Roman

Roman lauds passage of Caregivers Welfare Act

November 24, 2022 Ryan Ponce Pacpaco 373 views

IN recognition of the significant role of caregivers in national development, Bataan 1st District Rep. Geraldine B. Roman on Thursday lauded the passage of the proposed “Caregivers Welfare Act” which seeks the protection and welfare of caregivers in the practice of their profession.

Authored by Roman, a stalwart of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD), the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading House Bill (HB) No. 227 and got the majority votes of 271 members.

“I thank my fellow legislators for the swift passage of this measure and ensuring the strong accountability and implementation efforts to turn the strategy into action,” Roman, chairperson of the House committee on women and gender equality said.

The approved measure aims to “recognize the role of caregivers in national development and to institute policies in the practice of the profession with the end in view of developing competent caregivers whose standards of professional service shall be excellent and globally competitive.”

Roman said professional and responsive caregiving is very vital to medically and physically challenged individuals.

The country’s aging population, the increase in the number of children born with medical issues, and prevalent illnesses are the reasons the demand for caregiving services continues to rise in the Philippines, she added.

“Policies must be enacted to protect the welfare and well-being of caregivers, as well as to maintain excellent and globally competitive standards for the professional caregiver service,” Roman said.

The legislator from Bataan mentioned countries such as the United States, Canada, those in the Middle East and Europe, and even Asian  countries like Japan and Korea prefer Filipino caregivers because of their unconditional and genuine care for their clients.

Roman stated that policies in the practice of the caregiving profession must be instituted to protect the rights of caregivers and to promote their welfare toward decent employment.

“Caregivers must also be protected against abuse, harassment, violence, and economic exploitation,” Roman said.

Roman added that the sudden increase in the popularity of professional caregivers in the Philippines and abroad had prompted the government to require all caregiving schools in the country to register their caregiving program with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), which is tasked to manage and supervise technical education and skills development so that each caregiver who will be working here and abroad will be equipped with all the skills needed to perform the job properly and efficiently.

She said that these proposed policies must also be enacted into law to maintain excellent and globally competitive standards for professional caregiver service. Senate Bill (SB) No. 1396, a counterpart measure of HB 227, is pending with the Senate committees on labor, employment, and human resources development.

Roman said she champions equal opportunity for all Filipinos. For her, equal opportunity is a “state of fairness in which individuals are treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers, prejudices or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified.” Roman stands for advancement to be open to everybody without regard for wealth, status, or membership in a privileged group.

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