Senator Alan Peter Cayetano filed a bill that seeks to expand the rights and 2 welfare protections of domestic workers, introducing key reforms in education access, healthcare, and social protection for kasambahays.
Senate Bill No. 418 or the Enhanced Batas Kasambahay Act builds on Republic Act No. 10361 or the Domestic Workers Act, addressing persistent challenges such as low wages, limited access to upskilling opportunities, and the lack of healthcare support for chronic conditions.
“Kasambahays play a vital role in Filipino households. Through their hard work and care, they ensure the comfort, stability, and well-being of the families they serve,” Cayetano said in the bill’s explanatory note.
“But if we are to truly transform the nation, we must begin by reducing social inequalities — starting at home.”
“But if we are to truly transform the nation, we must begin by reducing social inequalities — starting at home,” the veteran legislator added.
The measure mandates employers to provide kasambahays with at least one hour per day or six hours per week for continuing alternative or skills education, with this time counted as compensable working hours.
To support online learning, the bill directs the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to institute a program that will make internet-enabled devices accessible to kasambahays.
To implement these reforms, the bill creates a Kasambahay Education Inter-Agency Committee composed of the DOLE, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Department of Education (DepEd), and Commission on Higher Education (CHED).
The committee is tasked to:
* Formulate practical learning modules for kasambahays;
* Provide access to learning despite technological limitations;
* And balance the rights of both employers and kasambahays in designing terms of participation.
The bill also includes provisions for free maintenance medicines for kasambahays suffering from illnesses like diabetes, hypertension, asthma, tuberculosis, and other chronic conditions to be determined by the Department of Health (DOH).
These will be procured by the LGUs of the kasambahay’s workplace and legally charged to PhilHealth under the National Health Insurance Program.
The measure also seeks stricter enforcement of employer obligations to register kasambahays under SSS, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG, while improving access to grievance mechanisms and legal support for victims of abuse or exploitation.
“It is the policy of the State to protect and promote the right to health of the people while affirming labor as a primary social economic force.”
“It is the policy of the State to protect and promote the right to health of the people while affirming labor as a primary social economic force — protecting the rights of workers and promoting their welfare,” the bill declares.
The senator emphasized that the State must play a role in improving the quality of life for domestic workers by giving them access to growth and opportunity.
“No one should remain a kasambahay for life simply because they were never given the chance to grow. By investing in their development, we invest in a more inclusive, just, and forward-moving society,” he concluded.
