THE Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), the country’s largest labor center, fully supports and lauds the leadership of House Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez in steering and safeguarding the House of Representatives to be a true House of the People.
He has led the passage of critical legislation important to workers and has proactively addressed pressing national survival concerns.
Because public office is a public trust, what Congress passes into law should be for the least and the most marginalized among us, and always for the common good. Filipino working families acknowledge that Speaker Romualdez fulfills that standard.
Under his leadership, the House has deliberated and passed bills comprising the legislative agenda of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ R. Marcos, Jr. and those proposed priority legislation submitted by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC).
As the Marcos Administration’s partner in labor, the TUCP lauds Romualdez for spearheading the adoption of House Resolution No. 43 calling for the immediate ratification of ILO Convention No. 190 against gender-based violence and harassment in the world of work. The Speaker is one with TUCP in urgent insistence that violence directed against workers has no place in the workplace under the modern and modernizing Marcos Administration.
The Speaker led the passage of House Bill No. 7325, also known as the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers, to save the jobs and save the lives of hundreds of thousands of Filipino seafarers, especially in the light of the longstanding European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) audit issues which would have prejudiced the continued hiring of Filipinos in international cargo ships and cruise liners.
Speaker knows that addressing decent work deficits and ensuring that Filipino seafarers remain the preferred international hire in the global maritime industry is crucial since the international seafaring industry is one of the brightest spots of our economic growth and recovery, uplifting the lives of many poor to be the new middle class.
Romualdez also leads from the front in addressing national issues by being at the forefront in tackling both high food prices and seeking a solution to spiraling electricity prices while addressing power supply reliability.
“We have seen his crisis leadership in inspecting rice warehouses to go after unscrupulous traders, hoarders, and smugglers of agricultural goods as well as in calling on key oil industry players to moderate their profits towards more affordable gas prices. By getting to the roots of skyrocketing prices, Speaker Romualdez strives to cushion the crushing impact of high prices on the purchasing power of the wages of ordinary workers. These interventions are key to better the lives of working families in difficult times. And that makes all the difference,” said the statement.
In addressing the intelligence needs of the Government amid rampant and humiliating Chinese incursions and escalating tensions in the West Philippine Sea, the TUCP is one with Speaker Romualdez in fighting for what is ours by placing a premium on Philippine sovereignty and national security.
Every centavo of the people’s money must therefore be spent with full accountability and transparency, recognizing the primacy of national survival. Speaker Romualdez’s stand resonates with the united Philippine labor movement’s ‘15-Point Labor Agenda’ which includes asserting our sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea to defend the livelihood of our fisherfolk, and also address vital food security needs, said TUCP.
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