Anti-Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 2013 - To End Employment Discrimination – Pia Cayetano

Age doesn't matter, says Cayetano in anti-discrimination in work bill

A bill that will prohibit and penalize employers who will decline any application or forcibly lay off a worker on the basis of age and other forms of discrimination has been filed at the Senate.

Senator Pia Cayetano said she filed Senate Bill No. 29 or the Anti-Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 2013 to put an end to what she considered an emerging type of discrimination in the labor front — discrimination in employment based on a person's age.

The bill, she said, sought to penalize any employer, labor contractor or labor organization that would discriminate against any individual because of age.

Cayetano said the measure was anchored on the constitutional provision that mandates the state to ensure equality of employment opportunities for all.

"The basis for employment should be a person's knowledge, skills and qualifications which are necessary to perform a job. A person's age should not be an issue," she said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Prejudice against age is apparent in job postings which set arbitrary age limits for applicants. We often see these in classified ads, job fairs, billboards and the Internet," she said.

Under the proposed measure, employers from the private sector as well as the national and local government units would be prohibited from:

* Printing, publishing, or causing the printing or publishing of any notice of advertisement relating to employment suggesting preferences, limitations, specifications and discrimination based on age;

* Requiring the declaration of age or birth date during the application process;

* Declining any employment application because of the applicant's age;

* Discriminating against an individual on account of his or her age in terms of compensation, terms and conditions, privileges, promotions and other opportunities; and

* Forcibly laying off an employee because of old age.

"You would think that this is an issue affecting senior citizens, but no, even those in their late 20s are already discriminated against," Cayetano said.

"When I go around the country, people who look to be in their late 20s, 30s or 40s would sometimes approach and ask me, 'Senadora, pwede po ba nating ipagbawal sa batas ang age limit sa job hiring? Kahit may edad na po kami, kaya pa naman namin, pero laging mas bata ang pinipili ng mga employer['Senator, is it possible to prohibit the setting of age limits in job hiring? We are still capable despite our age, but employers tend to prefer younger applicants over us.']"

Once enacted into law, any person who would violate the measure would be fined not less than ₱50,000 but not more than ₱500,000, or imprisoned for not less than three months but not more than two years, or both, at the discretion of the court.

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Philippines took over Japan’s Car part dominance in Asean but cried for cheap imported Cars

According to Raquel Santos, the 127 members of MVPMAP who make 272 different car parts and components, are not exactly happy over the fact that imports of complete cars have over taken locally assembled units. He said the assemblers in the Philippines account for only 39 per cent of total car demand

Japan way behind; PH exports $3.5B car parts to ASEAN

The Philippines has beaten Japan in exporting vehicle transmission assemblies to the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) region. Every year, according to Ferdinand Raquel Santos, Japanese companies Toyota, Mitsubishi, and Isuzu export $3.5 billion compared to Japan's $1.1 billion.

Raquel Santos, president of the Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing Association the Philippines (MVPMAP), told Business Insight cars imported from the region, particularly Thailand, have transmission assemblies made in the Philippines.

The rest of the car parts - wire harness, tires made by Yokohama in Clark, carpets, plastic parts, leatherette seats, seat belts, plastic bumpers, are big in numbers but have smaller values.

He said in value terms the Philippines accounts for about 25 per cent in parts exported to the region. Nearly all of them are accounted for by transmission assemblies. He said a car has 20,000 parts and components. Very few of them, except transmission assemblies  come  from the Philippines.

He explained that Japan might have discovered that producing the assemblies in the region such as the Philippines has the advantage of Thailand.

According to Raquel Santos, the 127 members of MVPMAP who make 272 different car parts and components, are not exactly happy over the fact that imports of complete cars have over taken locally assembled units. He said the assemblers in the Philippines account for only 39 per cent of total car demand.

The rest is imported. Back in 1996, 90 percent of automobiles sold in the Philippines is locally assembled. Imports account for a negligible 10 per cent.

He explained that the reversal of the ratio negatively affects the business of local parts manufacturers in terms of loss of demand.

He said he hopes local assemblers will regain their dominance but pointed out that the tariff agreements are a high hurdle. Under the Asean Free Trade Association (AFTA) many items or products enter the region without a tariff.

He said the fact that a separate agreement with Japan (Japan Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (Jepepa)) and the coming similar agreements with South Korea and Australia do not help the Philippine makers of auto parts and components improve their business.

Still, Raquel Santos said, there are two models Mitubishi's L-300-and the Crosswind of Isuzu that use 70 per cent local parts and components

A good number of members of the association export parts and components to Thailand and Indonesia. These parts, he said, are common to units assembled in the Philippines.

He laments the fact that the 70,000 workers employed by the association, have not increased precisely because the market of parts makers have been taken over by imported units. He stressed, though that these units also use Philippine-made components notably the transmission assemblies.

Rising volume of imports deny the parts makers the economies of scale. The high cost of power in the Philippines does not help the members of the association either, according to Raquel Santos.

However, he said, there is a necessity for economic groupings to create big bargaining unit with giants of North America and Europe. He said competition with these highly developed countries will force the emerging markets like the Southeast Asian countries to introduce innovation, improve technology and management to be able to compete globally.

