Partido Reporma standard bearer Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said he is supportive of the four-day work week schedule being proposed to help employees save on their transportation costs to and from their workplaces as the country reels from the impact of the Ukraine-Russia conflict to the country’s fuel supply.

Lacson said he sees the four-day work week as a viable temporary solution while the country endures the high cost of fuel.

“‘Yung four-day workweek, dagdagan natin ‘yung oras ng trabaho. Sa halip na walong oras, gawin nating sampung oras para 40 hours din ang kanilang pagtrabaho (We can add hours of work to a four-day workweek. So instead of eight (8) hours, we can increase it to 10, so that workers can complete the 40 hour job),” Lacson pointed out during the presidential debates on Saturday.

“Para ‘yung sweldo nila—maski ‘yung arawan ganoon din—para ring nagtrabaho ng limang araw. Temporary lang (So that their salary—even if it’s a daily wage—will seem they also worked for five ays. It’s just a temporary fix),” Lacson said.

But he said amendments to the Philippine Labor Code may be done in order to also address the plight of workers, agreeing with the position of fellow presidential candidate Leodegario “Ka Leody” de Guzman.

Lacson said amendments to the Labor Code would have to be adjusted to meet the objectives of the four-day work week.

“Tama po si Ka Leody, ano, kasi talagang hihingi ng overtime pay. Kailangan pa rito i-amend pa natin ‘yung Labor Code para payagan, para hindi mag-demand ‘yung ating mga manggagawa ng overtime pay ‘pag lumampas na sila sa walong oras (Ka Leody is right because the workers would be requesting for overtime pay. We would have to amend the Labor Code to allow this, so the workers would no longer need to demand overtime pay once they go beyond eight hours of working),” said Lacson at the ‘PiliPinas Debates 2022: The Turning Point’ held Saturday evening.

The senator also said he supports the appeal of those in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry to extend their work-from-home arrangements.

Lacson said this is covered by the Telecommuting Act which validates work from home arreangements especially as the entire nation transitions from a state of pandemic to endemic in its Covid-19 threat assessment.

“‘Yung hiling ng mga BPO sector na palawigin ‘yung kanilang work-from-home from April hanggang September, sinususugan ko po ‘yon dahil maraming nagsara na mga opisina nila at gusto nilang magpatuloy ng work-from-home (The BPO sector workers want their work-from-home arrangements extended from April to September. I support that because emany offices have closed and they want to continue working from home),” Lacson noted.

“Tutal meron naman tayong tele commuting, ‘di ba, ‘yung batas na ito—Telecommuting Act (Anyway we already have a law on telecommunity. The Telecommuting Act),” he reiterated.