By Ben Rosario
Filipino workers’ resilience and industry will enable them to overcome the prospects of a serious unemployment situation resulting from the COVID-19 crisis.
House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano expressed optimism as commended the Filipino workers for their significant contributions in nationbuilding on the celebration of Labor Day.
House speaker Alan Peter Cayetano
(PCOO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Deputy Speaker and Cibac Partylist Rep. Eddie Villanueva, 1 Pacman Partylist Rep. Enrico Pineda and DIWA Partylist Rep. Michael Aglipay also issued separate statements congratulating the labor force as the nation commemorted Labor Day.
“In this war against COVID-19, it’s our laborers, it’s the people in the hospitals and the health clinics, it’s the people driving the ambulances, it’s the people na nasa pharmacy, nasa grocery, it’s the police that are in the checkpoints, who we honor today,” said Cayetano in opening the virtual meeting of the Defeat Covid 19 Ad Hoc Committee’s sub-committee on social amelioration
Pineda, chairman of the House Committee on Labro and Employment, said that the COVID-19 19 situation should not stop the country from giving due recognition to the Filipino workers.
“Let us not allow it to stop us from remembering and dedicating Labor Day to our gallant frontliners, healthcare workers, workers in local government units and government agencies involved in fighting the effects of COVID-19. We salute the law enforcers and everyone working in essential services,’ said Pineda.
In a separate statement, Aglipay lauded the frontliners as the country’s new heroes.
“The significance and meaning of Labor Day today is the genuine care, solidarity, and love that our Filipino workers continue to extend to the country and to our countrymen,” stressed Aglipay, vice chairman of the House labor panel.
For his part, Villanueva, urged government to “leave no stone unturned in ensuring the availability of funds to implement government intervention programs aimed at assisting our laborers as we brave this period of crisis.”
“The most meaningful way to celebrate Labor Day and to show our appreciation to our laborers is to ensure the availability and accessibility of government aid that will provide them security amidst the current economic slowdown,” the neophyte solon stated.
An evangelist, Villanueva appealed to all sectors to “protect our workers who toil to produce the goods and services we need and who make our economy thrive.”