House leaders to stop bickering and attend to urgent bills pending in the 18th Congress to help mitigate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 44-year-old Senator is joined in this prayer by his father, CIBAC party list representative and Jesus is Lord Movement leader Brother Eddie Villanueva who is one of the 22 House deputy speakers.

Perhaps, the son and father team could pray together for peace to reign at the Lower House.