President-elect Duterte’s camp came out with GOOD news – Duterte may remove the age limit requirements for job seekers.
One pro-Duterte page even posted on May 15 about how this might encourage more Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) to finally come home.
Several websites with the same headlines about Duterte removing the age limit requirement for workers have also cropped up.
It seems like Duterte’s supporters are claiming that the incoming president deserves the credit for this pro-labor move of not discriminating job seekers based on age. The headlines do seem to suggest that and some Duterte supporters are also interpreting the headlines this way, thanking Duterte for looking after their welfare and some even insisting that this was included in Duterte’s campaign promise.
When you read the content of the articles, it gives more details as to how Senator Pia Cayetano, sponsor of Senate Bill No. 29 or the Anti-Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 2013 filed the bill to end the discrimination. It also reported how the bill was still pending and how some experts think that it will be signed into law under Duterte’s administration.
The article did not forget to mention how Cayetano is one of Duterte’s advisers, although it is also worth mentioning that the other senators who filed the bill, together with Cayetano, on July 1, 2013 are Senators Bam Aquino and Cynthia Villar.
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But GMA News Online reported on June 8 how the anti-age discrimination bill will “soon be sent to Malacañang for President Benigno Aquino III to sign.”
The bill passed on its final reading in the Senate on May 23 and was approved by Congress on the third and final reading on June 1, which means that only Aquino’s signature is required for it to become law.
The Anti-Age Discrimination in Employment Act prohibits employers from posting or publishing job advertisements citing age preferences for applicants and from requiring applicants to state their birthday or age during the application, declining application due to age, or discriminating against employees in terms of promotion, compensation, training opportunities and privileges on the basis of age.
Employers who are found in violation of this law will be required to pay a fine ranging from P20,000 to P200,000 or imprisonment of up to two years.
Exceptions are only allowed in cases where age is a necessary qualification for the job or where the employer follows a seniority system.
It is true that this bill can help older OFWs who have years of experience abroad and who now want to come home to find jobs that they are qualified for. And while Duterte has always talked about looking after the welfare of OFWs, he might be able to make better programs for Filipinos abroad once he is in office as the President of the Republic Philippines. But this anti-age discrimination bill has been in the making since 2013, long before Duterte became involved with national politics. While thanks are in order, it should go to the authors and sponsors of the bill that is now poised to become a law, lacking only Aquino’s signature.
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