Raquel Santos broadly hinted that while the growth of small car parts manufacturers is stymied by rising imports, there is the fact that the Philippines is becoming the hub of manufacturing transmission assemblies as shown by the fact that three Japanese companies are heavily involved in producing them here.

Slowly, Filipino minds and hands are absorbing the technology in making this major car component. This could well be the start of more major components being produced in the Philippines.

Raquel Santos himself has a company producing minor parts like seats. He continues to trying to improve his technology, knowing he said, that modern technology and management efficiency are the keys to any successful operation, production of car parts or any other manufacturing ventures. His hopes are high in the face of negative developments. So are the rest of the members of the association.

With report from Malaya Business Insights

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₱2.3 Trillion ($53 Billion USD) budget for 2014 in the Philippines approved by President Benigno Aquino

Women work at a sweatshop sewing clothes under contract with local clothing manufacturers in Manila on July 12, 2013. Visiting World Bank vice president for East Asia and the Pacific Axel van Trotsenburg said the Philippine government needs to convert its recent high economic growth into more jobs for ordinary Filipinos so as to succeed in reducing widespread povert. Image Credity: AFP

Philippines government to dole out billions in programs for the poor

 President Benigno Aquino has approved a proposed P2.3 trillion ($53 Billion USD) budget for 2014, including higher amounts of grants for the poor.

The grants are being funded by the World Bank, to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor, prompting analysts to call for a long-term industrialization plan for real development and poverty reduction.

The government's proposed budget has a high component of poverty reduction, apart from development, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said.

Last year, Congress approved the allotment of ₱44.25 billion ($1.02 USD) conditional cash transfer (CCT) program of the government for 3.5 million households in the 2013 budget.

The program allows the social welfare department to disburse less than ₱1,000 a month per household, money for poor children enrolled in primary and secondary public schools and to health centers.

It also includes a health awareness drive for low-income communities. It encourages them to send their children to school, to prepare them for jobs and to make their lives better.

"The program has a long-term benefit," said Abad, who did not say the amount allocated for CCT and the number of poor people to be covered in the proposed 2014 budget.

It has been criticized as a source of corruption in local government units because village level authorities handle the money's disbursement in slum areas.

Critics say it encourages dependency among poor people, who are given money as incentive to send their children public health centers and public schools which already give free services. It promotes patronage politics and emboldens politicians to coddle slum dwellers for votes, critics said.

The government's continuation of the CCT program, which was begun by former President Gloria Arroyo, is further justified by a poverty incidence of 27.9 per cent in the first semester of 2012, compared to 28.6 per cent in 2009.

The Philippines is also in a rush. It has committed to lower poverty incidence to 16.6 per cent by 2015, in compliance with the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

A report of the National Statistical Coordinating Board (NSCB) showed that in 2011, the rich (who represents 15 per cent of the country's population of 100 million) generated 10.4 per cent income growth; the middle class, 4.3 per cent; and the lower class, 8.2 per cent.

A family of five with a monthly salary of ₱7,821 ($180.2 USD ) is right on the poverty line. A family that earns higher than twice to 10 times this amount belongs to the middle class, NSCB said.

The expanding inequity between the rich and poor contrasted with the country's 6.8 per cent overall GDP growth in 2012; and 7.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2013.

Vowing to work harder for better economic indicators, President Aquino promised, "We must make certain that this growth becomes even more inclusive — that the economic benefits do not merely trickle down to our people, but that every Philippine national is able to ride the rising tide of progress (in the Philippines)."

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda pointed out the additional impact of NSCB's sectoral income growth report: "There has been growth in the lowest levels."

There is an ongoing focus on job-generating in sectors like agriculture, infrastructure, manufacturing, and tourism, said Ramon Carandang, chief secretary of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office, in response to criticism that heads of poor households still need jobs even if their children are socially protected and subsidized by the government's CCT program,.

But reporting on the distribution of the labor force last April, the Labor Force Survey said only eight per cent of Filipinos are in the manufacturing sector; 16 per cent in industry, 31 per cent in agriculture and 53 per cent in services (which is considered the least productive).

These is evidence that the country's employment and job generating model is hard to realize in the industrial and manufacturing sector.

Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, head of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) said that industrialization and manufacturing are the real answers to development and poverty reduction.

Subsidies for the poor and aiming for high annual national budgets will generally follow if the government starts building up on industrialization and manufacturing, Balisacan argued.

"The Philippines had a 39 per cent manufacturing-GDP ratio in the 1980s; and 33 per cent manufacturing-GDP ratio from 2010 to 2012. In comparison, Thailand has 44 per cent manufacturing-GDP ratio from 2010 to 2012, from a low of 30 per cent in the 1980s," said Balisacan, who pointed out the real reason why other Asian countries have overtaken the Philippines.

Meanwhile, some 10 million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), who represent 10 per cent of the country's population, have been buoying the Philippine economy, rising to become on of the biggest sources of government revenue.

OFWs sent $ 21 billion USD to their relatives in the Philippines in 2012, fuelling a consumer-led economy.

Analysts from international funding agencies have said the OFWs must be empowered by helping them channel their money to investments in the manufacturing and industry sectors.

The Philippine government has responded with lectures on the importance of investment and entrepreneurship.

with report from the Gulf News

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