There will be no compromise in the call of the House Committee on Labor and Employment for the suspension of the “no vaccine, no work” policy introduced by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) against the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
Committee chairman and 1Pacman Partylist Rep. Enrico Pineda made this stand as continued to badger the IATF to suspend the implementation of IATF Resolutions Nos. 148-B and 149 which are now the subject of a petition for court injunction.
Following the House panel’s consensus to call for the suspension of the allegedly illegal and anti-labor policy, Pineda wrote a strongly-worded letter to the IATF not to implement the twin resolutions.
“The IATF has responded to our letter stating that they have held a meeting to discuss the Committee’s recommendation on whether to suspend the implementation of Resolution Nos. 148-B and 149 and that during their meeting, the pendency of a case for Declaratory Relief with urgent application for the issuance of a temporary restraining order and/or writ of preliminary injunction over the subject resolutions,” said Pineda.
The partylist lawmaker said he was informed that the IATF will involve the rule on sub judice, apparently to stop the panel from further conducting any legislative proceedings on the issue.
“However, I believe that the prudent thing for the IATF to do is to suspend the implementation of these resolutions considering that many of our workers are being affected,” Pineda said.
“I don’t think that they have to wait for the RTC to issue a temporary restraining order, as court proceedings may take too long. Further, the issues that will be tackled in Court may not cover the issue on testing being shouldered by the workers,” the lawmaker noted.
He declared: “We need immediate action.” Pineda said lawmakers need to be assured that “workers are still able to bring home enough and are not working only to use their hard earned money on mandatory testing.”
“We will continue to push for the rights of our workers. The IATF, through our efforts, have been made aware of the sentiments of affected stakeholders and it is our hope that they will conduct greater study before issuing any resolutions affecting workers rights,” the House official added.