BAGUIO CITY – The City Council approved on first reading a proposed ordinance mandating all employers of domestic workers or ‘kasambahay’ in the city to register their domestic help with their respective barangay and providing penalties for violation of the provisions of the local legislative measure.
The ordinance authored by Councilor Joel Alangsab stated that the provisions shall apply to all employers of domestic workers or ‘kasambahay,’ whether natural or juridical, whether resident or not, and in all places, found within the territorial jurisdiction of the city.
The ordinance provided all employers of domestic workers in the city shall register their present domestic help in their respective barangay within a period of 30 days from hiring.
The Secretary of the barangay shall keep a record of the said registration which shall consist of a government issued identification card, whole body picture of the registrant, complete biodata of the registrant, name and address of a relative of the registrant living in the city if possible, contact number of the registrant and the employer and complete address of the employer.
Violators of the provisions of the provisions of the ordinance shall be fined P500 for the first offense, P1,000 for the second offense and P1,500 for the third and succeeding offenses.
The ordinance mandated the barangay officials concerned to strictly implement the provisions of the local legislative measure to monitor the activities of the people in the barangays.
Under the provisions of the ordinance, 50 percent of the fines collected by the barangays concerned shall accrue to the barangay general fund as incentives of the concerned barangays while the remaining 50 percent will be remitted to the City Treasury Office.
The ordinance also stated that it is a common and public knowledge that domestic workers have been the victims of, and at times, perpetrators of numerous abuses or crimes.
It claimed that from the media, domestic workers, both male and female, have perpetrated some heinous crimes such as robbery, robbery with homicide, theft, among others against their employers which leave the latter, as well as police authorities, at a loss as to where to trace or apprehend the culprits to make face up their crimes.
On the other hand, the ordinance admitted domestic helpers are likewise victims of abuses by their employers, such as non-payment of wages and benefits under the provisions of Republic Act (RA) No. 10361 otherwise known as the Domestic workers Act or Batas Kasambahay, infliction of physical harm, sexual harassment, sexual abuse, among others, and being comparatively newly settled in the city, financial disadvantage and without any close relative to turn to for financial or moral support are likewise at a loss as to whom to turn to in time of their dire need.
By mandating for the registration of all domestic workers within the barangay, the ordinance stipulated employers would at least have a record of their helper to fall back to in case of need for the same, while domestic workers have a record of their employers which may be called upon in case for one or another, the need for the same arises.
By Dexter A. See
